The 2008 edition of Jungle Cat Water Polo's Junior Olympic team departs for Irvine, CA in the morning looking to improve upon last year's 2-4 showing. This year's team, led by returning captain Mike Sizemore, is the strongest team that JCWP has ever sent to JO's, according to club founder Paul Baudendistel. Strongest on paper, that is. This year's team features the MO Water Polo Offensive Player of the Year (William Page), the MO Water Polo Defensive Player of the Year (Michael O'Neill), three 1st Team All-District selections (Page, John Heafner, Kyle Schnoring), and four 2nd Team All-District selections (Sizemore, O'Neill, Matt Stipanovich, Matt Hohenberger). And, the team represents a more diverse group, as the athletes hail from 5 St. Louis-area schools: Chaminade (Jack Meara), DeSmet (Stipanovich), Lindbergh (Schnoring), Parkway South (Maloney), and SLUH (everybody else).
Despite this impressive lineup, contending for a high finish in California won't be easy. The final week of practice was rudely interrupted by chemical problems at the pool, which allowed the team only 1 practice. Also, injuries to a few athletes has left the team's performance somewhat in doubt.
If the Cats are unable to meet their expectations, it certainly won't be due to a nonexistent fan base. This summer, the en vouge thing to do is apparently make the JO trip the family vacation. The Hohenbergers, Mrs. Sizemore, Mrs. Maloney, the Mearas, Mr. Going, the Pages, the O'Neills + 1, Mr. Savio, the entire legendary Heafner family, and the Stipanovichs will ALL be in California at one time or another to cheer on the boys.
Please check back here for regular updates, including game summaries and statistics. The action all starts Saturday at 7:00AM PDT against Stanford White, followed by a 10:40AM tilt against Rosebowl. Tomorrow is a travel day and a coaches meeting (and hopefully Red Robin for dinner). My next post will be not from St. Louis...!
Thanks for reading.
jp
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