By Ryver Marbach and Virginia Hogge, Editor in Chief and Managing Editor
El Camino’s Boys and Girls Water Polo teams finished their regular season and celebrated their graduating seniors during their matches against Rio Linda on Oct. 26. The boys team won the game 27-8; the girls won 25-5.
EC’s Boys Water Polo team ended league with an overall record of 13-6, as well as being undefeated in league. This makes them the Golden Empire League champions for the third season in a row and guarantees them a spot in the Division III Section playoffs this November.
EC’s Girls Water Polo team has an overall record of 14-4 and a league record of 5-1, their only league loss being at Dixon on Sept. 29. This places them second in league, just behind Dixon. Still, the team will have a playoff berth, and head coach Cory Stowell expects the team to be seeded first. Both boys and girls playoff brackets will be out on Friday.
Stowell has been coaching the EC water polo teams for 11 years now. Last year, he coached both teams to the Section Championship. Both teams were seeded third and faced the one seed in the championship game, where they lost to Christian Brothers and Roseville respectively. Stowell talked about what he thinks the outcome of this year’s section finals will look like.
“I think the girls and the boys have a really good chance to win this year. So, not like last year, where Roseville’s boys were legit, and the girls were right there. This year it should be close,” Stowell explained.
Stowell mentioned Senora and Bear River as some of the boys team’s biggest competitors, with Bret Harte and Ripon being the girls’ biggest rivals for their section playoffs. Earlier in the season, the boys lost 11-9 to Sonora in the Sierra Shootout tournament. Outside of that, the teams have yet to face their other competitors this season.
With the season finishing up, Stowell is starting to prepare for the following seasons and if either team will be able make it to sections in the coming seasons with the loss of six seniors on the boys’ side, and four seniors on the girls’ side.
“It’s not to dismiss anything that they’re doing this year on the girls’ side of things–I think we’ll be back there next year. On the boys’ side, we’re going to be missing a lot of things–we’ll see what we can do this year, because I don’t know when the guys will be back at this,” Stowell shared.
Ashley Saavedra (‘27) was the girls’ lead scorer in the team’s game against Rio Linda. She had six assists and five goals for a total of 11 points in her senior night game. Saavedra has been on the team for all four years of high school and is one of two team captains, the other being Charlotte Van Den Enden (‘28). Saavedra spoke about her thoughts regarding the game.
“It was honestly an easy game and we were having a lot of fun. We were all really motivated–and [the seniors] were really happy to see everybody celebrate us,” Saavedra said.
Along with preparing for sections, Stowell also has to put into count what players will step up in the following seasons to get the team to sections and lead the players. On the girls’ side, one of the players Stowell mentioned was Harper Leslie (‘29). Leslie is only in her second year of water polo, her freshman year being her first. Leslie swims outside of the school and for EC’s swim team. Leslie talked about what it means to her to be on the water polo team and how she feels about the following seasons.
“I’m sad that [the seniors] are leaving, but I’m also really happy because they’re going and exploring life. We do have a really strong senior team right now, but I know our juniors and some of our sophomores are willing to step up,” Leslie explained.
Leslie also explained how she feels going into this year’s section playoffs.
“I’m really excited. I’m not really worried about it, because I know our team is really strong. We have a really strong bond with each other, which is why I think our team does so good, because we spend so much time together,” Leslie explained.
For the boys’ side, Stowell is counting on Varsity captain Issac Rex (‘28) to step up during his senior year to lead the team and take on that senior role. Rex talked about how he feels for next year.
“I’m a little nervous for next year, but I’m also excited. There’s going to be a lot of people who are going to join next year, so it’s gonna be fun,” Rex mentioned.
The team is preparing for sections, with practices after school and meditation led by Stowell, getting the team ready for any situation during the games and to ease their nerves. Stowell and the rest of the team are actively looking for players to join the boy’s and girl’s water polo teams next season. If you are interested in playing next season, talk to Stowell in the vice principals’ hallway.
Section playoff brackets were released on Friday. The girl’s team is seeded first overall, and the boy’s team is seeded third overall. The girls will be playing Los Banos on Nov. 3 at 3:30 p.m. and the boys will be playing Pioneer on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.; both games will be held at Rio Americano High School.
