Men’s Water Polo: Rebuilding time for UCI

Steve Virgen

THE CAMPUS - UC Irvine men’s water polo coach Ted Newland will have

you believe the Anteaters are all about feast or famine.

Last year, UCI thrived on the experience of eight seniors, four of

them starters, and finished ranked No. 4 in the country.

But, this year, UCI will be starving for maturity and wins.

Now that the seniors have departed and Jeff Powers -- last year as a

junior he led UCI with 73 goals and was named first-team All-American and

first-team All Mountain Pacific Sports Federation -- is redshirting the

year, what will it take for the Anteaters to win games?

“A lot of luck,” Newland said, while laughing. “It’s going to be a

very difficult year. The year after this we should be real solid.”

Newland, the NCAA’s all-time winningest water polo coach at 663-288-5,

enters his 36th season. He has guided the Anteaters to six NCAA

championships and 17 league titles. Among the NCAA crowns, UCI finished

undefeated, 30-0, in 1982.

Last year, Newland was named MPSF Coach of the Year after he led the

Anteaters to a 7-1 conference record and a share of first place. He calls

this year, “a growing process,” and hopes his new goalie grows up

quickly.

Junior transfer Doug Finfrock (Riverside City College) has quite the

shoes to fill as last year’s man in the cage, Dan Hipp, is gone. Hipp,

whom Newland tabbed “one of the best goalies I’ve ever coached,”

collected 248 saves last year and earned first-team All-MPSF honors.

“(Finfrock) shows a lot of hard work,” Newland said. “He’s doing a

good job and he’s very consistent.”

Powers, redshirting based on Newland’s decision, played on the U.S.

national team this summer. The Anteaters will now look to seniors John

Dorphi and Chris Kirchwehm for leadership and offense. Dorphi and

Kirchwehm have also redshirted a year in the UCI program and freshman Dan

Noon was a redshirt last year.

“I always redshirt my players somewhere along the line,” Newland said.

“(Water polo) is a growing process. They have to learn the basic skills

and put it all together. All our older guys have had five years

experience. It takes human beings a long time to learn these things.”

Newland is expecting Corona del Mar High product Garrett Gentry, a

sophomore, to make huge contributions this season. “He’s a real solid

player,” Newland said of Gentry. “He comes from one of the best programs

around. That makes a big difference. He’s not learning the basics. He

learned all that stuff from (CdM Coach John) Vargas. Coming in, he just

played at a higher level than most.”

Newland is also expecting big things from freshman Dreason Barry

(Eugene, Ore.), a two-meter man who is 6-foot-8, 205 pounds.

“I have this kid who is going to be big-time for us,” Newland said

with no pun intended. “I’ve never had a big kid like that in all my

coaching. The thing that impressed me is that he’s a great athlete. He

trained for track for one month in high school and high jumped 6-6, third

in the state. That’s pretty good for a month of training. For a big kid,

he’s very coordinated. He’s greener than grass and he just needs a ton of

work. But, he really has some big-time potential.”

The Anteaters’ 2001 season is that of a project, Newland said. Any

success this year will only make next season all the better.

“This year depends on how well we gel together,” Newland said. “If

they develop, we’ll be fairly decent at the end of the season. Maybe,

next year, we’ll have the chance to be on top, maybe win it all. If my

boy Barry comes through, we can be a good team this year.”

UC Irvine Men’s Water Polo

1 Doug Finfrock, goalie, 6-4, 200 Jr.

1 Patrick Medve, goalie, 6-0, 170 Fr.

2 Phil Garcia, driver, 6-0, 180 So.

3 Chris Kirchwehm, utility, 6-3, 190 Sr.

5 John Dorfi, utility, 6-1 205 Sr.

6 Dan Noon, two-meter, 6-4, 210 Fr.

7 Chris Boyer, two-meter, 6-2, 220 Sr.

8 Garrett Gentry, driver/utility, 6-0, 195 So.

9 Rick Merlo, two-meter, utility, 6-2, 200 Fr.

10 Dreason Barry, two-meter, 6-8, 205 Fr.

13 Cameron Bassett, utility, 6-3, 200 Fr.

Coach: Ted Newland (36th year)

Assistants: Marc Hunt and Pat Glasgow