Title is twice as nice

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The members of the Golden West College men’s water polo team came, they saw and they conquered.

Then, they hung around and cheered as their female counterparts did the same thing.

It was a special day Saturday for Rustlers aquatics, as the men and women both captured titles at the California Community College Athletic Assn. State Championships at Golden West.

Both Rustlers squads took down Long Beach City College for the title. The men won, 7-5, while the women took a 6-5 decision.

“It feels good,” said Rustlers sophomore Nate Castillo, the Newport Harbor High product who was named tournament MVP on the men’s side. “It’s a lot harder to do it the second time, definitely. We faced a lot of adversity being the No. 2 seed, and Long Beach was a great opponent. They really battle hard every time we meet and thank God this time we came out on top.”

It was the sixth time Golden West and Long Beach had faced each other this season, and Golden West was 6-0.

“You’ve just got to forget about the rest of the games,” sophomore defender Rex Learmouth said. “This is the only game that counts. That’s how we went at it.”

Golden West won its second straight men’s water polo state title, and 17th overall. Matt Venner and goalie Robby Poynton joined Castillo and Learmouth on the all-tournament team. In the final, Golden West built a 4-1 lead after a quarter and never trailed. But Long Beach closed within 5-4 before a big goal from sophomore Kevin Hurley, from five meters out, gave the Rustlers some breathing room.

“Really, I think defensively it came down to our goalkeeper, Robby,” Castillo said. “He played a great game, by far the best game I’ve ever seen him play in two years playing with him. I was really proud of his effort and how he stepped up for us.”

Coach Scott Taylor also appreciated the difficulty of going back-to-back.

“It’s very difficult to go back-to-back, and I talked to the team about that throughout the year,” he said. “Winning two championships in a row is one of the most difficult things to do in any sport. I’m just proud that the guys showed up today and battled and played great defense.”

Former Edison High standout Richie Seaberry also contributed for Golden West.

For the Rustlers women, it was their sixth state championship, but first since 2002. Freshman Annika Bergeson from Utah was named state tournament MVP, and she was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Andrea Artukovich, Molly Andoe and goalie Amy Carlson.

“We were all ready,” Bergeson said. “We all knew what had to be done, and we did it I’m so happy I came here. We have the best team ever. Everyone’s so happy, I don’t know how to explain it. We had this team bonding thing and we went through a lot.”

The Golden West women were seeded third from Southern California but won their bracket after beating top-seeded Riverside on Friday. They didn’t let up in the final, overcoming an early deficit.

“[Coach] Kyle [Kopp] always says, it all starts at the defensive end,” Bergeson said. “We all have that drilled in our head, defensive end and five-on-six. We practice that almost every single day. That’s what we were working at and that’s what won the game today, I believe.”

Kopp, a two-time Olympic water polo player, was a women’s national team assistant coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the United States won silver. This is his second year as coach at Golden West.

“As soon as we were knocked out last year, the focus turned to this season,” he said. “It’s been a year-long plan and the girls went to work right away on it. They deserve it; they’ve worked real, real hard.”

Golden West also had several locals on its roster, including Fountain Valley High product Lauren Lingle, former Huntington Beach players Alex Hart and Danielle Jennings and Edison High alums Gabrielle Mucci and Tamara Towgood.