The Grossmont High School boys water polo team ended the 2025 season with a 24-7 overall record, 8-0 in Grossmont Valley League play, and four rounds deep in the San Diego Section Division II playoffs.
The second-seeded Foothillers defeated 10th-seeded University City, 16-9, in the quarterfinals and then sank sixth-seeded Del Norte,14-6, in the semifinals.
Grossmont lost 7-3 to top-seeded Oceanside in the championship game.
Top returners include seniors Nathan French, Jackson Coplin and Soren Larsen and juniors Connor Williams, Mehki High and Caden Hoagland.
Williams was third on the team in scoring as a sophomore last year with 69 points on 50 goals and 19 assists while adding 18 steals. Hoagland chalked up 29 points on 20 goals and nine assists as another sophomore while French followed with 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists as a junior. High scored 21 goals and 23 points as a sophomore.
Hoalgland had 26 steals while French logged 22 steals.
Impact newcomers include senior Merek Hespeler, juniors Ben Rodriguez, Jude Pena and Carter Nelson and sophomore Noah Durio.
“We have a young but talented, hard working team and we are excited to see how much we can improve each week,” head coach Clint McLaughlin said. “If we can continue to progress every day, by the end of the season we will put ourselves in a position to compete for a Division 1 championship.
“We have a very tough schedule and a very good league from top to bottom this year, so it will be a good challenge for our team this year and will help prepare us for the playoffs.”
East County waters are full of contenders this season.. Santana enters the 2026 season ranked fourth among section teams while Valhalla is ranked 10th, Helix ranked 11th, Grossmont ranked 12th, Patrick Henry ranked 17th, Steele Canyon ranked 21st and Granite Hills ranked 24th.
Those teams should pepper the Open Division, Division I and Division II playoff brackets.
Santana (fourth seed), Valhalla (sixth seed) and Helix (eighth seed) all populated last year’s Open Division bracket with Santana advancing to the semifinals.
Patrick Henry qualified as the No. 9 seed in Division I while Steele Canyon earned the No. 4 seed in the Division II bracket along with El Capitan (seventh seed) and Granite Hills (eighth seed).
“Being the eighth seed in Open Division last season, the expectations for this team to make a serious run are higher than ever,” Helix coach Spencer Bailey said. “Despite losing five seniors last season, we are confident in our ability to fill those roles and compete in Open once again. With the addition of a few key pieces, the end goal is to win a playoff game and advance further than any Helix boys water polo team has in history.”
Top returners for the Highlanders include junior Kai Mortier (first team all-league), senior Jackson Morgans (first team all-league), junior Noah Berray (second team all-league) and senior Walter Mundt.
Mason Torretto (two-time Division I swim finalist) is the team’s impact newcomer.
