Prep Blog

Former St. Francis water polo standout Shelby Schaefer, now playing for Colorado State, has been named first team All-Western Water Polo Association.

In three seasons with the Rams, the senior from Roseville leaves as one of the program's leading performers.

The 5-foot-6 attacker currently ranks among Colorado State's top seven in career goals, ejections drawn and total points. She recently became the school's all-time assists leader with 98.

Rocklin's Shannon Garvella and Bella Vista's Brynn Sargent received Clark Coover Memorial Scholarships and 46 additional athletes received Sac-Joaquin Section A. Dale Lacky Scholarships at an awards ceremony this morning in Lodi.

The awards, which range from $600 to $1,500, are given to those athletes who show outstanding athletic, community service and academic success.

Garvella and Sargent received $1,500 Clarke Coover Scholarships as the top girls and boys award recipients.

Three area football players and a water polo/swimmer have announced they will continue to play at the next level.

• Jesuit kicker/punter Andrew Endicott has signed with Nevada, where he will join fellow Bee All-Metro honoree Beau Hershberger of Granite Bay. Endicott was a Bee First Team All-Metro and All-Delta River League Special Teams Player of the Year.

• Sutter Choisser of Whitney, the Capital Athletic League co-Offensive Player of the Year at running back, will compete for Humboldt State next fall. Choisser also plays defense and on special teams.

• Folsom's Zach Bodnar, an All-Delta River League lineman, will play at the University of Chicago. He overcame a torn ACL this season to return in time for the CIF Northern California Open game against De La Salle.

• Rio Americano's John Price has signed a letter of intent to play water polo and swim for UOP. The Capital Athletic League MVP helped lead the Raiders to three consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division II boys water polo titles.

Four-time U.S. Olympian Heather Moody will join the Sacramento-based American River Water Polo Club starting March 1.

Moody, a two-time Olympian as a player and two-time assistant Olympic coach, will be the club's performance director, tasked with overseeing the coaching staff and providing instruction to the athletes, according to club founder and president Rafael Ruano.

American River WPC boys and girls 10-and-under through 18-and-under teams routinely compete at the highest levels of club competition. American River WPC also has a youth league program that involves more than 300 boys and girls, ages 5 to 13.

"This is an exciting day for American River Water Polo Club," Ruano said in a press release. "We have been hoping that the right opportunity would come to entice an elite coach to join our club, and we hit the jackpot with Heather."

Moody, one of the most accomplished water polo players in the sports' history, won silver and bronze medals in the Sydney and Athens Olympics. She also won two World Championship gold medals and was named USA Water Polo Player of the Year twice.

Moody has been an assistant U.S. Olympic coach twice for teams that earned silver in Beijing and gold last year in London.

Since 2010, Moody has been the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Women's Team. She also has coached at Long Beach State and Golden West Community College in Huntington Beach.

Moody will be reunited with Rachel Ruano, an ex-National Team and Olympic staff coach who worked with Moody leading up to the 2004 Olympics. Ruano oversees the girls programs for American River WPC.

Here are the area all-league teams that were submitted to The Bee.

BOYS WATER POLO
CAPITAL ATHLETIC LEAGUE
MVP: John Price, Rio Americano
All League: Mark Barton, Dallen Eddenfield, Jacob Faulkender, Josh Jordan, Chris Lunger, Ben Moser, Jimmy Willey, El Camino; Ian Brady, Miles Brady, Jack Dubois, Wally Harmon, Luke Hastie, Connor Jang, Rio Americano.

CAPITAL VALLEY CONFERENCE
MVP: Austin Stevenson, Bella Vista
All League: Ryan Eyman, Brody Nesemann, Stephen Blevins, Bella Vista; Matt Fors, Matt Mason, Dalton Smith, Oakmont; Josh Gerardy, Rio Linda; Lucas Mclean, Casa Roble; Mack Jarvis, Carter Hafter, Zane Janich, Drew Morris, Austin Takahlashi, Christian Brothers.

Four Bella Vista seniors were honored during a school National Letter of Intent day signing ceremony, reports athletic director Andi Wright.

They are:

• Shelbie Holden, Fresno State, diving
• Hanna Schneider, UC San Diego, water polo
• Kyndra Trevino-Scott, Hawaii-Hilo, volleyball
• Haley York, UMass-Amherst, rowing.

In a festive ceremony this morning, 10 St. Francis seniors signed NCAA letters of intent or "likely" letters (Ivy League) to continue their athletic careers in college next fall.

They are:

• Meagan Bennett, lacrosse, St. Mary's College
Helped lead the Troubadours to two league championships and was league MVP as a junior.

• Lauren Bryan, lacrosse, Fresno State
Overcoming season-ending knee injuries her previous two seasons, she was an impact player as a junior.

• Alexey Chandler, water polo, Wagner College
American River Water Polo club 2010 MVP made the All-Sac-Joaquin Section first team this season.

• Kaitlyn Cozens, water polo, Michigan
All-section player helped lead the Troubadours into four D-I section finals.

Ian Brady, Jack Dubois and John Price each scored three goals to lead Rio Americano past Bellarmine of San Jose 10-7 in the championship match of the John Schmidt Memorial boys' water polo tournament in San Jose on Saturday.

Luke Hastie had six goals and Price three in the Raiders' 12-8 semifinal win over Clovis.

Rio Americano also defeated St. Mary's of Stockton 14-8 and Campolindo of Moraga 15-13.

Girls participation in California high school sports continues to grow but boys participation has declined for the first time since 2003 in the latest California Interscholastic Federation Sports Participation Survey released today.

