Taylor will coach Mesa boys’ water polo team

Costa Mesa High graduate Justin Taylor, 28, has been named boys’ water polo coach for the Mustangs.

Taylor, a walk-on coach, graduated from Mesa in 1997 after helping the Mustangs win the CIF Southern Section Division II championship as goalie in 1995. He replaces Robert Grayeli, his high school teammate, who is moving on to coach at Golden West College.

“Water polo has been my passion ever since I was young,” said Taylor, a Huntington Beach resident. “[Newport Harbor High boys’ coach] Jason Lynch was my seventh grade science teacher when he taught at Costa Mesa. He introduced me to it and I fell in love with it. I’m excited to be back at the alma mater and give back to a program that gave me so much.”

Taylor played at Orange Coast College in the late 1990s and helped the Pirates win a conference title, before suffering a career-ending injury when he hyper-extended his elbow. He was an assistant on both the boys’ and girls’ water polo teams at Costa Mesa High last season, and is also a coach for the Mustangs swim team.

He said he thinks the Mustangs will be competitive next season, coming off a 9-15 season, 2-3 in the Orange Coast League. They narrowly missed a Division II playoff berth.

“We’ll have a good team,” Taylor said. “We have about four or five starters coming back.”

— Matt Szabo