Ontario has never won a league title in girls water polo, but the Jaguars have a young and up-and-coming team that just might be capable of doing so.
The team, directed by second-year coach Howard Hyde, is 12-4 overall and 2-0 in Mt. Baldy League play.
The driving force behind the team is sophomore Yesenia Preciado, who has already scored 105 goals, with 38 of those coming last weekend in five matches at the Nogales Tournament. She was first team All-League last year as a freshman.
“She is a strong swimmer in the water, but she is also very creative,” Hyde said. “You hear it with basketball players all the time, that they can create their own shot. Well, she can create her own shot too.”
Hyde thinks Preciado, a member of the Foothill Water Polo Club, is capable of playing at the Division I level in college. She would be the third player in the family to move on to college athletics following sister Melina, who plays softball at Division I Mississippi, and another Jackie, who plays at Division II Montana State-Billings.
“She’s only a sophomore so we’re early in the process,” Hyde said. “She definitely has that potential.”