Winning six straight games at the prestigious Fifth Annual Maui
Invitational Water Polo Tournament, the Morgan Hill Water Polo
Club
’s 16-and-under boys team captured the tourney title with a 5-1
win over Team Alberta in the finals last week.
Winning six straight games at the prestigious Fifth Annual Maui Invitational Water Polo Tournament, the Morgan Hill Water Polo Club’s 16-and-under boys team captured the tourney title with a 5-1 win over Team Alberta in the finals last week.
The tourney was held Aug 2-6 at the Kihei Aquatic Center on Maui.
In the finale, MH’s Justin Short led the way with a pair of goals, while Joel Smith, David Smith, and Kyle Fast each added a goal.
Goalkeeper Shea Coleman played well in the net for MH.
The team was coached by David Letts, the former Live Oak High and UC Santa Barbara water polo player, who is a protege of longtime Live Oak coach Mack Haines.
The squad included: Live Oak’s Short, Fast, Coleman, Cameron Peachey, Bryson Bailey, Ryan Listol and David Disalvo, along with players from San Benito and Salinas high schools, including the Smith brothers, Blaine Curtis, James Schafer and Sam Figueroa.
In all, the local club sent three teams, including an 18-and-under squad and a Men’s Open team.
The 18-and-under team also included local high school players, while the Men’s Open club included current and former college level players, who had played at local high schools, including Live Oak and San Benito.
The 18-and-under and Men’s Open teams did not place in the tournament, but did well against strong competition.
The MH 16-and-under team was undefeated going into the championship game with victories over Saint Francis of Mountain View (7-6), Team Maui (12-2), The Hawaiian Island All-Stars (6-1), Anuenue of Hawaii (17-7), and Scripps of San Diego (8-1).
The presentation of the Tiki God trophy was made to the team by the Mayor of Kihei.
