Over the past few years, four Sydney Uni Men’s Water Polo players have headed to the Golden West for a season to improve their game.
Most recently, Andrew Cameron and Cody Ingram played a big part in the Golden West Rustlers 3rd straight CCCAA State Championship, with a 12-10 win over LA Valley.
LA Valley put together a strong first quarter to slow top-ranked Golden West College but in the end it was the Rustlers getting the upper hand as they beat the Monarchs, 12-10. Ingram scored an important goal in the final to give the Rustlers their first lead of the match and Cameron was strong in goals. The win was Golden West’s 26th state championship overall, the most of any CCCAA program.
In the lead up to the state championship, Golden West College ran away with the Orange Empire Conference men’s water polo title (for the 30th consecutive season), this time defeating Orange Coast College 16-7. It was the stellar play of the defence and goalkeeper Andrew Cameron in the second half that guided Golden West to victory. The Rustlers surrendered only two second half goals as the offense for Golden West matched their output from the first half.
The string of players to the Southern Californian Junior College power house started in 2014 when Reed Cotterill joined the Rustlers. He was then picked up by NCAA Div 1 College UC Santa Barbara following a fantastic season with Golden West where he became the Rustlers’ second-highest goal scorer and all-time assists leader. During his time there, the Rustlers had a 28-1 record. He led the team to a state championship and scored two goals in the 5-2 championship win.
The next Lion to head to the Rustlers was Tom McJannett, joining for the 2016 season. He also produced outstanding performances in another Rustlers state championship winning season, scoring 44 goals in 28 games
All four athletes have contributed to the success of the Sydney University Lions Water Polo program in recent years.
The 2019 Australian Water Polo League will commence in February.
