Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Kapana a wall for Sailors
Two coaches who have seen a lot of Newport Harbor High senior Carlee Kapana in action said that last week’s Battle of the Bay girls’ water polo game may have been her best.
Newport Harbor assistant coach Brian Melstrom and Corona del Mar Coach Ross Sinclair shared that sentiment after the game when judging the goalkeeper’s performance.
“She played out of her mind,” Sinclair said. “That’s probably one of the best games I’ve ever seen her play. I coached her [in club] when she was 14-and-under and she had some insane games, but I think that was one of the best games I’ve seen her play.”
Kapana was everywhere in the Sailors’ 5-4 win at Newport Harbor High, their first in the rivalry game since 2010. She finished with 15 saves — the most she has recorded in high school — and four steals.
Ask Kapana about her play though, and the soft-spoken Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week would rather talk about the team win.
“I just think that was a really fun game,” Kapana said with a bit of a shrug.
But surely she can look back and see that she had some big saves, right?
“I don’t like talking about myself,” Kapana said. “I can talk about other people all day. Like Rachel.”
Kapana’s best friend Rachel Whitelegge is a top two-meter defender for the Sailors (3-2), who are ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 1. Like Kapana, Whitelegge has signed with UCLA.
“We like to say we were friends in the womb, but we weren’t,” Kapana said. “I didn’t meet her until I was 2. We’re going to be going to school together for 17 years, after we graduate from UCLA.”
Kapana and Whitelegge definitely shore up the defense for Newport Harbor. The Sailors have not missed a beat, even though they’ve been missing their head coach for the past couple of games. Bill Barnett, who has announced he is retiring after this season, is recovering following hip surgery.
For Kapana, the early season has gone well. It’s her first year with the varsity goalie job to herself, after she shared time with Cleo Harrington — a three-time Newport-Mesa Dream Team selection who is now at Harvard — last year. Barnett usually played Harrington in the first half and Kapana in the second half. The strategy seemed to work fine, as Newport Harbor advanced to the Division 1 title match for the third straight year.
With Kapana in goal the whole contest, the Sailors are giving up just 5.6 goals per game so far this season, despite playing challenging teams like CdM, top-ranked Laguna Beach and No. 2-ranked Foothill. Kapana has reached double-digit save totals in the last two games, recording 13 in a 9-8 loss at Laguna Beach on Tuesday.
The statistics aren’t a surprise for Kapana, widely regarded as one of the best prep girls’ water polo goalies in the country. A talented athlete, she routinely gets high out of the water to make a save. And she’s much improved on what she said was her weakness for a long time: defending the change-of-pace lob shot.
“I definitely like fast shots more than soft shots,” Kapana said with a smile. “They’re more fun to block. Soft shots are so wimpy and fast shots are so cool.”
But spend any amount of time with her, and the humility shines through perhaps most of all.
“She’s a fun girl,” Melstrom said. “The other girls love her. There’s no bad attitude at all; she’s happy-go-lucky. And she’s a great athlete, so she’s a good one to have in the program.”
Even as just a 17, Kapana has been battle-tested by competing — and excelling — in a number of international tournaments. In July, she was named the most valuable goalie as the U.S. women’s youth national team won gold at the UANA Junior Pan American Championships.
The talent pool was even deeper at the FINA Youth World Championships in Spain, but again Kapana earned top goalie honors as Team USA edged rival Canada for the title, 5-4, on Aug. 31. CdM junior Maddie Musselman was also a contributor for that team.
“It was a good experience out there,” Kapana said. “I had never been to Europe before, so that was different. I liked seeing the different styles of play, and their indoor facility was crazy cool.”
Kapana hopes that her senior year at Harbor also turns out to be a good experience. She said it’s special, because she’s close with all of the other seniors, and she wants to send Barnett out on a winning note.
As far as her mentality in the cage, she said that nothing has changed with the increased role as a senior.
“I want to try my best and succeed,” Kapana said. “I’m just in [the game] longer, I guess. I always thought it was really fun to play the last two quarters, but now, playing all four quarters is more fun I guess.
“I like ending games. It makes me have more adrenaline.”
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Carlee Kapana
Born: May 22, 1997
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5 feet 9
Sport: Water polo
Year: Senior
Coach: Bill Barnett
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite movie: “Nacho Libre”
Favorite athletic moment: Helping the U.S. women’s youth national team win the FINA Youth World Championships last summer in Spain.
Week in review: Kapana had 15 saves and four steals as Newport Harbor beat rival Corona del Mar, 5-4, in the Battle of the Bay game Dec. 19.
