The roster features no club players or swimmers. Some players first needed to learn how to swim. But those weren’t the biggest hurdles Loara’s girls water polo team cleared to reach the CIF-SS playoffs.
The Saxons simply didn’t have a program a few years ago.
Loara didn’t field a girls team in 2011-12 before Coach Pedro Jiron took the reins the next season.
But on Tuesday, the Saxons will take their place amongst the playoff qualifiers thanks to a third-place finish in the Golden West League.
“I’m pretty proud of what the girls did,” Jiron said Friday after the Saxons edged Westminster, 7-6, in a league playoff for third place. “This was a brand new program when I started.”
Loara (10-11) plays at Elsinore (14-8), the runner-up in the Sunbelt League, in a Division 6 wild-card match Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
The winner plays at top-seeded Pasadena Poly on Thursday.
Loara notched a triumph in hiring Jiron, a walk-on coach who also works in law enforcement and as a lifeguard for Huntington State Beach. His wife, Tera, is an assistant coach.
The Saxons didn’t play in 2011-12 because they didn’t have a coach.
In Jiron’s first season, Loara had only 14 players in the program and finished 1-9 in the Golden West League. In 2014, the Saxons climbed to 4-6 in league but missed the playoffs. But this season, Loara placed third with a 6-5 record in a league ranked as the toughest in Division 6.
“He’s done a phenomenal job,” Loara athletic director Scott Wilson said of Jiron.
One of Jiron’s keys to success has been recruiting players from other sports.
Senior Alanna Torres, a three-year starting catcher in softball, scored the winning goal with 16 seconds left to edge Westminster. Torres finished with four goals and leads the Saxons with 74.
Senior goalie Brooke Kibel made eight saves against Westminster while sophomore Isabelle Lucena netted three goals.
NOTES
Villa Park consultant John Kulisich showed his respect for No. 1 Laguna Beach (27-0) when Breakers coach Ethan Damato asked what time the Spartans (23-6) wanted to play the teams’ first round CIF match Wednesday in Division 1.
“At midnight with no lights,” Kulisich replied in jest.
The teams settled on 4:30 p.m. …
University’s girls water polo team has produced one of the best turnaround seasons in Orange County. The Trojans qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2005, not 2001 as earlier reported.
