Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Ryan Cook - Newport’s key

ingredient.

Tony Altobelli

Here’s a scary bit of information to the remaining opponents of the

Newport Harbor High boys water polo team.

Ryan Cook has found his shot.

“I wasn’t watching the goal when I shot the ball and I was missing,”

Cook said. “My coaches have been working with me on that and it’s

starting to get much better.”

When his shot was “lost,” Cook still managed to score 78 goals and

dish out 79 assists to lead the Sailors’ scoring attack.

“He was shooting the ball just too darn hard out there and his shots

were either missing high or hitting the crossbar,” Newport Coach Brian

Kreutzkamp said. “Coach (Bill) Barnett shot some film of Ryan and we

fixed the problem. He’s been a much more relaxed player as of late, which

makes him a better player.”

Last week at the 2000 Memorial Cup in San Jose, Cook helped lead the

Sailors to the championship game with wins over San Clemente and Villa

Park.

In the finals against Coronado, Cook was the leading scorer with four

goals in the Sailors’ 12-8 loss.

“He just has a nose for the goal,” Kreutzkamp said. “We’ve used him

primarily at the 2-meter position and he can score right-handed or

left-handed. He has a number of moves and he seems to find a way to score

for us.”

Cook, an All-CIF first-team selection last year, has been around water

polo most of his life. “I remember watching Newport play ever since I was

10 years old,” Cook said. “I’ve been wanting a CIF ring ever since then.

We’ve come close the past couple of years, but this could be our year.”

Whether it’s Cook or his offensive partner in crime, Peter Belden, the

Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week wants to be in that pressure situation

when it comes around.

“Either I want to be the guy who shoots the ball, or I want to be the

guy that passes the ball to Peter so he can score,” Cook said with a

laugh. “I like it when the pressure is on and I want to rise to the

challenge.”

Following last year’s heartbreaking 9-8 sudden-death loss to El Toro

in the CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals, Cook has used that

negative and turned it into a motivational positive.

“I think I was fatigued late in that game,” Cook said. “Since then,

I’ve worked in the pool harder, I’ve hit the weights harder and I’m going

to make sure that if and or when we get in that situation again, I’ll be

ready to go.”

According to Cook, Newport might lead all high school teams in overall

group experience.

“We’ve all played water polo together since we were nine,” Cook said.

“That’s why I love working so hard because it’s fun playing with these

guys. We’re all best friends and we spend all our time together. We all

want to win this thing.”

As far as life after Harbor, Cook would like to stay where it’s warm.

“My first two choices are USC and UCLA,” Cook said. “I thought about

Stanford, but I don’t know if I could stand the colder weather in the

winter.”

Towels are quickly used in the Cook family. “When I’m not playing

water polo, I’m in the ocean,” he said. “I’m either surfing or

water-skiing. I just love the water.”