Laguna Beach represents at Junior Olympics

Five teams from Laguna Beach Water Polo Club ventured north for the 2012 SwimOutlet.com Junior Olympics water polo national championships during the past two weeks. All five qualified as top 10 teams, with two of those squads earning medals.

The boys' tournament was held July 28-31 and the girls' and 10-Under coed tournaments were Aug. 2-5, all in the Palo Alto area.

"We're very pleased to have our teams place in the top 10 for their age groups," said Chad Beeler, head coach and coordinator of Laguna Beach Water Polo Club. "I know our kids wanted to do better, but they did a great job competing against the top teams from around the country."

Laguna's 14U girls' team won silver and the 12U girls' team won bronze. Both teams competed in the Platinum bracket of the tournament.

The 14U girls' team went 6-1 and secured a spot in the semifinals of the 48-team division. In its semifinal game against Rose Bowl (Pasadena), Laguna jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter and ran away with a 15-6 victory. The triumph put Laguna in a finals match against Commerce, which reached the title game by beating Santa Barbara, 14-9, in the other semifinal.

In a final that was close throughout, Commerce scored the game's final four goals to win, 10-6.

The 14U girls' team, coached by Scott Baldridge and Erich Fischer, is: Bella Baldridge, Angelique Begay, Gabi Beren, Maia Borisoff, Haley Evans, Aria Fischer, Ally Jochim, Sophia Lucas, Holly Parker, Natalie Selin and Thea Walsh.

Laguna's 12U girls' team was part of a 27-team field and went 5-1 to move on to a semifinal game with Santa Barbara. Laguna scored the first goal of the game, but Santa Barbara pulled away to a 9-5 victory. The setback put Laguna in the third-place game against International (Los Alamitos). Laguna took a 2-0 lead after the first quarter and went on to win, 8-4.

"This team is a really close-knit group, both in and out of the pool," girls' 12U Coach Matt Tingler said. "That camaraderie paid off as the girls improved tremendously throughout the season. I'm really proud of their hard work."

The 12U girls' team is: Angelique Begay, Danielle Borelli, Evie Cant, Audrey Duffy, Elana Evans, Sophia Lucas, Isabel Riches, Joie Selin, Evan Tingler, and Thea Walsh.

In other Platinum bracket tournament finishes, Laguna's 10U coed team placed seventh, and the 12U boys' team placed ninth. In Gold division tournament play, Laguna's 12U "B" team finished eighth.

The Laguna 14U boys' team did not compete at the Junior Olympics.