Piedmont High School’s boys water polo team climbed the mountain in 2024. The Highlanders became the first Alameda County team to win a North Coast Section title, defeating Alameda in the NCS Division 2 championship game, 10-8.
The summer is over, the seniors are gone and Piedmont is now ready to see how it can follow that up.
“It’s good not only for the program but it’s also good for the league,” Highlanders coach John Savage said. “It was an all-(West Alameda County) Conference final so give Alameda High School the kudos they deserve.
“Our mindset every year is we have to get better. Better can mean a lot of different things. It’s hard to beat an NCS championship.”
Junior Luke McAuliffe is back in goal.
“Starting goalie last year,” Savage said. “Brings that experience back. He has put in a lot of work in the off season playing club water polo. And he has great anticipation.”
Several key seniors will lead this year squad. Charlie Wright is an experienced two-meter man. So is Yotam Kariv.
“They’re both really experienced defenders too,” Savage said.
Junior Elles Krieckhaus also excels at two meters. He also got some extra training this year.
“He spent spring semester studying abroad in Italy and he played water polo there,” Savage said.
Senior Leo Hurwitz is back. Two freshman will make immediate impacts: Henry Stein (whose brother George was one of last year’s graduating seniors) and Rylan Patty.
“We have a breadth of contributors at every grade level,” Savage said, noting that some times there’s a cluster of players in one grade.
There are also multiple players who are left-handed, which broadens the offense.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys who can score,” Savage said. “By having two lefites, it brings a lot of balance so we can score from every position in the pool. Shots can come from either side and we can run plays for any of our field players. Any of the guys can score.”
The coach said his biggest problem is depth. There may not be enough players to field a junior varsity team this season.
“We just need more bodies,” Savage said. “We might not have a JV program this year. First time in my 13 years at the school. Enrollment has been dropping.
“I think its because we haven’t had a pool in a few years.”
The Piedmont pool is being rebuilt and won’t be ready until at least the Spring.