Kapolei Feels The Need For Speed In Water Polo Season

Wednesday - March 18, 2009
By Jack Danilewicz
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If he has his way, Kapolei head water polo coach Dexter Lee and his Hurricanes will set the pace in the OIA race this spring.At the very least, the team will be true to its own pace.

“Although we’re still getting it together, I like the speed of this team,” said Lee. “We have really, really good team speed. We’ll be able to get up and down (the pool). In general, speed overcomes a lot.”

As a program, Kapolei has already come a long way in a short time. Although its entered only its seventh water polo season over the weekend, the team has never missed a state tournament and has qualified for the OIA’s post-season every year since their inaugural season. Two years ago, the Hurricanes were the OIA’s runner-up to Kahuku. Last season, Kapolei finished 12-1 in the league before an eligibility issue forced it to forfeit a pair of games.

With the program on solid footing, Lee likes his current team’s prospects. Of the 14 players on the roster, exactly half also are competitive swimmers for the school, and four are returning starters.


 

“This team could be potentially good - if not the best team we’ve had, then one of our best,” said Lee.“Our goal right now is to make it to the state tournament.”

This week, they play a pair of matches at Central Oahu Regional Park. On Wednesday, Kapolei meets Pearl City at 4 p.m., with a game set for 2 p.m. Saturday versus Kaimuki.

Kapolei played seven games in preseason and won three of them, but the outcome was less important than solidifying the rotation. Early-season optimism centers largely around senior two-meter standout Alexandra Jamora, a First Team all-OIA selection last spring and one of the most prolific scorers in the state, and junior utility player Tiana Callejo.

“Alexandra is very athletic and very talented - she would do well in any sport,” Lee said.“She swims hard, she throws hard, and she has good instincts, too. We just need to refine her a little. We’ll rely very heavily on her on the offensive end.

“Tiana is pretty much our counter-attacker - she’s good in the water,“he added.“She’s worked on her outside shot, which adds another direction.”

Lee also is high on senior Roccio Sanchez and sophomores Madeleine Jamora and Sydney Flowers.

Sanchez is a four-sport Kapolei athlete who splits her spring season between track and field and water polo. She also competes in cross country and swimming.

“It’s one thing to play four sports, but it’s another thing to be a state qualifier in four sports,” said Lee. “In water polo, she’s great at getting up and down. She has great stamina, and she’s really improved her ball-handling. She was good last year, and she’s really good this year. She’s been our leading scorer in preseason.”


Madeleine Jamora also comes with a good swimming background, having finished first in the 50 free style at the state swim meet last month.

“She’s improving every day - she has long arms, and she’s 6 feet tall. The main thing is that she can match speed with anyone.”

Flowers, who also reaches 6 feet, was the center on the Kapolei basketball team that had a breakthrough season this past winter.

“She’s new to the sport, but she has good hands, she works hard and she’s improving every day,“Lee said. “We expect good things from her.”

The Hurricanes have been one of the state’s top programs lately, and Lee increased the size of his staff by adding assistant coaches Brian Beck, Dawn Momont and Ashlie Salas-Salem, a former All-Conference player at the school, in the off-season. Beck is the head girls soccer coach, working with the goalkeepers, while Momont is an assistant cross country coach.

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