Resurging Crespi Water Polo Program Honors a Legend and Reconnects with Proud History

Jan. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The 2011 Crespi Water Polo Team made huge strides over this past season.  The team finished the regular season with thirteen wins, twelve losses, and one tie. Since 2008, the program struggled to have more than four wins per season, and the improvements this year were monumental.  The Celts returned to their winning ways culminating with an At-Large berth in to the postseason. The Celts played Anaheim Servite in a Wildcard match on Tuesday, November 8, unfortunately losing 15-2.

The resurgence of the program can be credited to first-year head coach Quinn Delgado, a 2004 graduate of Thousand Oaks High School.  Delgado played Varsity Water Polo in high school and for two seasons, 2004 – 2005, at Pepperdine University.  In 2007, he was an assistant coach at Agoura High School for the Division IV CIF Water Polo Champions. Before Delgado joined the staff in the fall, he had some help in preparing the team this summer. Pre-season practices were run by two former coaches and current Vice-Principals of Crespi, Jeff Thornton and Jonathan Schild. Thornton led the Celts to a 171-110 record while coaching the team from 1982-1997. Schild coached the team from 1999-2004 with a record of 75-51.  

Taking any heading coach job in any sport at Crespi Carmelite is never easy.  Crespi Water Polo is a member of the tough Mission League and competes in Division I. The program reached the Division I Play-offs twenty-seven out of the last thirty-three seasons and produced six All-CIF players and one All-American over the last nine years.  In 1981, Crespi Water Polo won the school’s second CIF Championship.

Marc Wong, the best player from the 1981 championship team, was inducted into the Crespi Carmelite Alumni Hall of Fame on Saturday, October 29, 2012.  He dominated the league for all four years as a player.  Wong graduated from Crespi in 1982 as the school’s career leader in goals with two-hundred-seventy-three, one-sixty-seven assists, and two-hundred-six steals.  As he lead the team to a championship in 1981, Marc earned honors as CIF Player of the Year, First-Team Selection All-CIF Southern Section, All-Southern California Water Polo Team, and was chosen for the High School Coaches All-American Team.

Watch his induction speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFhRaanEMig&context=C35b26...



Wong’s induction to the Hall of Fame is just one of the many exciting events of the year that helped put the program back on track.  Patrick Harrigan, class of 2012, had a great individual performance this year and earned honors as the Most Valuable Goal-Keeper for the Mission League. The team began its play-off run by defeating Brentwood and Alemany followed by some fun at The Annual Alumni Water Polo Game on Homecoming Weekend. The alumni defeated the current varsity 15-10, giving the Varsity some great preparation for the play-offs. But the players received another chance to connect with the rich history of Crespi Water Polo. With the program’s return to the postseason, next year’s game should be even more competitive.