Over the last four seasons, the Los Gatos High School boys water polo program has proven itself to be
one of the best in the Central Coast Section, qualifying for the premier Open Division playoffs in each year—the only public school to do so.
In fact, only four other public schools—Santa Cruz, Soquel, Los Altos and Palo Alto—have competed in the Open during that span (Santa Cruz in 2024-2025, Soquel and Los Altos in 2025 and Palo Alto in 2022). Such consistency speaks to the high level of boys water polo athletes the area is producing. Though the Wildcats return just two starters off last year’s team, coach Davor Koret is adamant that this year’s group will be able to compete at a high level once again.
“I’m pretty positive and optimistic about this team,” he said. “I think it’s going to be different, but I also think we can compete with any team we’re going to play against this year.”
Los Gatos had games with St. Francis and Valley Christian during the summer league season, which gave Koret an indication of his team’s ability to match up against the section’s elite. Speaking of elite, Wildcats senior Richard Runge—who recently committed to play at UC Davis—will no doubt be the center of attention for opposing teams. Whereas Runge played multiple positions the last three years as a utility, this season Los Gatos will try to utilize more of his offensive repertoire. Runge had an impressive summer playing for his 18U club team, which finished fourth in the Junior Olympics platinum division.
“I think we’ll put him in some positions where he can contribute toward more of the scorer’s part,” Koret said. “This year we need him to step up and help out as much on offense as he has helped out on defense the last three seasons. I would say he’s a top-three player in our league, and I know all eyes will be on him. We’ll need our young guys to step up and do the simple things right.”
The Wildcats’ only other returning starter, sophomore TR Engelman, gained invaluable experience this summer competing with the U.S. 16-and-under ‘B’ national team, Koret said. Engelman was also a member of the Stanford 16U club team that won the Junior Olympics platinum division. Immediately after that, Engelman joined the USA Cadet national team for a tournament in Serbia. He’ll play a vital role as a right wing and weak side driver.
“TR comes now as a much more experienced player,” Koret said. “He brings a lot of confidence and experience next to Richard, and I think he’s going to be our second most influential player.”
In junior Dominic Hwang, Los Gatos has an experienced goalie who has the potential to be a game-changer.
“This is probably the first time in my eighth season here where we’re going to have a goalie that has been actually practicing goalie for a few years,” Koret said. “This is a position where I think we can rely more on than in the past. Our defense will be much better and different than in previous years. We can play more zone defense and help our guards because Dominic has improved a ton. I think he’ll be our defensive organizer and we’ll be able to run a lot of different stuff that we didn’t do as much in the past.”
Junior Owen Malone and sophomore Pasha Heidari both saw game action last year and are expected to make a bigger impact this season. Heidari possesses a rocket for a shot and Malone has returned not just a year older, but a year better. Sophomore Gabriel Oliveira is projected as the team’s main two-meter player. Even though Oliveira didn’t play significant minutes last season, his game has grown and so have the expectations surrounding him.
“He’s going to try to replace Ryan Madsen,” Koret said, referring to the former LGHS standout. “He’s not Ryan Madsen yet, but I think he has plenty of time to get to that level.”
After winning the SCVAL De Anza regular-season and playoff tournament in 2025, Koret expects the Wildcats to be in contention for the title again. They play their season-opener at Gunn High on Sept. 8.
“I think the league is going to be more even than last year, and Homestead will be an interesting team to play and watch out for,” Koret said. “But I still believe Harker, Los Altos and ourselves are the top three teams in the league.”
