Corona del Mar and Chino Hills Area girls water polo teams each left
USA Water Polo's Junior Olympics Sunday as third-place finishers in
the girls under-18 division.
Both teams can thank the weather.
Torrential rain and lightning Sunday afternoon caused the
cancellation of several medal-round games on the final day of the
Junior Olympics, which attracted 43 teams from across the United
States, at the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., including the scheduled third-place game between
CdM and Chino Hills.
Newport went 5-2-1, defeating Davis, 6-5, to take ninth place,
getting the game in before the weather took over.
"It was scary with the thunder and lightning going off. You never
see anything like that in California," Katlin Kubas, who will be a
CdM senior this fall, said Monday night after the team arrived at
John Wayne Airport. "Before our final game, the lightning was right
by the pool. We stayed in the van."
The rain came down in two separate waves from 3 to 6 p.m.
Tournament officials told players to get out of the pool during the
under-14 gold medal game, when lightning surrounded the facility. The
subsequent delay lasted three hours before the event committee met
with coaches and agreed halt further games.
"We had trash bags over our feet because it was raining so hard,"
Kubas said.
CdM won five straight to begin the tournament and went 7-3
overall. Newport won its final two games, including a 10-9 shootout
victory over Viking in a ninth-place semifinal.
CdM players received medals while Chino Hills took home trophies.
In the under-16 division, CdM placed 11th.
Statistics were not readily available.
-- Bryce Alderton
