UCI poised for run to top

Coaches who work from a playbook obviously love it when a plan comes together.

UC Irvine men’s water polo head man Marc Hunt hopes to experience such gratification on a grander scale this season with the No. 5-ranked Anteaters, who took their lumps in 2006 after Hunt decided to redshirt talented starters Tim Hutten and Cole Bitter.

But Hutten, a second-team All-American in 2005 who spent time with the national team this year, and Bitter, who at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds is among the top two-meter defenders in the country, Hunt said, are only part of the reasons why big things are expected following a 10-21 campaign.

“We were younger last season, which was one of our worst seasons,” said Hunt, who opens his third season as coach of his alma mater today when the Anteaters visit Cal Baptist in Riverside at 3 p.m. The 10 wins were the fewest for UCI since a 7-15 campaign in 2001.

“But when you look at starting two freshmen and two redshirt freshmen and getting a lot of other players playing time last season, I think it has really added to our depth,” Hunt said. “Tim would have been among the top players in the nation last season, but when your competition is USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal and Long Beach State, that extra redshirt year allows you to catch up to those teams, so to speak.”

Hutten, a senior whose 64 goals in 2005 were second on the team to current national team member Dreason Barry, is a 6-5, 217-pounder who brings intangibles as well as scoring prowess.

“Tim makes decisions to work hard on the things that are not easy to work hard on,” Hunt said. “When you’ve got leadership like that, it filters down through the entire team and you know you’re going to get focused kids.”

Hunt also praised the leadership skills of senior Colin Mello, who led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with 87 goals as a junior driver last season on his way to earning second-team All-American laurels.

“Colin really carried the load for us last year,” Hunt said of the converted goalie from a Fresno suburb. “I don’t think too many people thought a goalie from Sanger would have led the MPSF in scoring last season. It’s not an easy job scoring that many goals from the driver position. What [Mello] did last year was pretty impressive, especially when teams really keyed on him as much as they did.”

Hunt said the presence of Hutten and friends at two-meters will preclude defenses from trying to stop one option this year.

Bitter scored 24 goals, fourth-most on the team, as a junior in 2005, when UCI lost in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament, basically one win shy of a likely trip to the four-team NCAA Championship event.

Also back is fifth-year senior Andrew Dunn, a 6-4, 205-pound driver who has made a rapid and successful return from shoulder surgery after a torn labrum sidelined him early into last season.

Yet another veteran is fifth-year senior goalie Matt Garcia.

“We have five fifth-year seniors and all of them are top players at their positions,” Hunt said. “We have a pretty motivated team, because these guys all know they’ve got a pretty good chance.”

That chance, Hunt said, refers to the Anteaters’ quest for the program’s fourth NCAA Division I crown, their first since 1989.

“It has been a while since we won an NCAA championship,” Hunt said.

MPSF rivals USC, Cal, which won the 2006 NCAA title, UCLA and Stanford are ranked Nos. 1-4, respectively, in the national preseason poll.

Hunt said, unlike most years, there is not a clear national title favorite.

“I think there is a lot of parity this year,” Hunt said. “There are about six or seven teams who are pretty even at the top.”

Despite its losing record, UCI finished No. 11 last season, while seasoning future standouts such as junior two-meter man Jesse Hatch (6-6, 250), sophomore driver Kyle Baxter (38 goals last season as a true freshman), junior driver Cole Bielskis (30 goals in 2006), as well as sophomores Greg Enloe and Jamie Frank.

Hunt said Hatch, a former offensive linemen on Helix High football teams that featured Reggie Bush, is among the strongest two-meter men in the country.

Redshirt freshman driver Brandon Johnson should also contribute, Hunt said.

Legendary former head coach Ted Newland, now coach emeritus at UCI, has recovered enough from February back surgery to give the ’Eaters his usual dose of hard-nosed wisdom.

“He’s 79 and he’s poolside in his back chair for most of our practices,” Hunt said of Newland. “He’s dealing with a lot of pain, but he’s the toughest man I’ve ever known.”