Gilchrist, Conlogue make U.S. team

In the stands on the pool deck at Newport Harbor High there was a life-size poster of Kaleigh Gilchrist for the girls’ water polo home opener last week.

It wasn’t a cutout picture of Gilchrist shooting into a cage. Instead, the poster — made by her friend Chris Craib — was of her with a surfboard, signifying her prowess as a surfer.

Gilchrist juggles her schedule with the ocean waves and the tussling in the waters of the pool. She’s about to improvise some more next month. The senior has been named to the PacSun USA surf team that will compete in New Zealand Jan. 18-28.

Sage Hill senior Courtney Conlogue, who won the U.S. Open of Surfing in July, is also a part of the four-girl team in the girls’ under-18 division. Andrew Doheny of Newport Beach is part of the four on the boys’ under-18 team.

“It’s such an honor and a really unique experience that only a handful of kids are a part of,” said Gilchrist, who has committed to play water polo at USC next year. “Also it’s really fun interacting with kids the same age all over the world.”

Gilchrist is expected to miss one Sunset League game against Fountain Valley. She is still planning to compete in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions Jan. 15-16. After the tournament is over she is scheduled for a flight out of Los Angeles at 11 p.m.

Team USA will compete in the 2010 Quiksilver International Surfing Assn. World Junior Championships.

What started out as a group of the 20 best under-18-year-old surfers in the U.S. was cut down to the 12 who will compete in New Zealand. There is a boys’ under-16 quartet as well.

The team participated in four separate training camps in Oceanside, Santa Cruze, Blacks Beach and Huntington Beach, as coach Ian Cairns and asssitant Sean Mattison made the call.

Now Gilchrist will mix in some waves in New Zealand during her water polo season.