Blue-Chip Bonanza

Southern California is in the middle of its own gold rush.

The prospectors are college water polo coaches who have been scouring the region since late last year, hoping to lay claim to one of the many talented seniors who begin girls’ water polo season this week.

Many involved in the sport agree that the senior class is the best to come through since the sport was sanctioned by the Southern Section five seasons ago. Top universities such as Stanford, UCLA and USC rushed to secure Southland players during last month’s early signing period, trading six-figure educations for long-crafted water polo skills.

“There’s no better collection of high school players in the country,” said Temple City Coach Chuckie Roth, who has also coached the women’s program at UC Santa Barbara and a variety of youth teams from the region.

The current crop of seniors includes Gabbie Domanic of Santa Ana Foothill, who left Sunday for the FINA World Cup in Perth, Australia. Domanic has been training full time with the national team since last summer and is the only high school player on the team.

Domanic signed with UCLA last month, as did teammate Emily Feher, a goalkeeper who last year helped the U.S. junior national team win gold at the FINA World Championships. Another Foothill standout, Brittany Hayes, signed with USC. She is also a starter for the junior national team.

UCLA also secured Newport Harbor’s Jenna Murphy, Santa Margarita’s Kacy Kunkel, Santa Barbara’s Molly Cahill and Corona del Mar’s Brittany Bowlus. USC signed Erika Figge of Santa Margarita and UC Santa Barbara signed her teammate, Aimee Stachowski. Stanford, the defending NCAA champion, didn’t miss out on the treasure hunt, landing Meridith McColl of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley and Christina Hewko of Corona del Mar.

Theories abound as to why this senior class is deeper in blue-chip talent than those before. Some say it’s simply a result of the sport’s growth.

Girls’ water polo has been steadily increasing in popularity since the early 1990s, when many universities added the sport in an effort to comply with federal gender-equity regulations. Most of the current seniors also began playing at a much earlier age than the first high school players, giving them a chance to develop team chemistry at the age-group level and carry it over to their high schools.

“Meridith and Christina have grown up playing with and against some very good competition,” Stanford Coach John Tanner said. “It’s evident by watching their level of play.”

Hayes, who was The Times’ player of the year last season after helping Foothill win its third consecutive Division I title, said many girls began competing on boys’ teams, then switched when girls’ water polo became available at the high school level.

She said the early experience of playing against boys gave many of her peers the added desire to be successful in the sport.

“With the boys, you were always looked down upon and it made you want to work harder,” Hayes said. “It helped to shape me as a player.”

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Riverside Arlington and Riverside North may have finally lost their grip on Southern Section Division V. Arlington won the last two division titles and North has been in the last three finals, but early indications point to Upland and Riverside Poly as the teams to beat this season.

Upland was ranked No.1 in the division when the section’s preseason coaches’ polls were released last week and Poly was No. 2, although Upland Coach Terry Kimberling said not much separates the two teams. Upland returns all but one player from last season’s team that lost to Bell Gardens in the Division III semifinals.

Poly, which lost to North in the Division V semifinals last season, features Monique Blanchard, the division’s best overall player, and transfer Alison Riddle, who led San Bernardino to a semifinal berth last season. Both were first-team All-Southern Section selections.

Kimberling won’t need to wait until the playoffs to face Poly. They could meet Saturday in the semifinals of the Benson Cup at Placentia El Dorado. If that doesn’t materialize, the teams play a nonleague game Dec. 19 at the Bobby Bonds Sports Complex in Riverside.