Feature by Julia Lam<\/i><\/p>\n
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, September 12. TODAY, Swimming World<\/i> debuts another 2008-09 editorial intern. Julia Lam of Harvard will be keeping us posted on what's going on in the world of water polo. She starts off with a season preview notes package for men's varsity water polo.<\/p>\n
Cal, Redlands, and Navy Retain No. 1 Positions in September 10 Polls<\/b>
\nCalifornia, Redlands, and Navy \u2013 the defending NCAA, Division III, and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) champions, respectively \u2013 retained their No. 1. positions in the September 10 Men's Varsity Water Polo polls. <\/p>\n
NCAA Top 5<\/b>
\nAfter winning the NCAA championship in 2006 and 2007, the 2008 Cal team will attempt to claim a third straight title, for what would be a NCAA-record program total of 14 crowns. Key returnees for the Bears include senior center Trent Calder, senior attacker Frank Reynolds, junior attacker Spencer Warden and junior center Thomas Pearson, and sophomore utility Brian Dudley. <\/p>\n
Previously, the August 20 varsity preseason polls saw Cal unanimously selected as No. 1 \u2013 but the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Preseason Coaches Poll ranked the Bears at No. 3, trailing Southern California and Stanford. <\/p>\n
Southern California, Stanford, UCLA and Pepperdine round out the top five in the September 10 ranking. <\/p>\n
Division III<\/b>
\nIn Division III, Redlands retained their preseason No. 1 spot after a solid opening weekend at the UC-San Diego (UCSD) Triton Invitational. The Bulldogs defeated Division I contenders Cal Baptist University and the U.S. Air Force Academy to earn an overall No. 16 ranking in the Varsity Top 20. Senior goalkeeper Teddy Trowbridge, junior center Brendan Meaney, senior driver Andrew Becskehazy, and sophomore defender Andrew Smith-Jones lead the way for Redlands.<\/p>\n
Other opening-season salvos resulted in a show of geographical diversity at the top spots in Division III, as Johns Hopkins University pulled ahead of the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for the No. 2 spot, California Lutheran University leapt into fourth place from ninth, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) moved up one spot to the No. 5 slot. <\/p>\n
Collegiate Water Polo Association<\/b>
\nThe U.S. Naval Academy held on to its preseason No. 1 ranking in the CWPA and earned a No. 10 national ranking after a strong 3-1 finish in its season-opening home tournament. The Midshipmen fell to Cal, 4-13, but swept Concordia, 13-6, and 12th-ranked St. Francis, 9-8. <\/p>\n
"We had a clinic run on us by California," Navy head coach Mike Schofield told Navysports.com<\/b>. "It was what the doctor ordered for us. We found some things that we need to work on and get better at… The good thing was that we were competitive and didn't back down from them." <\/p>\n
Rookie left-hander Kyle Wertz paced the Navy offense, while senior attacker Michael Mulvey, senior utility Dan Zoellick, sophomore utility Alex Kofsky, and junior goalie Brett Rajchel also made solid contributions. <\/p>\n
St. Francis College, Princeton University, Brown University, and Bucknell University claimed the No. 2, 3, 4, and 5 poll spots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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