Girls water polo: Forging a legacy of success in the area
Sacred Heart Prep and St. Francis have set the gold standard as the two West Catholic Athletic League schools have a combined 19 of a possible 36 CCS titles.
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Of the five girls water polo teams that have won two or more Central Coast Section titles, three of them are in Atherton, where the sport has become increasingly popular.
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Only one of the three high schools in Palo Alto that offer water polo have won a CCS title but the other two have reached a combined eight championship matches.
It's a long way of saying that high schools in the area benefit from quality coaching, the Stanford Water Polo Foundation and the competitive nature of the players themselves.
Sacred Heart Prep and St. Francis have set the gold standard as the two West Catholic Athletic League schools have a combined 19 of a possible 36 CCS titles. They've also combined to reach an additional 11 championship matches.
The Gators, with a record 10 CCS titles (consecutively 2007-16) are under new leadership in Jamie Frank, the long-time boys assistant coach and who coached the Stanford Club 16U boys' team to back-to-back national titles.
SHP's Nellie McAdams is, arguably, the top returning goalkeeper in the area and one of the top in the section. Returning players Annabel Facey and Eleanor Facey join McAdams.
Newcomers to watch include Ella Woodhead, Bella Bachler and Alexandra Sczcerba.
"They are all excited about competing and they want to work hard for each other," Frank said.
SHP won the West Catholic Athletic League regular-season title last year, fell to St. Francis in the league championship final and then fell in the Open Division finale to Leland.
In fact, no Atherton team won a CCS title for the first time since 2003.
Sacred Heart Prep opens WCAL play with a 3:30 p.m. game at Mitty on Wednesday while the Lancers travel to St. Ignatius for a 3:30 p.m. game.
Both schools are also entered in the St. Francis Invitational, which gets underway Friday. Mitty, SI and defending CCS Division II champion Valley Christian are also entered.
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12
