La Jolla High water polo: First Open Division title result of ‘confidence, development’

LA JOLLA – Both Dexter Black and Tor Martin, core starters on La Jolla High School’s CIF Open Division champion boys water polo team, have older brothers who starred in the program and failed to win the golden ring — the open title.

“My older brother Soren’s group thought they had the best team, and they didn’t win the section title,” recalls Tor. “He told me, ‘Good luck,’ but he didn’t think we would win this year.”

The center, who plays from the post right in front of the goal on both offense and defense, said “it was good to show him” that the 2025 group from coach Tom Atwell could scale the mountain.

The present edition of the Vikings downed Cathedral Catholic, the top-seeded team coming into the playoffs, 13-12, in an exhilarating Nov. 15 upset that led to students joining the players in the pool after the buzzer sounded.

“I knew it was coming,” says Dexter, 6 feet 6 inches tall, scorer extraordinaire and fellow All-CIF First Teamer with Tor. “After I made the penalty shot (with 29 seconds left), I saw guys taking off their shirts and handing their cellphones to other people. I knew they were ready.”

It was Atwell’s – the coach has taught AP European History at the coastal school for 25 years – and La Jolla’s first Open Division championship. La Jolla won a Division 1 title back in 2015, but that pales compared to the open title over giants and rivals the Dons, and before that, crosstown Bishop’s. The Vikings would always fall in the playoffs among the elite three, but not this time.

“Confidence and development,” Dexter, La Jolla’s leading scorer, a lefty, boils down the difference between last year’s team and this squad. Tor — named for the god of thunder, Thor — agrees.

The team had many of the same players, but a year older, a year more mature and stronger. But also, the mindset was different. “We had some flaws we had to fix in 2024,” Dexter continued. Stepping into roles with more responsibility, defender Nate Thomson, a senior, and Henry Glenister, another southpaw scorer alongside Dexter, developed before fans’ eyes.

“Nate, in our house, we call him the dog,” says Dexter, four years younger than his brother Kiefer, who now plays at the Naval Academy. “He does all the dirty work, and gets none of the credit” — winning the sprint, defending, being a top passer.

Glenister has bloomed on the 4-5 side — the imaginary rectangular “box” in water polo has the 1-2 side to the far left, the 4-5 side to the far right and 3-6 in the middle — delivering as the Vikings’ second prolific scorer to Dexter.

Goalkeeper George Gayner, also senior, has been no slouch. He had numerous key saves in the quarterfinals against Poway and the semifinals against Bishop’s, and again was an impregnable bulwark against Cathedral in the finals.