The best around

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR -- Before the 2002 U.S. Senior Nationals began,

Genai Kerr, the starting goalie of the U.S. National Team, said the

Newport Harbor Water Polo Foundation had an obligation to maintain

its rich tradition throughout the tournament. Kerr’s words came to

fruition when Newport won the Senior Nationals title Sunday at CdM, a

few blocks from where the majority of the team went to school, at UC

Irvine, where they played for legendary head coach Ted Newland.

Newland was also a bit prophetic when he spoke about his team’s

strategy before the Senior Nationals began. He said Newport would

depend on the best two-meter men in the nation. And, those two

two-meter men, Ryan Bailey and Jeff Powers, were recognized as the

tournament’s most outstanding players. They shared the Chuck Metz

award.

Powers, who will be a senior at UCI in the fall, and Bailey, the

dominant two-meter man usually described as the Shaquille O’Neal of

water polo, are U.S. National team members, as are fellow UCI alumni

Omar Amr and Dan Klatt.

Powers scored three goals in the first quarter to help lead

Newport to a 4-1 advantage over Senior Nationals defending champion

New York Athletic Club ‘A’ in the title game Sunday. Powers’ play set

the tone for Newland’s squad and New York never recovered. New York

AC featured five U.S. National Team members in Adam Wright, Wolf

Wigo, Larry Felix, Jack Kocur and Merrill Moses.

Kerr, the Sage Hill High water polo coach, recorded 10 saves in

the victory.

Newport earned the right to play for the championship with an

11-10 overtime victory over Stanford Water Polo Foundation, coached

by former CdM High head man John Vargas, who played under Newland at

UCI in the early 80s.

In its first real test of the tournament, Newport displayed the

pride of that rich tradition Kerr spoke of. Powers scored with 1:28

remaining in the first overtime frame and added another goal in the

second overtime period to put his team up, 11-9. Powers scored five

goals in the victory and he blocked a potential game-tying shot.

Stanford’s Peter Hudnut, who is a U.S. National Team member,

scored to put his team one point closer, 11-10. Then, Powers blocked

Nesmith’s desperation shot from half tank as time expired.

For Newport, Bailey and Powers earned first-team All-American

status in the USA Water Polo tournament. Kerr received second-team

recognition, along with fellow defensive star Klatt.

Dreason Barry, the 6-foot-10 two-meter man of UCI, represented

Newport Harbor WPF ‘B’ with a third-team honor, as did CdM product

Garrett Gentry and Rick Merlo. The trio, along with Powers, plan to

bring excitement to UCI water polo in the fall.

Former Newport Harbor standout Steven Jendrusina also earned

third-team laurels for Sunset (UC San Diego).

Before Newport Harbor WPF A took on Stanford on Sunday, Newland’s

team had outscored opponents, 67-22, in five victories, an average of

13.4 goals per game.

Newport cruised to wins over Paradise (UC Santa Barbara), 17-4,

and Lion (Loyola Marymount), 18-5, on the tournament’s opening day,

Thursday. Then, Newport defeated Bruin, 9-5, Friday, and Saturday,

grabbed easy victories over Golden Bear ‘A’ (UC Berkeley), 11-4, and

Malibu, 12-4.

Now that the Senior Nationals are over, Bailey, Powers, Kerr, Amr

and Klatt will regroup with the U.S. men’s water polo team and travel

to Europe, where they will play in two tournaments, the Unicum Cup in

Hungary (Thursday through Sunday) and the FINA World Cup in Belgrade,

Yugoslavia (Aug. 20-25).

Last month, Team USA became the talk of the FINA World League, as

it was the only squad to defeat Hungary in preliminary play.

“Beating Hungary last month (July 26) showed what this young team

is capable of,” U.S. Coach Ratko Rudic said. “Hungary is a team not

very accustomed to losing and we showed that we can play with the

best in the world.”

To follow Team USA’s progress log on the Internet and go to

www.usawaterpolo.com.