The Santa Barbara Aquatics Club's 8th-Grade-and-under team is headed to the Turbo Cup in Bloomington, Indiana.
By Peter Neushul
Santa Barbara Aquatics Club has a long tradition of qualifying and excelling at U.S. Water Polo’s Fall Classic, the Turbo Cup.
At the 2011 qualification tournament, SBAC girls squad beat Rose Bowl and Foothill before losing to Commerce in the final. The second-place finish qualified them for the Turbo Cup at the University of Indiana in Bloomington.
The 8th-grade-and-under squad will open tournament play on Nov. 5.
The SBAC 2011 squad includes Turbo Cup veterans Jessie Brummet, Christina Garcia, Paige Hauschild, Ryann Neushul, Brittany Prentice, Jessie Ransone, and Toni Shackelford. Most of these girls participated on SBAC’s 12U girls team that went undefeated in 2010-2011 and won the National Junior Olympic Championship.
Additional players from the 12U championship team include Erin Mahan and Ashley Cocklin. Haley Gellert and Kate Koski round out the squad. Both are veteran 14U players who participated on SBAC’s powerful teams at the 2011 Junior Olympics.
SBAC’s last Turbo Cup medal was a bronze in the 2009 tournament. The club’s best finish was silver in 2008.
Check the SBAC and USA Water Polo web sites for updates.
