A 2007 first team All American and CCS boys water polo player of the year, senior Paul Rudolph has a career as a member of the Stanford Cardinal to look forward to. But for now his focus is on helping the Gators of Sacred Heart Prep to repeat last season’s CCS division II championship.

Rudolph’s brilliance in the pool last season made Sacred Heart Prep Head Coach Brian Kreutzkamp believe he is coaching one of the best players in the game. Kreutzkamp said, “[Rudolph] will be a top three performer if not the best player in high school water polo this season.”

“He’s a very humble kid,” Kreutzkamp said, “and he’s happy to get the college stuff out of the way so he can be committed to a strong senior season.”

A repeat of last year’s title would be a major accomplishment considering the Gators lost five of seven starters from 2007’s championship team. They’re counting on several unseasoned players to step up and fill that void.

Rudolph and fellow 2007 first team all league driver, senior Alex Whittam will lead the admittedly green squad into the 2008 season according to Kreutzkamp. “Alex and Paul are two really good experienced starters,” Kreutzkamp said, “and we’re relying on them to bring our less experienced players through.”

Kreutzkamp is looking to Junior Goalie, Ben Dearborn to take over for 2007 grad and first team all leaguer Michael Wishart. Wishart leaves big shoes to fill, but Kreutzkamp is confident in his young keeper. “Our Frosh/Soph team was 5-1 in league and won the WCAL last year, and [Dearborn] was a big part of that,” Kreutzkamp said. Dearborn has worked closely with Wishart and Kreutzkamp is happy with the young keeper’s progress.

Hunter Horsley is a senior that is expected to step up along with junior Connor Still. Kreutzkamp has his eye on three sophomores, Robert Dunlevie, Evan Navarro and Phillip Bamberg who helped lead Frosh/Soph in 2007 and who will all get time on the varsity squad this fall.

With a strong sophomore class, the future is undoubtedly bright for the Gators, but their immediate objective is to get back to CCS and find success. They’ve been hard at work all summer preparing for the upcoming season playing club water polo and practicing every morning at 6:30.

Kreutkamp recently brought the squad to Italy where they scrimmaged European club teams in four different cities. “We got beat up pretty bad,” Kreutzkamp said, “which is what I expected. It definitely made us stronger.”

As usual, the Gators have their eyes on beating the Bellarmine Bells who have been dominant in CCS for years. The Gators beat the Bells 11-8 last October for only the second time in school history. “They’ve been the kings forever,” Kreukzkamp said, “beating them was probably our second biggest accomplishment last year.”

St. Francis will return 5 of 7 starters from their 2007 CCS runner up squad and are favored in the WCAL and in CCS. “We’re most worried about St. Francis. They’re favored to win the league but Bellarmine and Sacred Heart will be close behind,” Kreutzkamp said.

The Gators kick off their season on September 12 at the John Schmitt Memorial Tournament.