Publication Date: Friday, July 16, 2004
National water polo tourneys provide marathon schedule
National water polo tourneys provide marathon schedule
(July 16, 2004) by Keith Peters
They won't need running shoes and they won't be pounding the streets for 26.2 miles. For many of the area's top female water polo players, however, two national tournaments next week will be no less than a marathon.
First up is the 16-team 20 & Under National Championships, which begins a three-day run at Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo-Atherton on Tuesday. Right on the heels of that will be the Senior National Championships that run July 23-25 at the same pools.
A total of 92 matches are scheduled for the two events. The finalists will play no less than seven matches in each tournament.
Nine members of the Stanford Water Polo Club -- Phoebe Champion, Remy Champion, Natalie Chrisman, Kelly Eaton, Kelsey Haley, Molly Hayes, Natalie O'Farriell, Nikki Perlman and Amanda Tipton - could play in 14 matches over the six- day period. All will play in both tournaments.
Then, as a reward, all nine (and their 20-under teammates) will head for Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and the National Junior Olympics, July 29-Aug. 1.
"The experience they're getting is wonderful," said Susan Ortwein, head coach of the Stanford teams.
Ortwein guided her squads to excellent finishes last season in the national tournaments. The Stanford 20-under team finished fifth while the Senior squad won the gold medal. Next week, both teams will have something to shoot for.
Despite having probably her youngest 20-under team ever - there are four players who could play on the 16-under Junior Olympic squad - Ortwein nonetheless is hoping to at least equal that fifth-place effort of '03. And for the Senior team, "The obvious thing is to defend the title," Ortwein said.
In addition to the aforementioned nine, the Stanford 20-under squad includes Megan Burmeister, Jessica Urhausen, Brittany Webster and Tanya Wilcox.
The remaining Senior National team members include Stanford University's Nancy El-Sakkary, Hannah Luber and Kelty Luber plus Gunn High grad Jessie Goldner from Indiana University.
One member of both teams who is not playing is Paly grad and Stanford junior Laurel Champion. She's resting a right shoulder injury.
Joining Stanford in the 20-under field will be NorCal and SOLO. NorCal features three former Central Coast Section Player of the Year winners Bailey Samuels of Sacred Heart Prep (co-MVP in 2003 with Molly Hayes of St. Francis), Rebecca Dreyfuss of St. Francis in 2002, and Brittani Llorente of Aragon in 2001. Samuels will play at UCLA this fall while Dreyfuss and Llorente are at Cal. They'll be joined by Hayes this fall.
NorCal also has former SHP goalie Anne Deggelman plus former varsity teammates Zizi Clark, Carrie Paton, Julia Browne, Melissa Mordell, Christie Clark, Lauren Jollymour, Christina Baladi, and Katie Murphy. Others include Sacred Heart Prep JV grads Adriana Vogt, Tiffany Yim, Andrea Mobley, Kimi Stephens, Rebecca Child, Elizabeth Mason, and Kristen McMillan. Others are Katie Radvanyi and Kelsey Thorne from Soquel plus Jessie Sommers and St. Francis' Kelsey Duignan.
Ed Samuels, who coached the Sacred Heart Prep players last season, sees his NorCal squad as right in the middle of the 16-team bracket. He sees Golden West, San Diego Shore, Sunset and Stanford as the favorites in the 20-under tourney while New York AC, Sunset and Stanford are the likely contenders for top honors in the Open division.
"There's lots of talent and plenty of teams with a good national reputation," Samuels said.
Golden Bear, comprised mainly of Cal players, includes Menlo School grad Amy Gardner and Castilleja grad Emily Brown.
The 20-under championship match will be July 22 at 5:30 p.m., while the Open division finals will be at 5:30 p.m. on July 25. Both will be held at SHP.
Admission for those 14-under is free. Adults are $5 per day ($10 for the tournament) while students are $2 ($5 for all three days).
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