Raumann leads water polo team with 86 goals

Junior Caleb Raumann is a double threat: he plays for the boys varsity water polo team, as well as the boys varsity basketball team. He first got into water polo through swimming.

“I was really into swimming and at the swim lesson I had on Friday, they set up a little kickboard in the gutters and a Disney princess rubber ball that we played with,” recalled Raumann. “That was my first introduction and I’ve loved it ever since.”

At CVHS, Raumann’s talent was quickly recognized.

“I was pulled up to varsity in my freshman year to play about five games for the water polo team,” he explained. “My first [varsity] game, we were playing against Cal High in a tournament, which is a really good team. I scored four goals, which is one of my most memorable moments.”

Raumann has had impressive stats throughout his water polo career, with 52 goals his freshman year in JV, 31 goals and 19 assists his sophomore year on varsity, and 86 goals and 37 assists for his junior year on varsity, leading the team in both goals and assists.

“Caleb is extremely competitive. Every game he takes very seriously, every practice he takes seriously and he is physically strong and probably the strongest shot in the league,” explained coach Patrick Ryken. “Caleb is leading the team with goals and gets a lot of attention; a lot of teams will focus on getting one or double teams on him. His impact is a really stronger scorer like Steph Curry, the defense focuses on him and allows other players to be more open and create opportunities.”

Ryken added that Raumann “sees the game very well and communicates with his teammates and knows where the ball should go.”

“His size, 6’6, makes him dominate, and with a lot of the big guys they might not tend to understand the game, but Caleb uses his intelligence with his body,” agreed junior Edvin Sabanovic. “Caleb as a teammate is very down-to-earth and will tell you the truth a lot. He isn’t afraid to be strict, like if someone is goofing off he won’t be shy to tell you to listen to the coach.”

“We had an overtime game in the foothill tournament against Heritage,” recalled Ryken. “It was a golden goal, we won the sprint and the ball shifted to Caleb at mid-pool and he skipped it in the high corner of the goal to win the game.”

Raumann has high hopes for the future of the boys water polo team.

“I’m looking forward to playing with all the other guys coming up because we got some good talent coming up through the program,” he said. “Our goal is to win league this year, then hopefully we can go back-to-back and win league next year.”