2002 Men's Water Polo Team Previews
By Jerry Hannula *

It looks (and sounds) as if Old Mother Hubbard swept through the community college teams during the summer months. Many coaches are commenting about the cupboards being bare. Something about sophomores being lost and having to start all over again from scratch. It should make for an interesting water polo season. Here’s a take on some of this year’s teams:

CABRILLO
Head coach Josh Thomas has a returning all-conference driver in Cory Berta and an experienced hole set in Pat Malo. He’ll ask Dante Giorgetti, a standout from Berkeley HS, to carry some of the load for the Seahawks.

CUESTA
The Cougars will be out to repeat as Western State Conference champs but may face some challenges ahead. All-conference players Alex Lindsey and Chris Chavis return for another year, but the rest of the productivity will have to come from the freshman class since Doug Leach and Savio Gomes have graduated. Alex Martinez appears set to take over for the departed Colt Dennis in the cage while Davyray Hall, Kevin Bradley, Brian Lee and Ryan Fetterly will need to make contributions early.

EL CAMINO
Coach Corey Stanbury is looking for this year’s Warrior team to have a dramatically different look than last year’s club. Sophomore goalie Dennis Martin returns to help spearhead the defense, and several freshmen have solid backgrounds which should help the team offensively. AJ Lester, Ben Gill, Luka Mrkonjic and Lance Deleissegues are some of the new talent on campus for El Camino.

FULLERTON
The Hornets missed a state tournament bid last season but might be able to get aligned for an extended post-season appearance this year, especially with All-American Gabe Pacheco and experienced driver Rusty Woods returning. The team also has some freshmen talent in all-league performers Gabe Belagardi, James Stewart, Ryan Steele, Spencer Schmidt, and Cory Kroh. The Hornets will start the season ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll.

GROSSMONT
Coach Brian Harvey says he’ll be in a rebuilding year after losing the entire roster from the 2001 season. Goalie Ryan Means and driver John Pearce will be sorely missed. However, Harvey’s peers feel that he’ll be able to rebuild something rather quickly and have tabbed him as the No. 6 team in the state in the preseason poll. That might be a little high to start the season, but the Griffins will surely be competitive.

MODESTO
Old Mo’ lost some quality players to graduation, like Devin Horton, Chris Eberle, Nick Perino and Nic Svoboda. It will be time for sophomore returnees Chris Tate and Aaron Ricks to turn up the heat a notch. There is a strong freshman class in the pool, including all-CIF players Devin Power, Mike Weaver, Chris Goodwin, and goalie Mario Popovic. All of these talented newcomers should help coach Eric Fischer compete for another playoff berth.

MT. SAN ANTONIO
Coach Marc Ruh will enjoy the return of sophomore All-American goalie Jon Bonafede to his team along with two-meter man Brandon Mosher. The Mounties could give Long Beach City another tough time in the South Coast Conference race, especially with the addition of all-CIF performers Eric Traughber, Will Broer, Sean Khowong, Brett Jensen and Tim Murphy.

RIO HONDO
Mike Santo takes over as the head coach of the men’s program after serving as the women’s coach at Saddleback for the past six seasons. Prior to that, he was the top assistant with the Saddleback men’s team for five seasons. The Roadrunners should see an immediate improvement, especially if Santo can push returning players Russ Taylor, Brian Woodward and Will Cervera. The team has a full complement of freshmen talent to help fill out the roster, including David Goetz, Nolan Simiano, Brandon Allen and Gerrett Peck.

RIVERSIDE
The Tigers will be hard pressed to put together another state runner-up finish, but it’s not completely out of the question. Although most of the key players have graduated, Colin Rutherford and Geoff Shouse return for their sophomore seasons. Some of the names remain the same as former outstanding Tiger players are being cloned. Expected to make big contributions this season are all-CIF goalie Casey Finfrock and all-CIF driver Jon Merryman. Another all-CIF player, Casey Geenawalt, will also bring solid skills to the team.

SADDLEBACK
The Gauchos have a new coach in Mike Evans. The former Olympian didn’t get much time to put together his roster and will probably take a few weeks to get the group going. But, like Long Beach’s Chris Oeding, the national exposure and experience should start to pay off quickly. Only Randy Miller returns from last year’s squad. Evans will bank on Ryan Chenot, Sean Wilson and goalie Sean Lane to help lead the team.

SAN JOAQUIN DELTA
Larry Huiras lost All-American goalie Jack Vertar and Luke Schwartz and Matt Haack. But the stable isn’t completely deserted for the Mustangs. Only one player stands below 6’0” and the team is much faster than last year’s version. Nathan Varosh, Joseph Dietrich, Danny Chandler and Seth Constant were all starters last season and return for another year. Ian Kinne, Casey McMahon and Kyle Jorgeson are just three of the 13 newcomers trying to step into the starting lineup this year. Garret Luke, Steve Swafford and Jake Harbor are battling for the starting goalie spot.

SIERRA
The Wolverines had a tough time in the north’s “A” conference last year and will drop down to the “B” conference this season. That move, combined with some talented returners, should make Sierra highly competitive again this season. Connor Fischer, Bryson Shelito, Shawn Martin and Richard Levin return for their sophomore seasons and it appears that freshman goalie Adam Fillopi will fill a hole in the cage. It’s expected that coach Steve Casperite’s team will be in the hunt for a playoff berth again this season.

VENTURA
Coach Joe Abing continues to improve and is confident that his Pirates will be in the thick of the mix this season. Derek Doler is one of the few returners to this club. You might see some solid performances out of drivers James Heidelbaugh and Shermont Banks, along with some cagy net play from goalie Robbie Miller as Ventura tries to keep pace in the Western State Conference.

WEST VALLEY
The Vikings have been the top team in Northern California for several years now and appear poised to continue that honor. Coach Bruce Watson has All-American goalie Ben Tait returning for a second season along with Matt Chapatte, Ben Vierra and John Paul Mujica. They get some immediate help in the starting lineup from high school All-Americans Scott Marshall and Serge Azarenek as well as Philipp Kilian, a member of the German Junior National team.

* Information supplied by Jerry Hannula of the Community College Water Polo Poll & Newsletter. For subscription information, please call (949) 582-4490 or write to: jhannula@saddleback.edu