For LOHS star, nothing finer than signing with 49ers of NCAA Division I
Rachel Cretcher doesn’t know how many goals she scored in her four-year varsity water polo career at Live Oak High School. No one does.
The final count might have been close to 200, but even 1,000 goals would reveal only so much about Cretcher, 17, as a player, according to coaches. Intangibles like her competitive spirit, work ethic and, yes, her scoring prowess, made Cretcher a driving force for the Acorns and her club team, NorCal Water Polo.
They also helped her sign with an NCAA Division I program.
Cretcher fulfilled a penultimate goal Monday in penning a letter of intent with Cal State University Long Beach. The 2010 Mount Hamilton Division Senior of the Year will play on a partial scholarship.
“It feels amazing,” Cretcher said. “I’ve always wanted to play (Division I) and experience the best competition. I’m really excited for this.”
Live Oak boys water polo coach Mack Haines felt equally rewarded, watching a “great ambassador for the program and Live Oak High School” ascend to the highest level as a collegiate athlete.
“I think Rachel epitomizes all that’s really good in high school athletics,” said Haines, who mentored Cretcher the last four years while the Lady Acorns made consecutive trips to the Central Coast Section playoffs. “She’s always had a great attitude, always worked hard and has always been supportive of her teammates. … She just stands out as a quality person and a quality athlete.”
Haines was proud of the way Cretcher carried herself in fall. The Lady Acorns were rebuilding under a new coaching staff and pulled a late-season rally to avoid missing sectionals for the first time since 2001.
Cretcher earned a fourth first-team all-league honor.
“Her leadership definitely helped,” LOHS co-coach Sara Crusinberry said in October.
Though program prestige factored little into Cretcher’s decision making on signing day, she is joining an up-and-coming team ranked No. 13 in the nation. Long Beach State is 11-14 this year with three games left until the Big West Conference Tournament, a qualifier for the NCAA championships.
Many of the 49ers’ star players are underclassmen, not that Cretcher is anxious about competing for playing time.
“The better they are, the more it will challenge me to make myself and the team even better,” she said of her future teammates, whom she enjoyed meeting during her official visit to CSULB in March. “The coach (Gavin Arroyo) is very nice. I’ve heard he’s strict, but I like that.”
Cretcher won’t feel far from home in Southern California. Her brother, Sam, plays club water polo at UC Irvine, and their grandparents live in Seal Beach. Cretcher will have two close friends at CSULB in Kat Elward, a club teammate and St. Francis standout who also signed with the 49ers, and former Live Oak goalkeeper Stephanie Armstrong, now a high jumper on the track and field team.
“It really is just a great fit all around,” Cretcher said.
NorCal Water Polo coach Christ Dorst is confident Cretcher will transition well to the college level.
“I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of her talent,” he said. “She has the size, speed and strength for DI and has the attitude where she will show up every day and make practice tougher for everyone covering her. That’s a huge asset. You can coach a lot of things, but you can’t coach heart. That’s what Rachel has.”
Cretcher is wrapping up her final prep swimming season. She is within a second of qualifying for sectionals in the 200- and 100-yard freestyle.
“I have two more chances to make it,” she said, alluding to Wednesday’s meet against Evergreen Valley and the May 5-6 Mount Hamilton Division Finals. “It would mean a lot to me. It’s my last year, so I want to go all out.”
