By Rick Assad
Burbank High and Burroughs each placed a boys’ water polo team in the CIF Southern Section playoffs a season ago.
The Bulldogs went 18-13 in all matches and finished 5-2 in second place the Pacific League for and lost in the Division II opening round.
This squad wants to do even better and under David Arakelyan, the one-time Burroughs water polo standout and Bulldog coach, there is a good chance the team will be stronger.
The team includes three goalies and they are Mikael Melkonyan, Erik Asiran and Dion Keshishyan.
The seniors on the team include Arthur Khachatryan, Anthony Gemdzhyan, Monteh Shamiryan, Daniel Babelyan, Jack Babelyan and Michael Bakrgyan.
The juniors on the squad are AvVo Ilangesyan and Tigran Hovsepyan.
There are three sophomores and include Armen Mkrtumyan, Narek Sahakyan and Daniel Gemdzhyan. The lone freshman is Michael Andinyan.
“AvVo and Jack are our key returning players who we will look for them to make a quick impact in and out of the water,” Arakelyan said. “Michael Bakrgyan and Daniel Babelyan will have elevated roles on the squad this year.”
Arakelyan then added: “We’re looking for some of our younger guys to step up and make an impact right away,” he said. “A lot of these boys play year-round water polo. We want to try and gel quickly. Our goal is always to win the league and make a run at CIF, and we will try to do that.”
Arakelyan has been successful as the Bulldogs’ coach and reached the title match a few seasons ago but ultimately lost.
“I’m very excited to start off the season with this group. I expect us to be competitive with the teams in the league and progress as the season goes along,” he said.
Martin Ortega Jennison is the Burroughs coach and expects the team to be more than solid after going 19-8 and 4-3 for fourth place in the league.
The Bears defeated host Beckman 8-5 in the Division IV opening round of the playoffs but lost to visiting Murrieta Valley 12-6 in the second round.
“I think our strength this season is that we have some experienced players stepping up and we need to,” he said. “I think we can always find ways to be competitive in every game and team we play.”
The league is always a tough grind but one that Ortega Jennison welcomes.
“As for the league we think we have found ourselves in a position to compete with the top four teams but it will be difficult because I believe Crescenta Valley will be very talented this year,” he stated.
The Bears’ players include Lincoln Morrow, Nicolas Oporta, Serob Berberyan, Evan Keller, Roan Kelly, Daniel Menchaca, Nicola Nasev, Matthew Rodriguez, Landon Quiiambao, Rocco Quiroga, Aaron Soltolongo, Jack St. Pierre and Liam Wamester.
