HIGH SCHOOLS
Castilleja coach has mettle and medals by Keith Peters t was only a few weeks ago that members of the Castilleja water polo team were in tears after hearing the shocking news that their coach, Ted Minnis, had accepted the job of coaching the men’s and women’s water polo teams at Harvard University. There still were a few tears last Friday morning when a handful of Castilleja players received more shocking news. This time, however, it was tears of joy as the Gators discovered that three-time Olympian Brenda Villa will be the team’s new head coach. “No way,� said senior Sayeh Borzorghadad upon the announcement by Castilleja Athletic Director Jez McIntosh. “You’re lying, right? She is like my idol.� “This is so cool,� said another player. Added teammate Erica Lantzsch� “I’ve got to start working out!� Villa comes to Castilleja as perhaps the most recognizable name in the history of USA women’s water polo. In addition to being a threetime Olympic medalist (2000, ‘04 and ‘08) and Team’s USA captain from 2005-09, the Stanford graduate received the Peter J. Cutino Award was the female College Player of the Year in 2002 and was named the female Player of the Decade by FINA Aquatics World Magazine this past April. “To replace Ted, it had to be someone big,� McIntosh said Friday morning. “He, after all, was the big, lovable coach here for 11 years. For the seniors, I’m really happy for them -- especially after losing Ted for their senior year.�
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For Villa, it’s an opportunity to return to the Stanford community where she built the foundation of her career after arriving on The Farm in 1998 as the nation’s top recruit. “I am excited to return to the Bay Area and be a part of a long-standing tradition of athletic and academic achievement at Castilleja,� Villa said in a statement. “I am eager to build on the program’s success over the last several years and look forward to working with the girls. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to becoming a part of the Castilleja community.� This will be Villa’s first time as a head coach at any level. She has been an assistant water polo coach at Cerritos College since 2005 and a swim instructor since ‘08. “It will be great for our girls,� McIntosh said. “She can get in the pool and show them how to do it. That’s the biggest key, having a coach who the girls have seen compete. She’s an amazing role model and we are thrilled to have her on board.� From the reaction of the Castilleja players on Friday, the selection of Villa is a hugely popular one. “I’m totally stunned she’s going to coach us,� said Borzorghadad. “It’s such an honor.� Borzorghadad was smiling through a few tears upon hearing the announcement. It was quite a reversal of emotions after hearing about the departure of Minnis. “It was really sad,� she said. “I definitely did not see it coming. But, I was also very happy for him because I knew he wanted to coach at the next level. He worked so hard for us for so long.� Minnis also had told Bozorgha-
Kyle Terada
Olympian Brenda Villa will bring plenty of international experience to new job as Gators’ water polo coach
Three-time Olympian and former NCAA Player of the Year Brenda Villa from Stanford will coach the Castilleja water polo team this fall while continuing her preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. dad and other players to have role models. “When I was in middle school, Ted would say we should have certain athletes to look up to. I looked up to Villa. She’s sort of my size and we play similar positions. She was always one of those players I watched.� Bozorghadad and her teammates did just that last month when Villa and her USA teammates played China in an exhibition match at Stanford. Interesting enough, everything leads back to Stanford, where Villa was a three-time All-American, the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Player of the Year in 2001 and led the Cardinal to the national title in 2002.
When Villa makes her coaching debut with Castilleja on Sept. 3, it will be at Stanford. Before that happens, Villa will compete with Team USA at the 15th FINA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand from Aug. 17-22. That means she will miss the start of Castilleja’s workouts, which begin Aug. 16. Castilleja assistant Jessie Wood will take charge in Villa’s brief absence. Having some flexibility in her schedule was important to Villa, said McIntosh. “She knew we could support her during her training for the (2012) Olympics,� he said. McIntosh said other than a few
weekend when Villa will have to train in Los Alamitos at the Olympic training facility, there are no other conflicts. “The opportunity to have her own program was exciting to her,� he said. “She knew of the program that Ted had built because she knew Ted. She was excited that it was a quality program and a senior-heavy team.� Villa’s only concern, McIntosh said, was whether she could fill Minnis’s popular shoes. “I just told her to bring a few of her Olympic medals to practice,� McIntosh said. Brenda Villa likely will bring a lot more than that to the Castilleja water polo program. N
BASEBALL ROUNDUP
by Rick Eymer tanford grad Jed Lowrie made his season debut with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics. The team may not have won, but his return to the lineup was successful. “I’m happy with the way I played,� Lowrie said after the Red Sox dropped a 6-4 decision to the host A’s. “It felt good to be out there.� Lowrie, who began the season on the disabled list due to mononucleosis, was in the starting lineup at shortstop and batting second. He was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run scored. he also committed a throwing error. “That was a good starting point: get on base and score the first run to get the team off to a good start,� Lowrie said. “I’m going to continue to roll with it.� Lowrie batted .367 (11-for-30) in 10 rehab games between Single-A Lowell and Triple-A Pawtucket.
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“I’ve had plenty of at bats on my rehab and I was ready to go,� he said. “I had good reactions on the ball and my footwork was good. The one throw sailed on me. I was a little excited that (Rajai) Davis was running and I rushed the ball a little bit.� In other baseball news: Stanford sophomore Brett Mooneyham scattered three hits over five innings and George Springer (Connecticut) collected two hits and drove in three runs to pace the Collegiate National Team to an 8-4 win over the Omaha Diamond Spirit of the MINK League on Tuesday night at E.A. Fricke Field in Papillion, Neb. In semipro action: The Palo Alto Oaks (12-1-2) will take a No. 1 seed into this weekend’s State Playoffs in Santa Rosa. The midseason event gets underway Saturday with Palo Alto taking on the No. 2 seed out of the Sacramento Rural League at 1 p.m. N
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Stanford grad Lowrie makes season debut with Boston
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