Gulliver’s Vaughan and Country Day’s Batcheller are Miami-Dade Water Polo Coaches of the Year
Gulliver has long been a state powerhouse in water polo.
So it’s rare when it finds itself the underdog in the pool. Still, coach Carroll Vaughan’s squad defied the odds and beat the top boys’ team in the state to once again secure gold.
And on the girls’ side, Miami Country Day coach Stephanie Batcheller took her squad to heights it had not reached in more than a decade.
And so, Vaughan and Batcheller are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Water Polo Coaches of the Year.
Vaughan is the Boys’ Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to their sixth state title since the sport became sanctioned by the FHSAA in 2005. It was Gulliver’s first since winning in 2019 and 2021.
And it wasn’t easy.
The Raiders had to navigate through one of the most evenly matched fields in Dade in quite some time and then go toe-to-toe with top-ranked Orlando Dr. Phillips in the final. Led by Herald Player of the Year Gabriel Lewis, Gulliver toppled the Panthers — a team it had lost to three times during the season.
Even for a program with the history Gulliver has achieved over the years, the dramatic 9-8 win will undoubtedly be remembered as one of its best.
Batcheller oversaw a Country Day rebirth this season as the Spartans advanced to the state final four for the first time since 2010. It’s only the second time Miami Country Day has made it that far. The Spartans went 13-9
during the season, but scored some strong victories down the stretch, beating Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas before losing to eventual state champion Sanford Seminole in the state semifinals.
Although Batcheller’s squad graduates top scorer Valeria Villanueva, the Spartans will try to build off this year’s success with sophomores Brianna Dunn and Sienna Kozlovski leading the way.