El Toro’s boys water polo team returns six of seven starters from its Division 1 championship squad of 2009. And the one newcomer to group was selected MVP of the 16-and-under Junior Olympics in August.
Yes, the Chargers will be good again this fall, but plenty of challenges still lie ahead.
The competition in the CIF-SS Division 1 is tougher with the addition of the Trinity League, which includes two-time Division 2 champion Mater Dei.
Click here for a breakdown of the top teams and players for the season.
The Monarchs will be formidable, even with the uncertainty surrounding Newport Harbor transfer Jon Walters.
But the trials for El Toro won’t end there. The Chargers, ranked No. 1 in the county preseason poll, will face a daily challenge on their own pool deck.
“They can’t be too proud of their accomplishments,” said Don Stoll, who enters his 30th season as El Toro’s coach.
“They’ve won a lot. They’ve won five JOs (Junior Olympics) in a row. And they’ve won the CIF championship. If they keep looking back, people are going to sneak up on them.”
Stoll hopes the theme he set for the season helps his team focus. On the back of the Chargers’ weightlifting T-shirt, Stoll printed a quote from John Wooden that states that winning a title takes talent but repeating requires character.
“If you don’t focus on the job at hand and try to get better, you will lose,” Stoll said. “They are a lot teams capable of beating (us). Mater Dei, Newport (Harbor), Loyola, Dos Pueblos in Division 1. Servite maybe. … Los Alamitos is a question mark. Nobody has seen them in the summer.”
Stoll knows what it takes to defend a title. His Chargers claimed three consecutive Southern Section titles from 1988-1990. The first two were in the old 3-A Division. In 1990, the Chargers captured their first Division 1 crown.
El Toro also claimed back-to-back Division 1 titles in 1992 and 1993.
Five of the Chargers’ starters helped SET claim a fifth consecutive Junior Olympics gold medal in August. Logan Chappell was the tournament MVP for a 16-and-under team that also included James Rude, Joey Fuentes, Joey Colton and goalie Garrett Danner.
Starters Russell Renteria and Zach Nelson have also won with SET in the past.
“They’re very talented,” Stoll said. “I’m honored to be their coach.”
Nick Rascon, the Division 1 co-player of the year with Renteria, was the lone starter to graduate last year.
APPEAL UPDATE
Mater Dei’s appeal in the Walters transfer case is now in the hands of a state CIF appeals committee.
The case’s appeal meeting was held Thursday, Mater Dei president Patrick Murphy said in an e-mail. The committee is expected to release its findings soon, Murphy said.
Walters, a rising sophomore at Mater Dei, left Newport Harbor in the spring. He was declared ineligible by the CIF-Southern Section in August.
Mater Dei opens its season Sept. 14 at Oaks Christian.
NOTES
Several county players traveled with the U.S. junior team to Italy during the summer. They were: Walters, Renteria, Danner, Mater Dei junior Bret Bonanni, Newport Harbor junior Farrel South and senior Chris Whitelegge (goalie) and Los Alamitos senior Joe Ferretti. …
Corona del Mar and the Pacific Coast League return to Division 2 for the playoffs for the first time since 2001. After claiming three consecutive Division 2 titles from 1999-2001, the Sea Kings were placed back in Division 1. …
Three-time Olympian and 2008 silver medalist Ryan Bailey has joined Corona del Mar as an assistant coach. …
Jim Sprague and his son, Todd, will be assisting Coach Dave Carlson at Los Alamitos. Todd Sprague also is the Griffins’ lower-level coach for water polo and swimming. …
Former county player of the year Adam Hewko is working as an assistant at Servite, his alma mater. Hewko’s brother, senior Luke Hewko, transferred from JSerra to Servite in the offseason. Adam Hewko was a standout at Pepperdine and played with the U.S. national team. …
Foothill’s new 50-meter pool will serve as one of the host sites for the South Coast Tournament.
