Water polo captain elevates team morale

By Mary Anne Sunseri

Senior utility Catherine Flynn has led her team to a very successful start in 2005. During her first year on the team after transferring in as a junior, she led the Broncos by scoring 86 out of the team's 298 total goals.

Since coming to Santa Clara on a recruiting trip, Flynn had one main goal in mind: to bring the water polo team up and improve the program as a whole. But she didn't get a chance to do that until her junior year.

"I wanted to be able to play and get better to where I would get a scholarship to be an asset, to really change a program," said Flynn, who's the captain of this year's 9-3 squad.

While still a senior in high school, Flynn made the decision to climb into collegiate play slowly. She attended Sierra Junior College in Rocklin, Calif. to help improve her skills, instead of going to a four-year university.

"Collegiate water polo is a lot more physical than high school water polo," Flynn said. "Many talented girls from high school try and play at the college level but are not able to handle it because the level of play is so drastically different: basically, extremely physical and at a faster pace."

Coming to Santa Clara was a difficult transition, especially since Flynn was a junior transferring into a team of close-knit players. But her teammates accepted her initiative and her dedication to the team almost instantaneously.

"The year before she came, we had one girl that had a lot of heart, and we lost her," junior driver Bryn Asher said. "Then Catherine (Flynn) came in and just replaced her and stepped up a level even more. It's really helped this team to move up."

But Head Coach Keith Wilbur wasn't sure what to expect of his new transfer student.

"I'd say I was expecting a good player, but I'd say she exceeded my expectations," Wilbur said. "I don't think we do enough for her, so she lifts weights extra on her own. She goes and swims on her own. She does extra legwork."

While all the practices and extra work-outs might seem like a drain to other activities like school and a social life, Flynn chose to make water polo her second priority behind school work. She gladly spends most of her time working on water polo in order to improve the team.

"She had a drive to do well and have everyone else do well," said senior driver Erin Scollin, who transferred in the same year as Flynn. "She was inspirational for the team. She has a lot of heart, and watching her example was very important."

Flynn is characterized by her teammates as an aggressive and powerful player who has learned how to shoot into the back of the cage from a variety of locations. Her improvements were evident in the team's 10-7 win over Cal State Bakersfield last Sunday, in which Flynn recorded a season-high six goals.

Moreover, she brought to the team something that had been lost from the year before: leadership. With the graduation of three seniors that had been starters all of their years at Santa Clara, there was a tremendous hole that needed to be filled.

"Last year, we were about as good as we were the year before, but everybody I think thought we were going to be a lot worse because we graduated three senior stars who had been starters pretty much all four years," Wilbur said. "This year, we made a big jump in how we play against top teams and being able to get ranked, which we've never done before."

The first two matches of the season were against University of California at Davis and San Jose State. Though Santa Clara has traditionally lost to these two teams, the Broncos played tough, losing 3-2 and 10-6, respectively.

"Those are teams that have always just killed us," Wilbur said. "Even though we lost the games, we played them really tough and I think that was the first sign that we're at a much higher level than we have been in the past."

With Flynn as captain, the 9-3 team is well on their way to a winning season. Earlier this month, the team was nationally ranked for the first time. Flynn's goal of improving the team is showing.

"She does get along with her teammates. She pushes them and she expects them to work hard also, but she doesn't do that in a way that she's telling them what to do." Wilbur said. "She leads by example and expects the same from her teammates."