On Saturday, Nov. 16, the varsity boys water polo team won their early morning game in Corvallis to take fifth place in the 6A State Championship. For their outstanding play, senior captain Hayden Mills and freshman side driver Carlo Cremona received All-Tournament Honorable Mention.

The practices for playoffs were difficult, but proved worth it.

On the training, specifically, sophomore flat Max Spurr said, “Before the first wave of playoffs we were working incredibly hard. We were practicing with weight belts, swimming real sets and focusing throughout our drills. We advanced to the second round of playoffs and the week prior we worked on drills and really fine tuned our plays.”

All of this work paid off, though, because while they were seeded seventh in state, the team grinded and fought hard to get to fifth.

Besides some disappointment in not advancing further in the state championship, the boys are all elated at the end result and hope the team carries the momentum for next year.

“Winning 5th in state was amazing,” said freshman utility Hudson Gray. “We lost [the] first round of state last year and placing fifth in state this year was a major improvement. It was a great way to start my first year of high school polo.”

So with the season over, there is a lot of excitement for next year and with the hopes of returning to the State Championship better than ever, the boys (and girls water polo) encourages more people to join.

“Water polo is a great sport and a fun challenge for anyone that can keep cool under pressure,” Cremona said. “We need more players and more people should take a risk and try out next year.”