Lightning has league to call home

For the first five years of its existence, the Sage Hill School boys’ water polo program was like a nomad. The Lightning wandered the CIF Southern Section Division VI wasteland as a freelance school, searching for an oasis, otherwise known as an at-large bid into the playoffs.

There was no league for the Lightning to call home where the team could compete for a guaranteed playoff spot. Instead, Sage Hill was forced to forage for itself.

But this year, with league reorganizing, the Orange Coast League had a vacancy. Sure, it meant Sage Hill would be rooming with the big boys of Division II, but a home is a home and that was all Sage Hill wanted.

First-year coach Tom Norton, a former UC Irvine water polo player, is excited to have the stability and join a league which features Division II residents Costa Mesa, Estancia and Laguna Beach.

“It will definitely be a higher level of competition,” Norton said. “I told the guys ‘It’s time to step it up.’ It should be fun.”

Helping Sage Hill become accustomed to its new surroundings will be a corps of experienced players.

The team captain will be junior Beau Caillouette, who is entering his third varsity season.

Caillouette will help make up for the loss of Julian Tooma, who was second-team All-CIF Division VI and scored a team-high 93 goals last season.

Caillouette’s play led the Lightning to a 21-8 season and a berth in the CIF playoffs in 2005.

“He has really come a long way from his freshman and sophomore years,” Norton said. “He really improved during the summer. He developed into a good player. He has got excellent work ethic and he shows attributes to be a leader on the team.”

Work ethic is a characteristic Norton believes will help the Lightning be successful this season. The players regularly show up early to practice, which is on the Corona del Mar High campus due to Sage Hill’s lack of a pool, and welcome with open arms the training Norton puts forth.

The cross-training, which began Aug. 25, includes 5,000 to 6,000 yards of swimming each day, two to three miles of running a day, along with 100 pushups and 200 to 300 situps.

The players did not touch a ball until the third day of practice.

“I said to them ‘The one thing you can control is your conditioning,’ ” Norton said. “We do cross-training to get overall fitness. During the season it will not be as much. No running.”

Once the season begins and the running disappears, only the swimming conditioning will remain. And, as the season progresses, the swimming load will lessen.

“It’s a huge part of getting ready for the season,” Norton said.

Junior Danny Harold returns as the Lightning’s starting goalie.

“He shows up early to practice,” Norton said. “Their will to work hard goes above and beyond.”

Junior Jimmy Miller returns and brings the Lightning much needed swimming experience as the school’s top swimmer in the 500-yard freestyle last season. Miller finished 13th at CIF Division VI finals last spring.

“He’s a great swimmer and a very unselfish player,” Norton said.

Norton expects sophomore Tucker Pettis to make an impact after spending last season with the junior varsity.

“I’m looking for him to step up and fill some spots created by the loss of seniors,” Norton said. “He has grown three to four inches. He’s starting to mature as a water polo player. He knows the game very well, just like Beau and Jimmy.”

Senior Perry Pang, who was 10th in the 100 butterfly at CIF finals, gives the Lightning another player with swimming skills.

“He’s very strong,” Norton said. “He’s got a good shot and a good arm. Being a swimmer definitely helps you in water polo. A lot of guys go and do other sports and lose out on three-to-four months of swimming.”

Norton, hired after serving a an assistant at Corona del Mar High, expressed gratitude for the job former coach Jeff Andrews did in providing a foundation at Sage Hill.

“He really built the program up from ground zero,” Norton said.

“All these guys’ work ethic is awesome,” Norton said. “They know what it takes. There is no secret. You have to play hard and you have to put in the time.”

THE LIGHTNING

1 Danny Harold Jr.

1A Michael Chiboucas So.

2 Jimmy Miller Jr.

3 Beau Caillouette Jr.

4 Tucker Pettis So.

5 Perry Pang Sr.

6 Ryan Barth Jr.

7 Jake Blitzer Fr.

8 Stephen Comp Jr.

9 Carl Hillgren Jr.

10 Stephen Krieger Fr.

11 Stephen Marshall Jr.

12 Mitchell Dao Sr.

13 Kevin Medrik So.

14 Michael Ljungh So.

15 Danny Lee So.

16 Julius Lee Fr.

Coach: Tom Norton

(first year)