{"id":367890,"date":"2019-05-07T11:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=367890"},"modified":"2019-05-08T06:35:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T13:35:51","slug":"like-a-phoenix-victoria-rose-meek-and-cal-lutheran-water-polo-rise-from-the-ashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/like-a-phoenix-victoria-rose-meek-and-cal-lutheran-water-polo-rise-from-the-ashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria Rose Meek, Cal Lutheran Water Polo Rise Like a Phoenix from Ashes of Thousand Oaks Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an inspirational tale that never gets old. Athlete faces adversity, athlete overcomes adversity, athlete enjoys success, team prospers. End of story. But in the case of Victoria Rose Meek<\/strong>, her family and the Cal Lutheran women\u2019s water polo team, the story does not wrap up neatly with a snappy headline.<\/p>\n

The murder of Victoria Rose\u2019s brother Justin and eleven others in the Thousand Oaks mass shooting last November tore a gaping emotional wound that resists feel-good stories of stoic athletic heroism. But the Regals\u2019 win a week ago in the final of the 2019 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women\u2019s water polo tournament, where they upset<\/a> a Pomona-Pitzer squad that had not lost an SCIAC match in three years, will play a part in the recovery process that flows from Justin\u2019s senseless death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never moved past it,\u201d Victoria Rose said by phone last week. \u201cI live with it and it still feels like it was yesterday\u2014and we\u2019re coming up on six months. Playing, and being with my teammates was a good distraction for me and it helped me channel my emotions in a positive outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201cpositive outlet\u201d will be extended to an NCAA play-in match later today, when Cal Lutheran faces Pacific at Stanford\u2019s Avery Aquatic Center.<\/p>\n

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Justin Meek. Photo Courtesy: Cal Lutheran<\/p><\/div>\n

A two-time All-American now in her junior year at Cal Lutheran, a small, Division III institution 40 miles due west of Los Angeles, Meek experienced first-hand the horrors visited on the Borderline Bar and Grill last November. She was there with Justin, a recent CLU graduate who served as both promoter and occasional bouncer at the country-western bar popular with the college\u2019s students. In the flash of senseless violence that ultimately tore apart so many families, Victoria Rose got out. Justin didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

[2019 NCAA Women\u2019s Water Polo Tournament Bracket Announced<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

Brother and sister were enjoying a night out before traveling that weekend to San Diego for a celebration of their father\u2019s retirement after four decades of U.S. Naval service. The Borderline shooter stole that satisfaction and much, much more from Meek and others. But her coach, Craig Rond<\/strong>, pleaded that the carnage end.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>I just said: I get it, Victoria Rose,\u201d Rond said of a conversation late last year. \u201cThe shooter took away twelve people and took your brother from you. Don\u2019t let him take anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rededication and Preparation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A glint of hope was nurtured\u2014in the pool, in the weight room, and with teammates new and old, and Victoria Rose recommitted herself to her sport. A key addition to the Lancers line-up was Rond\u2019s daughter, Lexi. Formerly a star high school player at Agoura High School, less than ten miles from CLU\u2019s Thousand Oaks campus, Lexi had endured her own challenges, taking a year off\u2014and a mental break\u2014from the game she loved.<\/p>\n

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Victoria Rose Meek ( cap #5). Photo Courtesy: Cal Lutheran Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

Transferring from Santa Barbara Community College, she was determined to fit in with her father\u2019s program, one that had narrowed the talent gap with a dominant Pomona-Pitzer program, but had not beaten the Sagehens in three years. With a new attitude and talent to match\u2014she led the Regals in goals this season\u2014Lexi was the perfect addition to an experienced CLU line-up.<\/p>\n

First, the newcomer had to prove she could fit in, especially given her connection to the Regals\u2019 coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am treated the same as all the girls at practice with no preferential treatment,\u201d Lexi said in an interview last week. \u201cIf I make a mistake, I hear about it and if I do something good, I hear about it. I know it is important\u2026to be fair and equal to everyone\u2014which is important to me too.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, April 28, at Haldeman Pool in Claremont, CA, the CLU women\u2019s team faced host Pomona in a second-straight SCIAC final. Last year\u2019s championship was no contest\u2014the favored Sagehens swept to a decisive 8-2 win, its seventh straight over the Regals, and claimed yet another conference title\u2014the program\u2019s second straight and fourth since 2013.<\/p>\n

This year, even though Pomona had stretched its string of success against conference opponents to 35-straight, their dominance was not total. A narrow one-goal victory against fourth-seed La Verne in an SCIAC semifinal on Friday had underscored Pomona\u2019s vulnerability. And after winning their own semifinal over #3 seed Whittier, Victoria Rose and her teammates found themselves in the unexpected position of rooting for their rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want anyone to think we were winning [the conference] by default in playing La Verne,\u201d she said. \u201c[W]e were hoping we would get to play Pomona because they had been our rivals for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On The Record with Craig Rond, Head Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Water Polo Coach for Cal Lutheran<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

