BRIEF

LOCALS WIN TITLE

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Orange County Water Polo Club’s 14-and-under boys’ team, including five Newport Beach residents, won the national championship at USA Water Polo’s 15th annual Speedo Cup that concluded Sunday at the University of Michigan.

Newport Beach residents Will Castleblanco, Nicholas Hegyi, Daniel Stevens, John Walters and James Walters are all members of the OCWPC boys’ team.

OCWPC won most of its games with a substantial goal differential, prevailing in the championship game, 10-2, over 680 Drivers from Oakland.

This was the third year in a row that the local club team made it to the medal round. It won gold in 2006 and silver in 2007.

James Walters also received the Jody Campbell award. USA Water Polo designates one Campbell award recipient from each participating team. Campbell was a member of the U.S. men’s 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams and was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1994.

OCWPC went 6-0 for the tournament, defeating teams from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (22-6), San Diego (11-4), Glendale (15-3), Oakland (10-3), and Los Alamitos (10-1) before reaching the final.

— From staff reports