Five Ripon residents recently participated in the USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program National Championships, and one has earned an invite to the National Team Selection Camp.
Colony Oak Elementary eighth grader Reyna Biedermann was identified as one of the top performers in the Development age group (2009-11 birth years) last week. The girls ODP nationals took place March 24-26 in the East Bay’s Tri-Valley region, while the boys competed March 17-19 in San Antonio Tex.
Others selected for Central California Zone teams were Emery and Brody Biedermann, Reyna’s siblings, and Ryan and Trevor Bell. The Central zone covers 26 counties from the Sacramento area, Mother Lode, Fresno and even parts of Santa Barbara.
Emery and Reyna Biedermann are members of the Stockton-based Big Valley Water Polo Academy, and their club coach, Vanessa Vincent, served as head coach for the ODP nationals. Brody Biedermann and the Bells play for the Ripon Aquatics Renegades headed by Ripon High coach Christian Britton, who was an ODP assistant.
Sophomores at Ripon High, Brody Biedermann and Ryan Bell were standouts on Britton’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship team last fall.
Reyna Biedermann helped lead CenCal Red to a third-place finish. Teams from her division played at Granada High and the Robert Livermore Aquatic Center.
They routed teams from the Pacific Northwest and Southeast zones in pool play before falling to Pacific Red, 8-3. Central Red, which started out as the No. 4 seed, bounced back with a 9-3 victory over Coastal California Blue and held off Coastal Red 10-6 in the third-place match.
Biedermann totaled eight goals, five assists, five steals and a block in the five games. She’ll get a chance to vie for a spot on the national team May 19-21 in Southern California. Players selected to the national teams will train and compete in domestic and international tournaments for the rest of 2023.
Emery Biedermann was the Central Development Blue team, which improved on its 18th-place seed and finished in 13th with a 3-2 record. They edged past Northeast 14-12 in their final contest. Biedermann contributed with five assists, one goal and one steal.
In Texas, Brody Bidermann and Ryan Bell were on separate Cadet division (2007-08) teams, while Trevor Bell joined coach Britton on CenCal Development Blue.
Brody bagged 18 assists, five goals, 18 steals and a block for the 10th-seeded Central Red, which went 4-1 for seventh place.
Ryan Bell racked up nine goals, nine assists, seven steals and three blocks to lift the Central Blue from the 17th seed to a 13th-place finish with a 3-2 mark.
Trevor Bell helped Central Development Blue improve one spot from the 17th seed to 16th place with a 1-3 finish. He chipped in with four goals, seven assists and three steals.
