 | | | Acalanes and Miramonte in a game last fall Photo?Doug Kohen
| | | | | | This fall is set to be another great year in the pool as Miramonte, Acalanes, and Campolindo all look to take this year's DFAL crown.
Miramonte is coming off of an outstanding year, after a 12-0 start turned into a 23-4 overall campaign, ending with an NCS championship win over rival Acalanes as the number two seed. Some key returners to the pool for Miramonte include senior utility Joey Fabian, who was chosen as an eighth team All-American and first team all-DFAL, and senior goalie Aleck Ryner.
"This year's Miramonte water polo team is a mix of veteran and young players who are improving rapidly in practice and have their sights set on testing themselves against the other NCS teams and the top teams from other sections. Our seniors are doing a great job leading the team and encouraging the younger players to improve. We are all looking forward to a great season," says Miramonte head coach James Lathrop. The Mats have won an incredible 12 out of the past 15 NCS titles, and look to do it again this year.
Campolindo comes into 2010 looking pretty strong, returning two key seniors in goalie Peter Price and driver Jeffrey Strausser. The Cougars finished 15-10 last year, and took fourth place in DFAL.
"Our goal is to make it to the NCS finals," says Campolindo head coach Dan Reyes. Last fall, the sixth seeded Cougars defeated Cal High in the first round of the NCS playoffs before being eliminated by De La Salle in the quarterfinal matchup.
Acalanes comes off of a strong year, finishing out at 19-7 and barely missing out on an NCS title, as the top seeded Dons were edged by second seeded Miramonte in the championship game. The Dons lose last year's league MVP Nick Hoversten, but return a member of last year's first team all-DFAL team, senior Jake Kisner.
"I think our team should be pretty solid this year and we should win NCS division II," says Kisner on his team's high expectations for this year.
All three Lamorinda teams certainly have the potential of being DFAL champions. Stay tuned!
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA