On May 18, the boys water polo team competed in the state championship against Stevenson High School. With goals from Brendan Whelton ‘24, Finn Vahey ‘24, Sami Rabah ‘25, Ben Kozak ‘26, and a hatrick from Luke Jackson ‘24 , LT took home the title winning 10-7.

“We’re a really well-balanced team, everybody contributed,” Rabah said. “If you look at the score sheet, everybody had a major contribution and impact on the team which is what made it hard for other teams to defend us.”

In addition to the well-balanced dynamics, senior leadership also played a key role in the team’s success, head varsity coach Doug Eichstaedt said.

“Returning so many seniors from a team that placed third gave us a ton of experience that we could lean on to prepare and compete this year,” he said.

Eichstaedt also emphasized zone defense, navigating game situations, and attacking on the offensive end as crucial strengths.

“This team worked so well together [to] hold each other to a high standard and fill any role the team needed for us to win,” he said.

However, the team’s achievement did not end with the state championship, Rabah said. Eichstaedt ended up winning coach of the year, to round off the team’s accomplishments.

“Our coach was very influential to the team,” he said. “He always emphasized trying to get one percent better at each practice.”

Ultimately, the team’s success was a matter of grit, Rabah said. After two tough losses in a row against New Trier and Naperville North High School earlier in the season, the team was encouraged to come back by achieving a state victory. This included winning 10-9 in a rematch against New Trier in the semifinals.

“A lot of it’s still unreal,” Rabah said. “One of my favorite moments was seeing the coaches jump into the pool and just the happiness at the end when there were 10 seconds left and we knew we had won.”

The girls varsity water polo team also made it to the state tournament, winning 12-7 against Naperville North High School to secure third place.