Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week: Schilling’s worth rising for Sailors
Chanel Schilling’s favorite water polo memory is also one of her first.
It’s been nearly eight years since Schilling helped her Newport Water Polo Foundation 10-and-under co-ed team win the prestigious San Diego Cup in May, 2007. Schilling remembers the win, but the team was also significant because it included two of her best friends, defender Rachel Whitelegge and goalie Carlee Kapana.
“That was fun, because we still play the same positions and everything,” said Schilling, a center. “That was our biggest tournament, that and [Junior Olympics]. It was really cool.”
Schilling, Whitelegge and Kapana have grown up in the Newport program, into their current role as senior leaders for the Sailors’ high school team. Each has committed to play in college, with Whitelegge and Kapana at UCLA and Schilling down Interstate 5 at UC San Diego.
Each player has a defined role for Newport Harbor. For Schilling, being a center means she has to try to score on her two friends in practice, which is not an easy task.
“We grew up together and they really made me better, because I had some of the best people to guard me,” Schilling said. “It was cool to have them. It gets competitive in practice, but we’re best friends out of the pool, no matter what.”
Being competitive has never been an issue for Schilling, always known as one of the hardest workers on the team. On the varsity level, the results are coming this year for her as well.
Schilling, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, has 17 goals this season, tying her for second on the team. She had a productive tournament last weekend at the Holiday Cup, scoring 11 goals in the four games as Newport Harbor placed a strong third place.
Without Schilling, the Sailors (8-3) don’t even get out of the tournament quarterfinals. She scored a career-high five goals in the 10-9 quarterfinal win over Orange Lutheran.
After the game, Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett said he sees Schilling as really coming into her own, but having room for even more improvement. That’s good news for UC San Diego head coach Brad Kreutzkamp. The Tritons also feature Newport Harbor alumna Jenna Williamson (Murphy) as their associate head coach.
Williamson coached Schilling in club as a 12-and-under player, when Newport placed second at Junior Olympics to Laguna Beach. Laguna, the defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion and currently top-ranked, is still the team that Schilling and the Sailors are trying to catch years later.
They’ve been competitive in two losses to the Breakers so far this year, falling, 9-8, and 7-3. If Schilling can be productive at center, the Sailors, ranked No. 3 in Division 1, have a better chance to win.
She was productive again on Wednesday, with two goals and an assist in the Sailors’ big 7-3 win over Los Alamitos to open Sunset League play. Schilling is stepping up, like her older sister Elissia did as a center before graduating in 2013. Elissia now plays at UCLA, which opens its season next weekend by playing host to the UCLA Invitational.
Technically, though, the play of the sisters varies quite a bit. Chanel’s game is much more physical.
“We’re totally different,” said Chanel Schilling, whose younger sister, Chloe, is also a sophomore goalie for Newport Harbor’s junior varsity team. “I feel like I turn a lot more. She did a lot of quick shots. She did sweep shots, a lot of weird, different shots. I don’t do that as much, because when I grew up playing, I played with the [Olympic Development Program] system, which she didn’t do. They kind of restricted you.”
Chanel Schilling, who was on the U.S. women’s cadet national team in 2012, no longer plays ODP. She is focused on high school, and making an impact for the Sailors.
She did that two years ago, as a centerpiece for a stacked JV team that won the Costa Mesa varsity tournament and placed ninth at the Holiday Cup. Last year was more about adjusting for Schilling, as Newport Harbor had graduate Christina O’Beck, now at the University of Michigan, as its primary center.
“I didn’t play my position as much,” said Schilling, who still was a starter for Newport Harbor and helped the Sailors make the Division 1 championship game for the third straight year. “I was used to going into set every single time. Ultimately, I think it was a good thing for me.”
Newport assistant coach Brian Melstrom, who will take over for Barnett after he retires following this season, coached Schilling on that JV team. He said he’s looking for her to have a little bit better vision on offense, to be more ready to make the quick pass against a “drop” defense on her at two meters.
“She still does have development left to go at the next level, and throughout the season,” Melstrom said. “But she takes criticism very well. She goes just as hard in practice as she does in the games. It makes it very difficult for the rest of our girls in our program to have to guard her everyday, because she is very aggressive.”
Whitelegge and Kapana appear up to the challenge for one more year, before the friends go their separate way for college. Schilling, who has a 3.8 cumulative grade-point average, is excited about the next level academically as well.
Until then, she will continue to listen to the advice of Barnett and Melstrom. There’s always room for growth for anyone, and she is used to fielding that constructive criticism.
“[Barnett] is a good motivator,” Schilling said. “It helps. I like getting criticized. I’m used to it. I mean, it helps me learn.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
