On October 27, Rocklin’s Varsity boys water polo team held their Senior night at Rocklin High School where they celebrated all 10 of their senior players, all of which played their final regular season game for the team. The Thunder hosted their cross town rivals the Whitney Wildcats where they won in dominating fashion with a 18-10 victory against the Wildcats for the second and final time this season. With the win, Rocklin has won the League championship for the second year in a row finishing off the regular season undefeated in the SFL with a 12-0 record and an 18-10 overall record.
Senior player Jack Greenfield felt that the victory made the Thunder a contender for the playoffs when asked about the win, “Feels good, because I feel like we were kind of considered underdogs because we lost a lot of seniors last year, really good Seniors, so people weren’t expecting us to be able to carry on that level of play. And I think we’ve done more than that. I think we’re just as good, if not better, than last year. I think we’ve shown that in the water.”
Getting to this point wasn’t easy for him, when asked about how this sport helped him be better he had this to say, “It’s definitely shaped me, because it takes a lot hard work being in the water every day, in the morning, getting them at 5am in the morning to go get in the cold water”, said Greenfield. “it’s helped my mental toughness, and it’s kind of been a good goal to work towards through high school. Aside from academics, it’s been something that’s kept me going and, like, kept me doing stuff and getting out of the house. So it’s definitely been a good journey for me, for my character and my physical self too.”
While the Seniors’ journey in high school begins to come to a close, they are also preparing their younger teammates to keep the team competitive and alive before they eventually leave Rocklin. Senior player Parker Knowlton had some positive things to say when asked about mentoring the Sophomore and Junior players on varsity, “We got a couple of those guys now on the team, and they’re really young, and they’re performing on varsity at a high level so I think they get a little bit more experience, like Nash (Van Wegenen) and Adam (Alexander), these guys can be future captains and lead the team to do even greater things.”
Despite the celebrations and honoring the seniors who have contributed to this team, Knowlton will still be mentoring his younger teammates because this season is not over just yet. The Thunder is heading into the post-season strong as they head into the Sac-Joaquin Divisional 1 Playoffs, marking the first time they made the D1 playoffs since 2021.
Knowlton believes this team has what it takes to win the title when asked about their playoff chances, “I think it’s high. I mean, we’ve seen all the teams before who are going to be competing yet, so there’s only one team who I think will stand in our way, but like 80 to 90% chance we win this, go into the playoffs and win a second championship.”
