Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week - Christina Hewko, The sky’s the

limit

Tony Altobelli

Corona del Mar High girls water polo standout Christina Hewko does

not have one particular strength. But, fortunately for the Sea Kings,

she’s pretty darn good at just about everything in the pool.

“I just try to be consistent on both ends of the pool,” Hewko said. “I

try not to think about numbers or goals or any of that stuff. I just go

out and do my best.”

The Sea Kings, despite having a very young squad, reached the CIF

Southern Section Division IV semifinals, thanks in large part to Hewko’s

all-around play.

“Christina provides great energy to our team, both at practice and in

the games,” CdM Coach John Vargas said. “She goes hard all the time and

she’s does a great job of leading by example.”

The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week helped guide the Sea Kings into

the semifinals with three goals, three assists and three steals in a 13-2

quarterfinal win over Brea Olinda on Feb. 20.

“For our team, our offense is sparked by our defense,” Hewko said.

“It’s important to score goals, but I try to put a lot of focus on steals

and transition.”

Hewko led the Sea Kings with 104 steals and 31 assists, while scoring

62 goals, second only to Danielle Carlson’s 76.

A driver for most of her playing career, Hewko played a number of

different roles for CdM, including work in the two-meter position, where

she scored a goal in the Sea Kings’ 7-6 semifinal loss to Laguna Beach

Friday.

“We were hoping for a trip to the finals, but it just didn’t happen,”

Hewko said. “We had a ton of scoring opportunities and if we had made

just a few more, we would have won.”

Despite the loss, it’s onward and upward for Hewko and the Sea Kings.

Her ability to now play different positions gives CdM more flexibility

and weapons, both offensively and defensively for next year.

“I like playing different positions,” Hewko said. “If you play too

much at one spot, you get burned out quickly. It’s always new and

challenging playing other positions.”

While most girls are learning water polo as freshmen, Hewko was

introduced to the sport much earlier. “I was 8 or 9 when I first started

playing,” she said. “I was playing soccer and my coach at Harbor View

convinced me to play with the boys in water polo. I’ve stuck with it ever

since.”

Now under the guidance of Vargas, Hewko is learning the finer points

of the game and will only get better with more time in the water.

“Coach Vargas is teaching us not to think out there,” she said with a

laugh. “That’s what I’m working on the most. Just trying to go out and

play the game.”

Vargas has seen Hewko’s hard work pay off and still sees even bigger

and better numbers down the road.

“Christina can still improve in the little areas of the game,” he

said. “There’s work to be done both on offense and defense. She’s done a

great job moving from driver to the two-meter position.”

The future looks bright for both Hewko and the Sea Kings and a return

trip to the playoffs begins in the summer.

“We’re going on a water polo tournament in Hawaii this summer, so that

will be very exciting,” Hewko said. “As far as next year goes, if we keep

up our determination and dedication, we’re going to go a long way. We

can’t wait.”