Girls participation climbed by 1.4 percent from 304,696 in 2011 to 308,879 in 2012. Boys participation decreased by 0.9 percent from 453,037 in 2011 to 448,971 in 2012.

Eleven-man football remains the most popular boys sport with 103,088 participants but has seen a steady decline since reaching its high-point of 107,916 in 2007.

Kristen Ward's brilliant Ivy League women's water polo career at Princeton is winding down.

The senior from St. Francis has helped the Tigers to a 21-4 record heading into their final regular season match on Friday against visiting Hartwick.

Next up will be the Southern Championships April 13-15 in Lewisburg, Pa., and the CWPA Eastern Championships April 27-29 in Providence, R.I.

Ward has 177 saves for the Tigers this season, including 12 on Saturday in a 7-6 loss at Maryland and 12 more on Friday in a 13-9 win over conference rival George Washington in Washington, D.C.

    

St. Francis athletes Paige Folger and Kathleen Menz will sign NCAA national letters of intent on April 11, Troubadorus athletic director Kolleen McNamee has announced.

Folger (above, left), headed to Gonzaga, was a member of the Troubadours' Sac-Joaquin Section Division I girls volleyball championship team. The 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker and outside hitter led the 38-6 Troubadours in blocks with 121.

Menz (above, right), a goalie who will sign with Cal, helped the St. Francis girls water polo team reach the D-I section championship match for the eighth consecutive season. The Troubadours lost 8-5 to Davis in the finals.

Here are the area all-league water polo teams as submitted to The Bee. (For corrections, e-mail bpaterson@sacbee.com).

CAPITAL ATHLETIC LEAGUE
Co-MVP: Nick Jordan, El Camino and Johnny Neumann, Rio Americano.
Team: Chris Lunger, Josh Jordan, Jimmy Wiley, Dallen Eddenfield and Chris Smith, El Camino; Tyler Enguist, Mira Loma; Sutter McLoughlin, Jack DuBois, Michael Woodbury, John Price, Luke Hastie and Jake Hastie, Rio Americano.

CAPITAL VALLEY CONFERENCE
MVP: Conner Watson, Bella Vista.
Team: Trevor Baer, Conner Onstenk and Austin Stevenson, Bella Vista; Austin Call, Nathan Welch and James Wood, Oakmont; Joshau Gerardy, Rio Linda; Kyle Gunther Marty Andrews, Del Campo; Carter Haffer, Tanner Janich, Mack Jarvis and Reggie Smith, Christian Brothers.

Here are the area all-league girls water polo teams as submitted to The Bee. (for corrections, e-mail bpaterson@sacbee.com)

CAPITAL ATHLETIC LEAGUE
Co-MVP: Emmy Savidge, Rio Americano and Nikole Runyan, El Camino.
Team: Avery Dotterer, Emily Perry, Maigrie McDougal, Celeste Brown and Rya Minow, Rio Americano; Catlyn Cavender, Summer Jackson and Allie Benton, El Camino; Stephanie Henderson and Colleen Daley, Whitney; Alison Gibson, Antelope; Alexa Phillips, Mira Loma.

CAPITAL VALLEY CONFERENCE
MVP: Hannah Wosler, Oakmont.
Team: Bri Black, Jamie Hanks and Sierra Sell, Casa Roble; Calla Dorias, Rio Linda; Amy Ellsworth, Natalie Minor, Hanna Schneider, Frances Sparks and Elsie Whittall, Bella Vista; Jenner Johnson, Del Campo; Claire Manning, Christian Brothers; Molly Swart and Paige Thomas, Oakmont.

Oak Ridge senior water polo player Amanda Jones, who surpassed the 200 goal mark for her career on Tuesday, appears in the "Faces in the Crowd" segment of the Sept. 28 issue of Sports Illustrated.

The item highlights Jones' eight-goal performance in a 12-9 win Aug. 28 over Oakmont. That broke a school record for goals in a game.

Jones, a captain and hole set, set a school record last season for goals with 83 to become the Trojans' career scoring leader, male or female.

After scoring six goals in Tuesday's 13-4 win over Woodcreek, Jones has 70 goals this season and 204 for her career.

Former American River College water polo player and swimmer Bradley Babcock - a member of Fresno Pacific University's national record-setting relay team last season - was found dead in his off-campus apartment, the Fresno Bee reported Wednesday.

Babcock, a senior who also played water polo for the Sunbirds, had transferred to Fresno Pacific from American River College in 2009.

Last season, Babcock helped the Sunbirds swimming team capture a second straight NAIA championship. He earned NAIA All-America status with a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle and also was part of the NAIA record-setting 200 medley and 400 free relay teams.

"Brad's loss will be deeply felt by his family, friends, teammates, coaches and all who knew him," Fresno Pacific President D. Merrill Ewert said in a release.

By Jeff Caraska
jcaraska@sacbee.com

New-year resolution: To be more honest and understanding.

Funniest athletic moment: When I beat my water polo coach in a soccer shootout.

Latest iTunes download: "Home" by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Favorite food: Bread.

If I had $1 million: I'd travel the world.

Dream college: Loyola Marymount.

Dream job: Psychiatrist or a singer.

Role model: My sister, Lauren.

I always thought it would be cool to: Do service work in Africa.

Most proud of: Everything I've accomplished so far.

Sport I'd like to try: Rugby.

If I could have one superpower it would be: Flying.

Competition is: Personal.

High school is: Confusing.

I wish I was better at: Playing the piano.

TV show I can't miss: "CSI: New York."

I would love to meet: Jesus.

Being a goalkeeper is: A rush.