RCHS girls varsity water polo dominated Upland High School on Tuesday, Jan. 11, adding another win to their league record. 

On the afternoon of Jan. 11, 2022, the team scored an astounding 18 points to defeat Upland 18-2 in their league game. As of Monay, Jan. 24.  water polo now has a league record of 7-3-0. 

“We went out there and we played our hardest,” said senior varsity water polo player Delany Latham. 

From the get-go, the team soared with high spirits. Junior Kori Cunningham said, “ranked up the score right in the first quarter.” 

 “I think it was 6-2 in the first quarter, so we had a lot of confidence,” said Cunningham. 

As the sprinter, Cunningham’s job is to sprint in the water at top speed to grab the ball before the other team’s sprinter and hurl it over to her teammates, securing their first offensive possession of the ball at the onset of each quarter. 

Racing against the opponent for the ball—knowing that the fate of the game rests in your hands—is no easy task. Cunningham recalls a moment of trepidation as she sprinted for the ball. “When someone is beating us on our way to defense, you’re like ‘oh crap’ because now I have to sprint after the person.” 

However, much of the game was smooth-sailing, to say the least. According to Latham, RCHS was expected to defeat Upland to place high in their division. 

“We really want to get good placing in our division, so we kind of had to win this game,” said Latham. 

The team is set to play again on Tuesday, Jan. 25 against Upland and Friday, Jan. 27 against Los Osos. 

In their upcoming games, Cunningham emphasizes the team’s need to win. Currently standing at a league ranking of third place out of several high schools in the community, adding another win to the record would surely guarantee second place. 

“I hope we win. Of course, we always want to win because that will give us a better rating to actually win the league, so our goal is always to win.”