Goal oriented

Mike Sciacca

By her own account, Annie Preble isn’t very athletic by nature.

She gave volleyball a try during her freshman year at Laguna Beach

High but, she said, she “wasn’t at all good” on the court.

Other than giving that sport a shot, the most intense training she

said she has had is with ballet, which she studied for 10 years.

So how, then, would she describe her blossoming from a raw,

untested freshman into one of the top female water polo players in

Orange County?

“I can’t really say it’s just from one thing, but I know that I

have worked hard in improving every year,” said the Laguna Beach High

senior, who turns 18 today.

Preble, primarily a 2-meter/holeset player, but who also is listed

as a utility player because of her ability to play well at all

positions, has worked her way through the ranks, Breakers coach Rick

Scott said.

“She has contributed to our varsity program the past three years

and has a tremendous love of the sport and a desire to improve

herself as a player,” he said. “She has made improvements every

year.”

It was Scott who encouraged Preble, who was his teacher’s aide at

Thurston Middle School at the time, to give water polo a try.

“I had never even seen a water polo game before -- I was

completely clueless as to how it was played,” she said. “The first

day I got to the pool was the first day of ‘Hell Week.’ I had to

learn quickly.”

To say that Preble took to the water is an understatement.

She said she really got into water polo after her sophomore year.

She has also played with the TRAP club water polo program for the

past three years.

She was on the program’s 16-and-under and 18-and-under teams,

which reached the Junior Olympics -- the former, in the summer before

her junior year, the latter, this past summer.

Her latest Junior Olympic appearance came after a junior year that

saw her earn first-team All-Pacific Coast League and second-team

All-CIF honors.

This season, she is closing in on the school’s single-season

scoring record -- which is 108 goals.

“She has a good shooter’s mentality,” Scott said. “She loves to

score and makes it a challenge not to let anyone stop her. Most teams

have to double-team her, which in turn allows our other players more

opportunities to score.

“She is an outstanding holeset with a variety of shots,” he said.

“Her strong, outside shot also finds the cage consistently, which

makes her difficult to guard.”

Just ask Tustin, which found out the hard way on Jan. 17.

Preble burned the Tillers for an incredible 10 goals in an 18-5

Laguna victory.

She came back the next day to score four more goals in an 8-4

victory over then-No. 2 Villa Park.

At the midway point this week, Laguna was 13-3 and ranked No. 5 in

the CIF Division II poll.

Scott said that Preble learned a lot about the game of water polo

by watching the Laguna boys’ games this past year, as well as

watching other teams play.

“She always asks questions and desires to know how to improve

herself and the team,” he said. “Annie is driven to be a better

player. She would definitely rank among the best group of girls we

have had play water polo here at Laguna Beach.”

Preble is one of four seniors on this year’s team, a group that

includes Lina Moore, Jenny Lenker and Kari Herdman.

“They all give great senior leadership, and I think another big

reason for our success is that our sophomores have stepped up and

have played well,” Preble said of a sophomore foursome of Addison

Doud, Katherine Gordon, Annie Nelson and Liz Roolidge. “They’ve all

done an awesome job.”

Preble has set high team goals for the season, which, if things

were to turn out according to her plan, would have Laguna Beach

playing in the Division II championship match in late February.

“I think we have the talent and determination to do it,” said

Preble, who has a personal goal of playing collegiate water polo at

the Division I level.

UC Irvine, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, where she said

she will take a recruiting trip later this month, have expressed

interest.

“We’ve had a great season so far and there’s a lot more water polo

to play,” she added. “This team can go very far.”

Much the same way Preble has done in the sport of water polo.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. He can be reached at 494-4321 or by e-mail at

michael.sciacca@latimes.com.