About the coach.......
JOHN MARSH- MEN’S WATER POLO
jmarsh@cuesta.edu
John became the second head coach for the Cuesta Aquatics program in December 2003 following the retirement of program founder Terry Bowen. He is well acquainted with the program as both an athlete and coach and was the natural choice to lead the program. He led the Cougars to Western State Conference titles in each of his first three seasons and in 2006 he also led them to third place at the State Championships; the school’s third best finish ever!
John has an extensive coaching career, which began with four years at Righetti High as an assistant water polo coach and head swimming coach. He then moved over to Santa Maria High as the head water polo and swimming coach and led that program to a 1991 CIF Title in water polo. After four years at Santa Maria, he left to spend more time in the farming and produce business, while establishing himself as one of the premier referees on the Central Coast. In 2001, the coaching bug again got a hold of John and he took over the Cal Poly SLO men and women’s water polo
club teams. In his three seasons with the Mustangs, he led both teams to two National Collegiate Club Titles. After his first year at Cal Poly SLO, John also joined Terry Bowen’s staff as his top assistant in both water polo and swimming.
John began his academic career at Cuesta College and was a two-time All American in water polo. His 178 career goals in 1980-81 still rank third all time for the Cougars. After Cuesta, John transferred to UCLA and helped lead the Bruins to third place at the 1982 National Championships. He missed the 1983 season due to injury and moved back to the Central Coast to work in farming and begin his coaching career. John completed his Bachelor’s Degree and earned his Master’s in Kinesiology at Cal Poly SLO.
John lives with his wife, Debbie, in nearby Arroyo Grande. He has a daughter, Megan, and a son, Eric. Megan swam for the Cougars last spring.
Game Notes
MEN'S WATER POLO
Cuesta 11, Alumni 10
1 2 3 4 T
Alum 2 1 4 3 10
Cue 2 1 5 3 11
goals-
Alum: Doug Leach 3, Cole Gauthier 2, John Marsh 2, Rhett Williams, Nick Dulawan
Cue: Craig Erickson 4, Bryan Buhagiar 3, Trevor Frimond 2, Ian Starkie, Ethan Hadley
saves-
Alum: Coult Dennis 14
Cue: Dylan Cox 3, Riley Warner 7, Kirk Westlake 2
Notes/Next- Cuesta barely beat their Alumni 11-10 to improve to 22-8 on the season. Ethan Hadley's goal with 1:14 left on the clock was the contest's decisive goal. Coach John Marsh, who played for Cuesta in 1980 and 1981 scored two goals on his 2007 team. The Cougars will be the top seed in next week's Western State Conference Championships in Santa Monica. The TOunament will run Friday and Saturday and the Cuesta is the defending WSC Champion.
MEN'S WATER POLO
Cuesta 14, Citrus 8
1 2 3 4 T
Cit 2 1 2 1 8
Cue 3 3 5 3 14
Goals-
Cit: Adam Domenici 3, Miles Deamer 2, Justin Coy 2, Brad Beintema
Cue: Ian Starkie 4, Blake Shoenberg 2, Ethan Hadley 2, Eric Cavanaugh,
Bryan Buhagiar, Trevor Frimond, Alex Reyna, Blake Richesin, Craig
Erickson
Saves-
Cit: Tony Pearson 4
Cue: Dylan Cox 6, Riley Warner 5
Notes- The men improved to 13-5 overall and 2-0 in the Western State
Conference after beating the Citrus Owls 14-8. All American Ian
Starkie led the COugars with four goals as the Cougars received support
from nine different scorers on the offensive end of the pool. The men
are currently ranked #5 in the State.
Next- Cuesta will host the Cuesta Tournament this Friday and Saturday.
The Cougars will play Solano (11:15) and Orange Coast (3:35) on Friday.
On Saturday they will play Santa Ana (10:40) and Cerritos (3 PM).
Cuesta 21, Santa Monica 2
1 2 3 4 T
SMC 0 0 0 2 2
Cue (11) 6 3 1 21
Goals-
SMC: Corey Duffy, Erin Flynn
Cue: Ashley de Goede 5, Ashley Lindsay 3, Whitney Levicki 3, Chelsea Curtis 2, Laura Oneto 2, Heather Hugo 2, Katie Rehnberg, Meagan Bebb, Tammy Barksdale, Emily Millard
Saves-
SMC: Brittany McKenny 9
Cue: Emily Millard 3, Tammy Barksdale 3, Meagan Bebb 2, Ashley de Goede 1
Notes- Cuesta's Women's Water Polo team won its first defense of its 2006 Western State Conference title by beating Santa Monica, 21-2. The Cougars, ranked #7 in the State, jumped out to a 11-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to some stellar defense and an unstoppable fast break. Coach Pete Schuler, "Last week we played both #1 and #2 in the State and I asked them to play this first quarter at their highest level and they did. We have a big weekend coming up (Pasadena Tournament), so I wanted them to keep that fire for at least a quarter." The Cougars rotated four players into the goal and had ten players score against the Corsairs, who snapped the shutout with four minutes left in the game as they outscored Cuesta 2-1 in the final period. Cuesta is now 11-4 on the season.
Next- Cuesta will play in the Pasadena Bowl Tournament this Friday and Saturday. The Cougars will face #6 Cerritos, #15 Pasadena and #13 Orange Coast at the event.