Coach Rond prepped his players, reminding them, \u201cNobody wins forever. Somewhere along the way, you have to lose. And if anyone\u2019s gonna beat [Pomona], it\u2019s gonna be you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Match of a lifetime<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the title match, with a lead almost halfway through the final period\u2014albeit by a single goal\u2014Pomona Head Coach Alex Rodriguez<\/strong> had to be confident in his experienced squad, which included nine upperclassmen, seven of whom are seniors. For three years, Pomona had been invincible in SCIAC play. But now, with a combination of naivet\u00e9, fearlessness and determination hardened by disappointment, it was Cal Lutheran who had the goods when it counted most.<\/p>\n

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Cal Lutheran goalie Bailey Meyer. Photo Courtesy: Cal Lutheran Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

That, and some creativity on the part of their coach. At his team\u2019s pivotal moment, Rond was a genius of sorts. At the six-minute mark, he inserted Lexi back into the line-up. The freshman with 57 goals was in the water for the first time with Meek\u2014the player she had split playing time with at the center position throughout the course of the season.<\/p>\n

Now down a goal to the defending two-time champs in their home pool, Rond positioned his daughter on the perimeter in hopes she could sneak the equalizer past Pomona senior Morgan Stockham<\/strong>, the conference\u2019s top goaltender.<\/p>\n

Lexi did just that, hammering a shot past the Pomona keeper with Victoria Rose fighting off defenders in front of the Sagehen cage to make the score 9-9 with 4:37 remaining. The Regals fought off a Sagehen power play, and at 3:18, Christin Hirn<\/strong>, like Victoria Rose, a junior who had never beaten Pomona, beat Stockham.<\/p>\n

10-9 Cal Lutheran.<\/p>\n

Victoria Rose described the scene: three minutes to go with the thinnest of leads.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all really calm,\u201d she said. \u201cIt felt like we were in control of the game the whole time\u2026. It definitely was something that we all wanted, but I didn\u2019t feel anxious, like we were waiting forever for the final buzzer to go. I was like: Let\u2019s just get this game over with.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one tasked with preserving that lead, one who knew this could be the very last match of her college career, now had to do her part. Cal Lutheran goalie Bailey Meyer<\/strong> was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I thought was \u2018Ok we have the lead don’t lose it,\u2019\u201d Meyer said in an email. \u201cAll I could tell myself was this was going to be the final minutes of my SCIAC career and if I didn’t leave this pool knowing I had given it everything I know I would look back on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2014with an assist from the Lancer goalposts\u2014lived up to her demands, fighting off her anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we had possession in the last minute and realized they had another 30 seconds to rebuttal and take the lead\u2026, we all got ready defensively, but when the ball was turned over back to us and for the last 15 seconds it came down to protection, I felt a wave of calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mentioning her father Robert, who passed away a decade ago, the First Team All-SCIAC honoree added, \u201cWe all knew why we were there, we all knew what just happened, even before the buzzer rang. When it did, that was the realest emotion I had felt since my father passed away, and I mean that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, bedlam\u2014of the water polo sort. Hugging, jumping in the pool, and tears. Lots of tears.<\/p>\n

Coach Rond remembers it well. \u201cAfter the victory was\u2014the whole bench was crying, our girls were overcome with emotion\u2014but one of the first people I saw was [Victoria Rose\u2019s] mother in the stands right behind the goal, just sobbing like you can\u2019t even picture. I told her: I think Justin pulled a couple of strings for us up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the aftermath of a satisfying victory, of course there\u2019s yet another challenge: a game against Pacific, the country\u2019s eighth-ranked team.<\/p>\n

\"meek-bench-may19\"

Bench dedicated to Justin Meek on Cal Lutheran campus. Photo Courtesy: Cal Lutheran Media Relations<\/p><\/div>\n

No matter what happens later today\u2014win, lose, succeed, fail, laugh, cry\u2014a stark reality persists. The twelve lives stolen that tragic day last November can never be reclaimed. But the outsized presence that was Justin Meek\u2014and by all accounts it was formidable\u2014will never be extinguished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that my brother was watching over us [during] that game; I felt his spirit in all of our spirits,\u201d Victoria Rose said. \u201cI could hear him cheering from above.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an inspirational tale that never gets old. Athlete faces adversity, athlete overcomes adversity, athlete enjoys success, team prospers. End of story. But in the case of Victoria Rose Meek,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":367871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[2653,81499,73651,81555,66127,81580,66126,81496,60192,81579,64115,64765,44523,81556,81554,73652],"class_list":["post-367890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-alex-rodriguez","tag-alexa-rond","tag-bailey-meyer","tag-borderline-bar-and-grill","tag-cal-lutheran-water-polo","tag-christin-hirn","tag-craig-rond","tag-justin-meek","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-morgan-stockham","tag-pomona-pitzer-water-polo","tag-sciac","tag-southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic-conference","tag-thousand-oaks","tag-thousand-oaks-shooting","tag-victoria-rose-meek"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nVictoria Rose Meek, Cal Lutheran Water Polo Rise Like a Phoenix from Ashes of Thousand Oaks Shooting - 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