The 805 Santa Barbara Water Polo Club 14-under girls team won a bronze medal at the 2021 USA Water Polo Champions Cup held at Indiana University in Bloomington, Nov. 5-7.
805 defeated NIPC (19-5), Greenwich (16-8) and La Morinda (6-4) before losing to SET (15-11) in the crossover game.
In the semifinals, 805 lost to Socal Water Polo, 9-6, and then defeated SET 11-10 to win the bronze.
“This tournament is a great opportunity to play some of the nation’s best teams early in the season.” said coach Cathy Neushul. “I am encouraged with our performance and look forward to seeing what this team can do at the Junior Olympics.”
Led by Cathy Neushul and daughter and 2021 Olympic gold medalist Jamie Neushul, the 805 team included Scarlet Akin, Lily Bordofsky, Makena Bygrave, Shea Estabrook, Mia Fabros, Anneliese Holmes, Bethany King, Talia Marshall, Charlotte Raisin, McKenna Stuart and Margaret Watson. Malaya Coleman anchored the 14s in goal.
805 also fielded a boys team for the first time since 2012. Led by Cathy and Jamie Neushul, the boys included Paolo Borgioli, Charlie Brand, Johnny Dollar, Cooper Haws, Jack Kramer, Nicholas Macaluso, Jake Magid, Aricin Marshall, Grant Nelson, Lucas Neushul, and AJ Scarborough. Titus Fernandez played in goal for the boys.
“This is the first time in a decade that we’ve qualified a boys team for this highly competitive tournament” said Cathy Neushul. “We faced some far more experienced teams and still ended up 10th overall. I think the boys will grow from the Champions Cup experience.”