The 805 Santa Barbara Water Polo Club’s 16-Under-A Girls team won Silver at the 2018 National Junior Olympics at Stanford University over the weekend.
Led by Connor Levoff and Cathy Neushul, the 16s overcame a series of tough opponents, including surviving a shootout loss to Commerce in pool play followed by a shootout win over SoCal in the knockout round.
805 Santa Barbara faced Saddleback El Toro (SET) in the Gold Medal Match.
The championship was a low-scoring affair, with SET holding a 5-2 lead through three quarters. With a crowd of over 800 cheering, Santa Barbara rallied in the fourth to pull within a goal at 5-4 before SET took advantage of a transitional offensive call and retook momentum to lead 6-4. They then held on to win 7-6.
805’s path to the final included victories over Davis (14-3), South Coast (8-4), and Lamorinda (9-0) followed by a shootout loss to Commerce (8.3-8.1). On Day 3, Santa Barbara defeated 680 (13-2), SoCal (6.5-6.3), and Huntington Beach (12-6) to advance to Sunday morning’s semifinal win over Rose Bowl (8-7).
The 16U Silver Medalists include Catherine Ahumada, Rachel Ahumada, Shannon Connolly, Anne De Kleer, Angela Drake, Abigail Hendix, Claire Kronen, Hannah Meyer, Cassidy Miller, Megan Musick, Ella Prentice, Mary Rhodes, Sabina Shackelford, and Faith Tedesco.
Santa Barbara’s 18s, the 2018 National Club Champions, defeated eventual champion SoCal in a Saturday afternoon shootout to advance undefeated to Sunday’s semifinal. Led by Cathy Neushul, Connor Levoff, and Pam Tanase, the 18s fell to 680-A, 14-11, and then lost to SET in the Bronze Medal Game, 10-4. SoCal defeated 680 for the gold.
Other notable performances in the Platinum Division include an impressive sixth-place finish by Levoff’s 12U girls and 10th place for the 14U Girls.
Coach Cathy Neushul pointed to next year. “Our 14 team is young with many returning in this age bracket and our 12s are strong. Look out for 805 Santa Barbara at next year’s JOs,” she said.
805 Santa Barbara sent nine teams to the 2018 Junior Olympics, with four placing in the Platinum Division.