By Rick Assad
If the two local girls’ water polo teams have its way, Burroughs High and Burbank should have solid regular seasons and with some good fortune on its side flourish in the CIF Southern Section postseason.
Martin Ortega-Jennison is the Bears head coach and despite several key players such as Dereka Berenguer and Bonnie Kretzman having graduated, he firmly believes his club will be competitive at the very least.
“We had such a large senior class last season but have seven seniors this season and we hope they get better,” he said. “We’re doing our job to get the best out of their ability.”
Ortega-Jennison said the group he has wants to improve and continue its winning ways like claiming a [Pacific] League title which they did after a 6-1 record in the league and carving out a 12-9 overall record.
Currently, Burroughs is a member of the Rio-Pacific Conference and is in the Arroyo League.
“This team is eager to learn and are very close and we’re trying to work with them and trying to develop them to be confident and to compete,” he said. “We want them to be more physical and have more confidence and for them to do things we want to do. We want to be true to ourselves.”
The Bears are coming off a good campaign after winning the league banner and hope the run will continue.
There are seven seniors on the Burroughs team, and they should be leaders in the pool and out of the pool.
They include Haven Dunn, Jocelyn Rios, Mekenna Goffred, Leah Hess, Althea Weichelt, Gwen Hager and Olivia Winner.
Others on the team are Hannah DuFour, Paola Brizuela, Phoenix Shows, Skylar Foley, Rylie Morrow and Abby Wasilauski.
On the other side of town, Johnny Agazaryan, who starred for Burbank and is now in his second season as the Bulldogs’ head coach, believes his team will have a better season than a year ago when it went 2-15 and 1-6 in league play.
Like the Bears, the Bulldogs are members of the Rio-Pacific Conference but are members of the Crest League.
“I’m expecting a solid season this year. The girls have really been putting the work in,” he said. “Showing up and giving me 100 percent every day. Not only do they feel ready, they are excited for the season ahead.”
The Bulldogs have 11 players on the team and they include Mila Spanic, Sylvia Barfian, Mira Touma, Stella Mehserdjian, Sofia Hovhannisyan, Ani Zelveyan, Mathia Zaynalvand, Ellen Ghukasyan, Rose Terranova, Sophia Parseghian and Claire Lee.
Agazaryan said that there are many things to see and appreciate about this edition.
“One thing I really like about our team is their ability to hold each other accountable,” he stated. “If one girl starts slacking off during practice, the girl next to her holds her accountable.”
Agazaryan added: “They all come to practice ready to learn,” he noted. “It’s like they’re hungry to learn new things every day.”
