LJ b water polo: What an arc of success

By Ed Piper

Tom Atwell, in his 25th year teaching at La Jolla High, floating in the Coggan pool with his two assistants, a smile on his face. It doesn't get better than that.

The grin came after the Vikings' 15-12 win over Cathedral Catholic, the dreaded "new" giant, in the San Diego Section Open Division finals. Atwell and his La Jolla water polo players had to deal with Bishop's before that.

The "slog"--a long time of trying to climb the mountain. Tries again and again, losing in the Open playoffs last year, the year before...

"It means everything for us," said Dexter Black, the star attacker whose brother Kiefer even came up through the system, yet wasn't able to help secure an Open title for Atwell. "For us, the team, Coach Atwell," Dexter went on. "What is it, 29 years or something like that? (25, actually.) 

"His jump in the pool was one of the best memories I'll ever have."

Echoed teammate Tor Martin, the center, "What we've been through as a team..." His brother Soren, too, preceded him by two years, yet they didn't win a title.

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Freshman Matthew Shomo was in the starting lineup for La Jolla against Cathedral in their latest engagement, in the semifinals of the Southern California Regionals Thurs., Nov. 20. Shomo has pretty much been a starter the last few games as the Vikings went into the regionals, after significant minutes in the earlier playoffs.

Atwell, obviously, views him as a go-to guy lately, putting him with the core of Nate Thomson, Martin, Black, Henry Glenister, and Ryder Jaseniuk. He also gained the spot when Quinn Daniels went down with a concussion in the section finals, six stitches under his right eye.

Daniels showed his bandage, covering the stitches, proudly during the regionals matchup with the Dons. He announced loudly to a reporter, "I'm on a one-week protocol for a concussion." Teammates around him smiled. He said it with a big smile.

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Dave Adams sat in a folding chair near the team benches, a red Scottish-pattern blanket over his legs in the cold, during La Jolla's 10-9 loss to Cathedral Catholic in the regional semifinals. He interacted with a reporter, showing a lot of knowledge of water polo in general and the Vikings' 2025 outfit in particular.

He explained that the team MVP award was named after his son Matt, who died of metastatic melanoma in 2018 at about age 37. Matt was in the Class of 1999, playing water polo for the Vikings. That would have been right before or as Tom Atwell began his coaching at La Jolla.

The elder Adams, whose wife is Joyce, was obviously proud to be attached to the Viking water polo program and to keep the memory of their son alive with his name on the award that goes to the team's best player each year.