Several Dixon athletes recently competed in the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, which were held from July 27 through August 4 in Orange County. The Junior Olympics is the national championship tournament for club teams in water polo.
In order to play in Junior Olympics, teams must attend qualifying tournaments where they compete for spots in the tournament. The top teams play in the Championship division, while the next tier competes in the Classic division. The number of teams in each bracket varies by age group, with some brackets containing as many as 48 teams.
This year, there were 7 Dixon athletes competing for the Davis Water Polo Club and West Sac Water Polo teams:
In the 12U girls division, Davis, with Dixon 8th grader Madison Katzenmeyer, finished 1st in the gold bracket and 13th overall in the Championship division. The team went 6-2 overall, with wins over Trojan WPC, American River, Santa Barbara B (twice), Stanford and MVPolo, and losses to Simi Valley and Rose Bowl.
The Davis 14U boys, with Dixon sophomore Kyle Katzenmeyer, finished 9th overall in the Championship division. Davis had a 7-2 record, with victories over Bakersfield, ORWP, SET, Chula Vista, Newport Beach Blue, SoCal Black and Alliance A, and losses to LA Premier Black and Chula Vista.
The West Sac 18U boys team, with Dixon High seniors Austin Dyer, Nate Anderson and Evan Wiley, and DHS graduates Austin Anderson and Alex Gonzalez, finished 5th in the bronze bracket of the Classic division. West Sac had a record of 3-5, with wins over Viper Pigeon Black, Eugene City and Capital Area Premier, and losses to Commerce, West Coast Aquatics, OC Riptide, C Cal WPC, and Rose Bowl Black.
More information about Junior Olympics can be found at http://http://www.juniorolympics.com/