Golden West club team takes home national title

The Golden West 18-and-under girls’ water polo team won eight

consecutive games last weekend to claim its division championship at

the Junior Olympics tournament held in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

The team features Laguna Beach High School senior Addison Doud.

Golden West was seeded in what was considered to be the

tournament’s toughest bracket, one that included three of the

nation’s top club teams: Stanford, San Diego Shore and SoCal.

The team went 8-0 in the tournament en route to the national

title.

The four-day event was played in stormy weather conditions.

Golden West opened pool play with a couple of lopsided victories.

They defeated East Bay, 18-3, and Florida Coast, 20-3.

They followed those two wins with a 10-2 victory over a tough

Golden Bear squad in the tournament’s second day. Later that day,

they came back to post big victories over Long Beach Viking, 12-5,

and Stanford Water Polo, 10-5.

With a record of 5-0, Golden West faced SoCal, its stiffest

challenge of the tournament. SoCal played tough, but Golden West

eventually won 4-3.

From there, Golden West went on to defeat last year’s tournament

runner-up, San Diego Shore, 6-4, and then toppled Corona del Mar,

5-3, to complete its unbeaten tournament run.

“This team is very deserving of this award,” Golden West coach

John Wright said. “They are reaping the rewards of their commitment

and selfless play.

“We came prepared and took each game at a time. The girls met the

challenge of difficult playing conditions and very tough opponents. I

am very proud of them.”

Golden West is a women’s water polo team based out of Huntington

Beach. Team members represent high schools from throughout Orange,

Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The Golden West 18-and-under girls’ water polo club team is

composed of Caitlin O’Connor, Carolyn Conway, Monique Blanchard,

Jackie Gauthier, Addison Doud, Julia Fancher, Mary Chatigny, Ashley

Rothweiler, Alison Riddle, Jenna Schuster, Samantha Sears, Brianne

Anderson and Laura Simanonok.