During Monday night’s Merced City Council meeting, leaders paid tribute to members of the Merced High School Varsity Girl’s Water Polo Team 2024-25 who became Section Champions for the first time ever in program history.
The Lady Bears went undefeated in regular play this past season, and then in November, they won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship. In the section finals, the girls faced a tough Rio Americano team, and came out of the first half trailing 1-3. However, they battled until the end and came out on top, winning 5-4!
The team ended up ranked 27th in the nation.
“I’d like to thank the athletes for a year of hard work,” said Head Coach Kit Grattan. “I think they represent themselves very well as individuals, they represent our team well, they represent our school at a very high level, and they represent our community in an outstanding form. I’m just really proud of their performance this year.”
Among those team members receiving certificates at City Hall were Jasmine Fagan, Audrey O’Bruba, Mariah Ignacio, Olivia Westerberg, Taylor Lung, Elise Metcalf, Faith Vargas, Kate McIntosh, Alexandria Martinez, Amelya Peterson, Madison Plemon, Zoey Hickman, Sarah Slocum, Dorothy Drury, Coach Grattan, Assistant Coach Madeline Hall, Assistant Coach Katie Slocum and Assistant Coach Kirsten Weston.