Water Polo

Laguna Beach High senior Lexie Ross has been selected to the first-team All-Southern California girls? water polo team, highlighting local selections from the Breakers. Junior Jessie Holechek was named to the second team and junior Jessica Shusko the third team. Yoshi Andersen, a sophomore, was named to the sixth team. The teams, voted on by high school girls? coaches from around Southern California, are different than the All-CIF teams, as they are put together regardless of division.

With the boys' team earning a fourth-place finish and their female counterpart placing fifth overall, the Laguna Beach High water polo program returned home this week with its best-ever showing in the Hawaiian Water Polo Invitational 18 and Under tournament. The 34th annual summer event, which attracted teams from across the nation as well as a few international squads, concluded with play at the University of Hawaii last weekend. BOYS Laguna Beach won four games en route to a fourth-place tournament finish.

The Laguna Beach water polo boys' 14-and-under team opened its new season Sunday with a 13-3 victory over visiting Chino Hills. Laguna led from the start as Robert Chew scored three goals, Spencer Dodson scored twice and Nolan McConnell had a goal in the first period of play. Goalie Peter Weidner, a newcomer to the team, got off to a strong shot with a block of a four-meter attempt in the opening quarter. Dodson, Chew, Cole Kennedy and Nicky Brunner scored in the second frame, and the defense of Robbie Quellmalz, Zach Riegler, Derek Kott, Tommy Renner and new players Brent Donenfeld, Trevor Bass and Casey Connors held Chino Hills to a single first-half goal.

It?s not even postseason tournament time, yet the Laguna Beach girls? water polo team is getting a taste of what to expect from the upcoming CIF Southern Section playoffs. The Breakers, ranked third in Division II, currently are playing in the Irvine Southern California Championships at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine. The Breakers, seeded second in their eight-team pool, opened the tournament Thursday against Esperanza. ?This tournament gives us a change to boost our division ranking,?

Mike Sciacca The Laguna Beach 12-and-under girls' water polo team finished its season as one of the top teams in the nation as it earned a silver medal at the USA Water Polo Girl's National Junior Olympics in San Jose. Laguna's only loss came at the hands of its rival and the eventual champion, Santa Barbara. Laguna blazed out of the tournament gate with a pair of resounding wins, defeating Davis, 16-1, and Diablo, 17-1, in pool play. Laguna began the second day of tournament play with a 7-2 victory over the North San Diego Stars.

Finally, the Laguna Beach High girls? water polo team had Foothill?s number. A year after dropping a season-opening overtime game to the Knights, and nearly two years removed from dropping a close game in the finals of the CIF Masters tournament, the Breakers opened up their 2008-09 campaign Tuesday by posting a 9-5 victory at Beckman High. An impressive start propelled Laguna into a commanding lead over Foothill. The Breakers opened up a 4-0 lead and maintained the four-goal cushion (5-1)

No amount of preparation could ready Annika Dries for the announcement. On May 17, the former Laguna Beach High girls' water polo standout realized a lifelong dream when she was one of 13 athletes named to the USA Olympic women's water polo team that will compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. "Normally, I am prepared. I have something to say or do or think," the 20-year-old said. "But the moment my coach (Adam Krikorian) told me I was an Olympian, I was speechless and filled with pure joy. I have worked and dreamed a long time about becoming an Olympian.

Senior utility player Lexie Ross was named the Most Valuable Player of the Orange Coast League for girls’ water polo, in voting by league coaches. Ross, headed for Stanford, finished the season with 48 goals, 31 assists and 36 steals. The Breakers’ team captain, also the team’s only senior, helped lead Laguna (22-9) to yet another league title and all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division II championship match. Juniors Jessie Holechek, Jessica Shusko and goalie Etianne Manetta, as well as sophomore Yoshi Andersen, joined Ross on the first team.

Annika Dries and Ryan Lawler earned Athlete of the Year honors as the Laguna Beach High athletic boosters recently announced their award winners for the 2008-09 season. The Stanford-bound Dries, a water polo and swimming standout, helped the Breakers girls? water polo team to Orange Coast League and CIF Southern Section Division II titles this year. She also was a key member of the girls? swim team that also repeated as league champs and finished second at the CIF Southern Section Division III finals, the best swimming finish in school history.

The Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team entered play this week without a familiar face poolside. Rick McKee, who has coached the girls' and boys' water polo teams at the school for the past four years, resigned from his post Tuesday. McKee's said his resignation had to do with "personal reasons." He said that Chad Beeler, the head coach of Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo, will step in to coach the girls' squad the remainder of the season. In his last week at the helm, McKee's Breakers finished third at the Villa Park Classic.