The time has arrived for the next generation of Santa Barbara area girls water polo players to make their mark with the USA Women’s Senior National Team.
Three local players, including two who are still in high school, are among the 15 players selected by head coach Adam Krikorian to play for Team USA at the Pan Am Sports Water Polo Championships in Ilbague, Colombia, Nov. 20-25. The event is a qualifier for the 2025 World Aquatics World Championship in Singapore, with the top two finishers earning a spot next summer.
Ava Stryker, Charlotte Raisin and Lucy Haaland-Ford are part of a group of rising talent that will join four Olympians and high-level collegiate players on a U.S. squad that will be guided by Team USA assistant and Santa Barbara High alum Molly Cahill.
Stryker, a member of USC’s women’s water polo team who earned honorable mention All-American honors as a true freshman last season, is a former San Marcos star. She’s won gold medals playing for the U.S. at the FINA Youth World Championships in 2023 and at the 2022 Junior Pan Am Games.
Haaland-Ford and Raisin are current San Marcos student-athletes. Haaland-Ford, a senior, and Raisin, a junior, also have played with USA Water Polo age-group teams in international competitions. In September, they played in the World Aquatics U18 Championship in China.
The three teammates continue the tradition of players representing the Santa Barbara 805 Water Polo Club and the local high schools making it on a USA Senior National Team roster for a major tournament. That list includes Kami Craig, Kiley Neushul, Sami Hill, Paige Hauschild, Jamie Neushul, Ryann Neushul and Thalia Munro, all of whom played in the Olympic Games.
Stryker, Haaland-Ford and Raisin will be joined by Moorpark’s Amanda Longan (a two-time Olympian and 2020 gold medalist in Tokyo) and Paris Olympians Emily Ausmus, Jovana Sekulic and Tara Prentice.
Also on the squad are Emma Lineback, Allison Cohen, Anna Pearson, Julia Bonaguidi, Lauren Steele, Quinn Healy, Rachel Gazzaniga and Rosalie Hassett. Cohen (Orange Lutheran) and Hassett (Miramonte) are the other high schoolers on the team.
Team USA opens the Pan Am Sports Water Polo Championships against Argentina on Nov. 20. They’ll also face Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela before the final on Nov. 25.
