By Pete Borello

courtesy of Jenny Booth Menlo senior Kim Krueger of Los Altos scored twice in the CCS championship game.

A championship team from a school in Atherton owes much of its success to Los Altos residents. Four key components of the Menlo School girls water polo team, which captured the Central Coast Section Division II title Nov. 18, live in town.

Kim Krueger, Camy Sullivan and Brittany Westerman started on a squad coached by fellow Los Altan Jenny Booth.

Krueger, a senior, scored two goals in the Knights’ 8-7 overtime win against Sacred Heart Prep in the CCS final at Independence High. Westerman, a junior, scored the goal that sent the game into overtime. Senior Sullivan also posted a goal.

Booth, a 1999 graduate of Menlo who went on to UC Davis, coached the Knights to the championship her first year at the helm. Menlo has won the title three years in a row.

“I am overwhelmed with excitement and very proud of this team,” said Booth, the first woman to coach varsity water polo at the private school.

Booth said she never lost faith in her girls - even when they trailed Sacred Heart by three goals in the final.

“I knew my girls could do it,” she said. “They played an amazing defensive game and were very poised.”

Menlo surrendered just one goal after halftime and forced Sacred Heart to expire the shot clock on more than one occasion.

Attackers like Krueger, Sullivan and Westerman did the rest, leading an offense that totaled four goals in the second half and overtime.

Krueger and Sullivan will play at the college level next year, recently accepting scholarship offers from Stanford and UCLA, respectively. Both earned first team all-league honors this season.

Booth said Krueger “leads by example and is a major threat in the water. She is always guarded by the opponent’s best defender and still makes things happen offensively.”

Booth called Sullivan “a great offensive player. … She is so difficult to guard and is fun to watch.”

While Booth is sorry to see Sullivan and Krueger graduate, she will have Westerman back next year.

“She has really stepped up this year as a player,” the coach said of Westerman, an honorable mention all-league selection, “and I am very excited to have her as a senior leader next season.”