Poway High senior Max Kellerman has scored 73 goals, powering the Titans boys' water polo team to a share of the North County Coastal League lead and a No. 6 San Diego Section ranking.
The Titans carried a 10-6 record into their Wednesday, Oct. 14, game against Westview, tied atop the league standings with Torrey Pines, as first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Poway also ranks No. 30 in California and No. 35 nationally, according to MaxPreps.
Kellerman's biggest performance came Wednesday, Oct. 7, against defending league champion Carlsbad. He scored seven goals, drew four ejections and added three assists in a 16-13 victory. Since Kellerman's freshman year, Carlsbad had held a 5-1 edge over Poway. One of Poway's losses was a 34-4 blowout.
"It picked us up 100 percent," Kellerman told the Union-Tribune. "We're a gritty team and that was just another hurdle … en route to what we hope is winning the league."
Second-year head coach Daniel Pierson said Kellerman played a complete game against Carlsbad, crediting his passing and defense alongside the scoring. Pierson noted the league remains difficult, with Canyon Crest Academy ranked seventh in the section, Carlsbad eighth and Westview ninth.
Kellerman is not doing it alone. Goalie Logan Rorye has recorded 150 saves. Brighton Lathrup has contributed 35 goals and 16 steals, while Cody Kaechele has 23 goals and a team-high 28 steals.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Kellerman picked up water polo at age 10 after his father, Marcus Kellerman, a former high school water polo player, encouraged him to try the sport. He won a 10-under Junior Olympic title with the Poway Valley Water Polo Club in his first year. He now plays for the Shores Water Polo Club in the off-season.
Poway has history in the sport. The Titans won San Diego Section Division 1 titles in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2021. For the past three years, the program has competed in the Open Division against the section's top eight schools, including Cathedral Catholic, La Jolla and Bishop's, the current top three.
Last season ended with an 8-7 triple-overtime loss to La Jolla, which went on to win the championship. Poway beat Valhalla 9-6 in a semifinal but fell to Carlsbad 11-10 in the state play-in game.
Pierson said the team lost only two seniors to graduation and the younger players have stepped up. Four of Poway's six losses came against teams ranked in the section's top five. The other two were to Southern Section opponents in tournament play.
Poway faces Westview on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
