John Heafner Selected to All-Tournament Team

John Heafner, a 2-time Junior Olympian for Jungle Cat Water Polo, was announced as a member of the 2008 S&R Sport Junior Olympic All-Tournament Team (Honorable Mention). John is the first athlete selected to an all-tournament team in the history of JCWP. You can read about John on the USAWP Website by clicking here (John is listed towards the bottom).

Congratulations to John and all of his JO teammates!!!!!


JP

JO Blog (Day 3, Pt. 3): Navy Torpedoes Jungle Cats

The Cats lost 12-8 to Navy, who employed a strong press defense that shut down the Cats' 2M-men during the first half. William Page broke through for 2 goals and was named POTG.

We play Davis at 8:40 tomorrow. We still have a chance to finish high here if we can piece a few more things together.

Sorry for the weak post; I'm exhausted.

Full Statistics:
Sizemore (G, 2A), Going (A), Page (2G, A), O'Neill (2G), Heafner (G, A), Derdeyn (G), Schnoring (G)

JO Blog (Day 1, Pt. 2) -- Settled in Irvine

The Jungle Cats landed safely (and early) at LAX around 10 AM PDT after a quick hop up from Phoenix. After boarding the Enterprise party van & getting set up with 2 dirty minivans, the team made the trek to Irvine, checked into the hotel, and ate some In-N-Out Burger. As if that wasn't enough, we celebrated Pat Maloney's birthday with a ridiculous, wedding-cake-style birthday cake. Since we were full, it make sense to make the 10 minute drive to play some beach volleyball at Newport Beach.

Some sad news to report: Jack Meara, who did not travel with the team because of a mild concussion (but was planning to come tomorrow), will miss Junior Olympics entirely because of a death in the Chaminade family. Obviously, we are thinking of Jack and the entire CCP family in their difficult time.

The game start tomorrow at 7. I'll update as I know it. You can also follow at either usawaterpolo.org or juniorolympics.com.

Thanks. And hang in their Jack.

-jp

JO Blog (Day 0): Stacked Cats look to make a splash at JO's

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
(1475)