Tustin & United Of Los Alamitos Big Winners At Speedo Cup
11/16/2009 12:00:00 AM
For one team it was the next step in realizing success at the Speedo Cup, while for another it was vindication after missing the event a year ago. The boys out of Los Alamitos, California/United Water Polo were Bronze Medalist in 2008 and followed that up with the ultimate goal, Gold, as they defeated San Diego 4-3 in the final at this year’s event. For the girls of Tustin, California and SoCal Water Polo the Speedo Cup was not on the calendar a year ago as the team just missed out in a grueling qualification process. This year the group returned focused and not only earned a spot to the Speedo Cup but came away the ultimate winners defeating defending champions, Commerce 6-4.
With the Canham Natatorium as the host on the campus of the University of Michigan for the second straight year 24 squads representing some of the best in middle school age water polo descended upon the Midwest for three days of action. United/Los Al worked their way through the opening day of action with victories over Chicago 15-7, and Fort Lauderdale 9-4. Their opponent in the Gold Medal match San Diego got off to a strong start as well dispatching of Houston 18-2 and then edging Long Beach 5-4.
On day two United/Los Al blanked Long Beach 10-0 while San Diego topped Fort Lauderdale 8-2 to set up a preliminary meeting between the two squads. In this game of foreshadowing it was United/Los Al with the win 11-4. Despite the loss San Diego was still in the mix as they came back on the final day of competition to stop Orange County in the morning session 5-3. In the meantime United/Los Al kept on cruising as they stopped the SF East Bay/680 team 8-5 in the morning. These matches set up the Gold Medal contest, a match that proved to be much closer but ended in a similar result as their first meeting with United/Los Al claiming the Gold Medal.
San Diego took second in the boys division while SF East Bay/680 finished in third, Orange County fourth, Long Beach fifth, and Pasadena sixth. For complete results click here.
In the girls bracket the team from Tustin came in focused on making amends for a missed trip a year ago and got right down to business defeating host Ann Arbor 14-9 and Stanford 8-3 on day one. Gold Medal game opponent Commerce got off to an equally strong start rolling up Miami 15-7 and Annapolis 10-1 in early action. The second day found Tustin still undefeated when they worked past Danville 10-5 and Santa Barbara 6-3. Commerce remained up to the task winning consecutive close contests over Corona 5-4 and San Diego 4-1.
These victories for Commerce and Tustin set the stage for a continued collision course. The clubs didn’t disappoint with Commerce halting Santa Barbara 6-2 in the early morning game and Tustin doing likewise to San Diego 5-1 on the final day of play. Commerce had eyes on a three-peat and taking five of the last eight Speedo Cup titles but it was Tustin’s turn this year and they came away with the victory by two.
Commerce brought home the Silver while Santa Barbara was good for third place and the Bronze, San Diego in fourth, Corona in fifth, and Danville in sixth. For complete results click here.
Following the competition the annual Speedo Cup awards were presented including the Maureen O’Toole award on the girl’s side and the Jody Campbell award for the boys. The awards which are named after the two former National Team athletes are awarded to a member of each team that participated.
Maureen O’Toole Award Winners (Girls)
Overall Winner: Caroline Newman, Danville
Alexa Ovalle, Ann Arbor
Aidan Dick, Annapolis
Jennifer Villanueva, Chicago
Ana Ruiz, Commerce
Madison Delgado, Corona
Sarah Young, La Jolla
Chelsea Johnson, Miami
Meghan Engh, San Diego
Jessica Gaffney, Santa Barbara
Morgan McCracken, Stanford
Christiana Manzella, Tustin
Jody Campbell Award Winners (Boys)
Overall Winner: David Bernhardt, Annapolis
Reiner Lueth, 680 SF East Bay
Holden Tamblyn, Ann Arbor
William Vazquez, Chicago
Chase Koplow, Ft. Lauderdale
Philip Emden, Houston
Matthes McBride, Long Beach
Bailey Harris, Orange County
Ethan Vandeventer, Pasadena
Griffin Rizzo, San Diego
Christian Searing, United of Los Alamitos
Max Taylor, Vegas/Henderson
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