SHP boys on track for best season ever

He helped turn a solid program into a dynsasty, rivaled only by Menlo School's continued success over the years. During Kreutzkamps's tenure, the Knights won the other three CCS titles and have consistently advanced into the championship game.

Kreutzkamp owns a 325-80 (.802 winning percentage) overall record at SHP and the school is 412-121 (.733) since the beginning of the 2001 season.

Sacred Heart Prep won the first-ever CCS Open Division last season, cementing its repuation as a water polo power, and reached the NorCal championship game before losing to Drake, 8-6.

The Gators (19-1) open the Memorial Cup Tournament against Dos Pueblos (16-8) at Valley Christian on Friday at 9 a.m. They will play again at 1:40 p.m. if they lose or 2:50 p.m. if they win against either Foothill or Buchanan.

The top eight teams reconvene at Bellarmine on Saturday and the Gators are heavily favored to be among those teams.

The consensus among water polo afficiandos is that after beating Harvard-Westlake (16-3) to win its first North-South Challenge last weekend, the Gators are considered one of the top high school team in the nation. Their best previous finish was a third-place showing in 2013.

Campolindo (15-4) was also in the conversation but has lost to Harvard-Westlake twice this year. The Cougars, who are also competing in San Jose this weekend, have yet to meet Sacred Heart Prep. It could happen this weekend.

Campolindo plays Wilson Los Angeles at 11:20 a.m., also at Valley Christian, on Friday. The teams would not meet until Saturday's semifinal (12:30 p.m. at Bellarmine if both win twice Friday).

You don't have to remind Kreutzkamp of Campolindo's talent. "They are really tough," he said. "It's our last little push before the post-season."

The Cougars losses to Harvard-Westlake were each by a point, including an overtime game. While Sacred Heart Prep has beaten Harvard-Westlake (which lists three seniors on the roster) twice, each by a point, the Gators lost to the Wolverines, 12-5, in the title match of the S&R Sports Elite 8 Invitational.

"They beat us pretty badly," Kreutzkamp said.

The question of who's best in Northern California may not be answered this weekend but Sacred Heart Prep is making a case for its best team ever at the school.

With the possibility of 12 more games, the Gators are likely to surpass the 26 games they won last year, in 2013 and 2007 under Kreutzkamp and could threaten the school record 29 games in 2003, when they won their first CCS title.

Not only did Sacred Heart Prep win its first-ever North-South Challenge title, the Gators have never been 19-1 this late in the season before now.

"It was a great weekend for us," Kreutzkamp said. "It's unique to be able to play teams like Harvard-Westlake and Mater Dei."

The Gators feature eight seniors, of which Larsen Weigle and Andrew Churukian are committed to Stanford and Walker Seymour is committed to Harvard. There's a chance at least three more will be playing in college next season.

Will Riley, Xavier Marco, Kyle Ballack and James Plaschke have been producing outstanding results recently and John Petrakian has filled in admirably at goalie.

Freshmen Griffen Price, Jack Vort, Luke Johnston and Donald Weigle, and sophomore Isaac Rotenberg filled in all the roles lost to graduation from last year.

Like the rest of the underclassmen, Price is a veteran of the Stanford Water Polo Foundation club and has Menlo School coach Jack Bowen, among others, to thank for his growth as a goalie. Most of the underclassmen have participated in the annual Junior Olympics competition for about 4-6 years.

Kreutzkamp has been affiliated with Stanford and the club team for nearly 20 years. He coached the boys 10-under team that played in the JOs this past summer. He's also coached at every age level and has a national title to his credit.

In 2011, Kreutzkamp was honored by USA Water Polo with a Distinguished Men's Coaching Award.

Before Sacred Heart Prep, Kreutzkamp was an assistant coach at Stanford under John Vargas, coached Golden West College to the state title in 2001 and started his coaching career at Costa Mesa (1993-96) and Newport Beach (1996-2000) high schools.

There are still many challenges ahead. Following the Memorial Cup, the Gators jump into the West Catholic Athletic League tournament, followed by the CCS and, likely, the NorCal playoffs. But you have to like their chances.

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