Incoming Stanford freshmen Thea Walsh and Chloe Harbilas were named to the United States women’s national water polo team that will compete at the FINA Youth World Championships in Belgarde, Serbia beginning Aug. 27.
They will be joined by three incoming UCLA freshmen, an incoming USC freshman and an incoming Cal freshman along with six high school players, including the youngest member of the team Honnie Vanderweghe-Oshea, the younger sister of tennis pro Coco Vanderweghe, who is a sophomore at Santa Margarita.
Laguna Beach High coach Ethan Damato, who coached current Cardinal players Aria Fischer, Makenzie Fischer and Walsh, among others, heads the youth national team. Team manager Taylor Dodson is a Cal grad who has coached at Wagner and is currently at Indiana.
The Americans finished 4-2 at the UANA Junior Pam American Championship in Clearwater, Fla. last month, finishing third.
The U.S. opens the worlds with three games in preliminary play, meeting Kazakhstan, Argentina and Hungary before classification play on Aug. 30. The U.S. beat Argentina twice in Florida, 24-4 and 24-5.
Georgia Phillips, Valerie Ayala and Ava Johnson will be at UCLA in the fall, Bayley Weber is headed to USC and Carson Broad is attending Cal.
In addition to Vanderweghe-Oshea, Abrielle Hill is a senior at Dos Pueblos, Jewel Roemer is a junior at Acalanes, Skyler Jones is a junior at San Ramon, Sophie Wallace is a senior at Corona del Mar and Hannah Constandse is a senior at Mater Dei.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports