Polo players perform well in Florida tourney

The Ventura Premier Water Polo Club traveled to Coral Springs, Fla., to participate in the fifth annual South Florida International Tournament, Feb. 16-18.

Twenty-four teams, including representatives from Hungary, Israel, Canada, Russia and Jamaica, joined a field of teams from across the United States for three days of competition for players 19 years old and younger.

Ranked seventh behind Santa Barbara 'A', South Florida, Lamorinda, Stanford 'A', Hungary and Israel, the Ventura Premier defeated Central Florida 17-3, tied South Florida 66, defeated Commerce 122, lost to the Israeli 19and-under national team 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and rebounded to defeat Santa Barbara 12-7 to claim third place in the tournament and take home bronze medals.

The Israeli national team defeated Stanford 'A' for the gold.

Pictured in the top row from the left are Coach Luke and Scott Snyder (Royal High), Matt Kerchner (Westlake), Tyler McClure (Royal), Devon Borisoff (La Canada), Ryan Balikian (Oaks Christian), and Ryan Vick and Daniel Smith (Thousand Oaks).

Bottom row: Cody Toring and Stash Dybrowski (Royal), Wil Toppen (Camarillo), Jonnie Pare (Oaks Christian) and Ben Hadley (Moorpark).