Prep fall preview: Local boys water polo teams among best

He works as a programmer by day and becomes a coach in the evening and feels strongly that the Vikings will be competitive in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, which also includes Gunn, last year's runner-up to Los Altos.

The Titans lost nine seniors but coach Peter Olson thinks his team is motivated to remain in contention for a spot in the Open Division.

Sacred Heart Prep, which competes in the rugged West Catholic Athletic League, always seems to be reloading and this year is no different.

Coach Brian Kreutzkamp has three seniors committed to Division I schools and an incoming freshman that has all the credentials of a top-level goalie.

Menlo School and Menlo-Atherton have dominated Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division action over the years and this season should be no different.

Menlo and SH Prep can each make a great case for having the best player in the Central Coast Section. Even with that, Knights' coach Jack Bowen rarely singles out any one player.

Menlo-Atherton also has a new coach in Tim Kates, who is no stranger to the area. He was born in the Los Angeles area, lived in Atherton and played at St. Francis before becoming an All-American goalie at Cal. He's coached with Bowen, among others.

Woodside lost four starters from a team that finished 9-14 but was getting better over the course of the season.

Six players return to give the Wildcats some promise, though they have to deal with M-A, Menlo and Half Moon Bay, another solid team.

Priory continues to develop its program and will compete in the PAL Ocean Division.

Top returning players: Devan Singh, Junior center defender; Batu Buyukbezci, Junior driver; Ryan Torabi, Senior center.

Newcomers to watch: Nick McGaughey, Junior driver; Karl Brzoska, Junior goalie.

Coach Peter Olson on What I really like about this group: "Their level of focus and commitment to improving. They embrace difficult training and are great at motivating themselves and their teammates to get better. It's a young group with big shoes to fill after graduating nine seniors but they are excited about the opportunity they have in front of them."

Top returning players: Ben Rapperport (goalie, captain); Dexter Gormley (utility, captain); Javid Alasti (2-meter offense, captain); Zach Phillips (driver, captain).

Newcomers to watch: Jack Haney (lefty, freshman); Charles Mitz (sophomore, on varsity as a freshman without much playing time but grew a lot, got a lot better, and will start this year).

Coach Ethan Look on What I really like about my team is: "Our top end. We return five players (Rapperport, Gormley, Alasti, Phillips, Ryan Stanley) who started most games last year.

"Rapperport and Gormley have the opportunity to be the best goalie/defensive duo in SCVAL. Add Mitz, a capable starter, scorer, and pesky swimmer.

"Promising juniors Dante Garetto and Ryan Wisowaty, and returning seniors Otto Berndt and Jack Stefanski could prove that our greatest strength is actually our depth.

"The league is wide open. The defending champs, Los Altos, lost their top two players."

Coach Jack Bowen: "We should be very strong. From last year's CCS Open Division runner-up, we did graduate three strong starters (who were recruited to play at Brown, MIT, and Johns Hopkins). So we'll be filling those spots. We have some strong players coming in to fill those spots in junior Jack King, sophomore Connor MacMitchell and junior Noah Housenbold.

All of these guys worked exceptionally hard in the off-season, playing with both our club (South Peninsula) and Stanford and made a real impact at the State Tournament in July (where we finished 15th out of 48).

"We'll be returning three veterans: center defender Maxwell Paterson, lefty junior Connor Enright, and four-year starter Sam Untrecht.

"Sam is our league's two-time MVP and was in Europe competing with the US National Youth Team in the Youth World Championships. All three of these guys played 90 percent of every game last year and work exceptionally well together.

"In addition, we're returning our starting goalie from last year's team, Josh Poulos, who had an outstanding season as a sophomore last year and that year of experience will carry him a long way. He's easily considered one of the top-five goalies in CCS this season.

"I love the way this team works together but also has a lot of fun doing it. We have a new head JV coach, Mike Hendrickson, who was the head coach at Archbishop Mitty for about 10 years, about 10 years ago. He just said to me today: 'I can tell this is a good team just by the way they interact with each other on deck, respecting each other, and having a good time together.'

"Our team's goal this year, as it has been every season in the past is, 'Be Your Best.' There's no doubt this team is pursuing this. They work exceptionally hard and they are a lot of fun to be around.

"And, in pursuit of this goal, we have once again set up an exceptionally challenging schedule including head to head games against the top teams both in CCS (SHP, Bellarmine, St. Francis) and otherwise (Sir Francis Drake, Coronado, Buchanan), North-South and CCS/NCS Tournament.

And, lastly, our own tournament: The Scott Roche Invitational, now in it's 20th year, has increased in competitiveness and includes La Jolla, St Mary's, Valley Christian, Granite Bay, Davis, Buchannan, and Acalanes.

Top Returning Players: Cooper Gran, Willem Holzricher, Gabriel Montoya and Zachary de Haaff.

Newcomers to watch: Michael Heller.

Coach Tim Kates on What I really like about this team: "Athletes need an open-minded attitude so that they are willing to change, grow and improve. I see these qualities in my players, and it excites me as a coach. These players already have a strong foundation of water polo skills, and because of their positive attitudes and willingness to learn, there is no limit to what they might achieve."

Top returning players: Andrew Churukian, SR, CCS Open Division Player of the Year in 2017, Stanford commit; Larsen Weigle, SR, ALL CCS selection in 2016 and 2017, four-year starter and Stanford commit; Walker Seymour, all CCs selection in 2017, Harvard commit.

Newcomers to watch: Griffin Price, Goalie, Freshmen, member of USA cadet team that just returned from Montenegro; Will Riley, Sr, driver with great speed.

Coach Brian Kreutzkamp on What I really like about my team is: "Strong team leadership and great work ethic. SHP is the seven-time defending WCAL and CCS champions and the winner of the inaugural Open Division last season. We're looking to continue the tradition and will be playing a very tough non league schedule, including two trips to southern California (CA Elite 8 and S and R Sport).

Top returning player: Goalie Kai Seeed, junior Dominic Constanz, junior Duncam Vaughan, senior Nicholas Hovsmith, sophomore Joe Untrecht, sophomore Aidan Seed.

Newcomers to watch: Nathan Cai, Adam Mead, Alec Friedsam, Andrew Mills, Ryan Mills, Tyler Deal.

Top returning players: Junior Mark Hughes, sophomore Josh Solomon, senior Daniel Cassle, junior Brad Schoenthaler.