Water Polo Teams from Across the
Country "Converge" this Weekend

This weekend (Oct. 8-9) CMS Athletics, along with Pomona College and the University of La Verne, will co-host 24 water polo teams from schools across the United States at three separate venues (CMC, Pomona and University of La Verne) in the 18th Convergence Tournament.
Originally called the Baldy View Tournament (BVT) and then the Claremont Convergence when it was hosted at CMS and Pomona-Pitzer, the name of the event was changed to the Convergence Tournament after the University of La Verne was added as a competition site.
"We first hosted the BVT in 1993, the year we opened Axelrood pool," says CMS Athletic Director Mike Sutton. "Coach Troyer at Pomona endorsed the event and we used both Axelrood and Haldeman pools. CMC and Pomona have been the ongoing hosts and recently La Verne has also been a host site."
According to Coach Sutton, the event has always been held in October, preceding SCIAC play. Typically, he says, teams from schools back East made trips during their fall break to meet in non-conference competition with quality California teams. Some of the oldest match-ups included Brown and Villanova Universities.
"These trips were valuable for good competition and for recruiting opportunities for the Eastern teams," he says.
The CMS team is off to a good start this year, says Greg Lonzo, head coach, with a pre-SCIAC record of 4-6 this year. "Our team has been very competitive in our games this year and continues to improve on a daily basis," states Lonzo. "Traditionally the Convergence tournament is the mid-point of our season and is a great jumping off point going into our conference games. I believe that the CMS team will be very competitive in SCIAC play and by the end of the year we will hopefully be competing for a conference championship."
On Friday at the Convergence Tournament, the Stags first swim against Fordham at 2:00 pm and later at 6:00 pm against Santa Clara. On Saturday the Stags battle Vanguard at 10:20 am, Connecticut College at 11:40 a.m. and finally Harvard at 6:20 pm, with all matches scheduled to take place at CMS Axelrood pool.
Although each match is important, the Stags vs. Harvard pairing has a particular resonance.
"Harvard was the first team from the East that CMS (then Claremont-Mudd) played," Coach Sutton says. "In the fall of '75 the Stags traveled to Brown University for a tournament. That was the first meeting with Harvard and culminated in a win for the Stags."
Coach Sutton says that CMS has faced off against Harvard several times since with a 9-5 win in 1998 but with losses in the last two meetings '99 (8-18), '01 (2-1). The "series" is currently tied at two apiece.
"The big deal about playing Harvard is due to Professor Ward Elliot's special interest in contesting Harvard," Coach Sutton says. "He takes special pride in the fact that we can compete with his alma mater especially when the Stags prevail!"
For the complete tournament schedule, click here.