The Falcon Water Polo Club, in its second year of Junior Olympics competition, captured its first medal when 16U Falcon Blue earned the gold medal in the Gold Division at the Swim Outlet Junior Olympics held in early August in Orange County.

Beginning the tournament seeded 46th of 48 teams and losing their first two games to Commerce 18-2 and Greenwich (Connecticut) 12-3, the team competed without standout Devin Grab (South Pasadena High). Grab was representing the United States in the Jr. Pan Am Games.

Falcon Blue beat all odds by winning eight consecutive games on their way to taking home the gold medal with wins over Bear River (Utah) 7-3, Legacy (Monterey Bay) 13-3, Kingfish(Pennsylvania) 13-3, American River 5-3, Diablo (Berkeley) 7-3, Davis 6-3(final score in shootout), South Coast (Thousand Oaks) 7-5, and ultimately defeating La Jolla 6-4 in the championship game.

The Falcon girls, coached by Pete Loporchio, Chris Axelgard of CV High and Robert Echeverria from South Pasadena High School, ended the weekend with an 8-2 record. The team was made up of South Pasadena players Grace Alegro, Carolyn Magistrale, Sabrina Pierce, Lisa Echeverria, Siris Pinget and Crescenta Valley High players Katie Benson, Gabriel Isacson, Shannon Hovanesian, Elissa Arnold, Ashley Taylor, Lynley Fernandez, Sabrina Hatzer, and Maggie Connell.

Girls ages 8-13 interested in joining Falcon Water Polo Club can contact Coach Loporchio at coachloporchio@live.com.