South Florida WPC athletes dominate Miami Herald’s All-County Selections
South Florida Water Polo Club wants to congratulate our distinguished athletes for their achievements and being honored by the Miami Herald for their amazing high school seasons.
In the Miami region it was our Miami Country Day contingent of athletes who were honored, continuing their climb into one of the powerhouse programs of the region, five athletes would be honored. Led by a trio of third team all-county selections and two honorable mentions, the Spartans’ 16-10 record was not an indication of the progress the squad had made over four tough seasons, several close losses against some of the traditional powerhouse programs in the state, they would see their season pinnacle when they would take down the defending state champions in the latter stages of the season.
Evan Miller (Sr.) - Third Team All-County Selection - The most experienced member of the Miami Country Day team who spent his whole high school career being the talisman for the Spartans, he finishes his career with over 200 goals and 100 assists, cementing himself as one of the program’s greatest players. Evan was also a second team all-county selection in 2023 and 2025, his freshman and junior years and third team all-county selection in 2024 and 2026 his sophomore and senior seasons.
Max Possin (Sr.)- Third Team All-County Selection - Another of the Spartan trio that have led Miami Country Day through their most successful time period finishes his career with nearly 200 goals, over 100 assists and nearly 100 steals in his career. Max was a all-county honorable mention in 2023 and 2024, however, as he matured into his place in the team as a Swiss-army knife type player, capable of playing multiple positions at a high level, he would be selected as a third team all-county selection in 2025 as well as this year in 2026. Max will soon be moving up to New York where he will continue his education at Syracuse University where he will major in communications.
Leonardo Blaya (Sr.) - Third Team All-County Selection - The third of the Miami Country Day’s golden trio, Leo’s path matched Max’s in honors, 2023 and 2024 would bring home all-county honorable mentions and in 2025 and 2026 he would be selected onto the all-county third team. Leo’s versatility made him a match up nightmare for many teams along with his creative vision for passes and scrappy style of play allowed him to be deployed at a multiple of positions. Now graduated, Leo will be continuing his studies at Northeastern University where he will study business administration.
Rafael Blaya (Jr.) - All-County Honorable Mention - The younger brother of Leo cemented himself as one of the elite shot stoppers in the state, in 25 games played, Rafa would amount an impressive 281 saves, an average of just over 11 saves per game. His impressive communication skills to his defenders and fearlessness between the goalposts have made him an irreplaceable component of the Miami Country Day machine. Rafa’s honorable mention selection is his third in as many years as he was an honorable mention as a freshman in 2024 and sophomore in 2025.
Franco Pastor (Jr.) - All-County Honorable Mention - The bruising center at the heart of the Miami Country Day attack, showed more versatility this year as he was allowed to play more perimeter at times this season under new head coach Nikola Gogic, Franco replicates the honored path that Rafa has achieved as all three of his years in high school he has earned an all-county honorable mention, a large part of the development from the Spartans was due to the ability of Franco to develop into one of the better centers in the state in the past three years.
The Miami Herald’s Broward County All-County Team Selections as presented by the Miami Herald.
While our amazing contingent of boys competing at Miami Country Day held down the fort and made sure that South Florida WPC would make a dent in the headlines there, it was the Broward region where South Florida WPC truly dominated, especially on the boys’ side with five of the seven first team all-county selections being South Florida WPC athletes along with the player of the year included. Even the second-team selection was dominated by the club as four of the eight would once again belong to us. While only having one honorable mention on the boys’ side, the girls’ side would continue the program’s dominance with two first team all-county selections, one of the also being the girls’ player of the year as well as an honorable mention.
Marcell Varhalmi (Jr.) - First Team All-County Selection & Player of the Year - it was only in 2023 that Marcell was an eighth grader, barely a year into the sport when he watched Saint Thomas Aquinas lift their second ever state championship, little did he know that in the next three years he would do so himself while being the most dominant goalkeeper that Florida water polo has seen in quite some time on the men’s side. Following the instructions and mentorship of our incredible goalkeeper coach, Dmitry Krylov, his 274 saves this season was enough to see him finish in the top five in saves in the state, however, his game truly rises when the situation matters most as he proved with several incredible performances throughout the season, including an 18-save performance in the state semifinal.
Sam Eastaugh (Sr.) - First Team All-County Selection - Sam has been a stalwart for the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders since his entrance into the school as a freshman, even with a large senior class and one of the most talented teams in the state, the energetic attacker still found himself to be one of the most productive players on the 2023 team that won the state championship. From there his role only grew and so did he, statistically he cements himself as one of the greatest all-around players in Saint Thomas Aquinas history with over 500 goal contributions across four years along with nearly 200 steals and over 200 exclusions/penalties drawn. Now graduated, Sam will be attending the University of the Pacific where he will continue his playing career in varsity water polo along with his studies.
Lev Konnikov (Sr.) - First Team All-County Selection - Another of the Saint Thomas core of graduating seniors that powered them to this year’s state championship title. Lev’s tenacity, heart and talent were on full display over this past season as he finished his incredible career as a two-time state champion for the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders. One of the most capable players in the state, Lev was truly able to play almost every position in the pool at a high level, however, it was at the center position where he did the most damage over the past three years. After the graduating class of 2023 left a large whole to fill, it was Lev who was one of the most important leaders within the group that helped to stabilize the Raiders’ ship statistically and mentally. Lev will be continuing his studies in state, he will be attending Florida State University.
Juan Lopez (Sr.) - First Team All-County Selection - Juan made a huge decision headed into his senior year, the past two he had played with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, however, unsatisfied with the ambitions of the program. The center/center defender combo player decided to team up with several of his club teammates under one team for the Northeast Hurricanes. The decision paid in dividends, though Juan was one of the state’s most productive players the past two seasons statistically, including a prior first team all-county selection in 2024 and a second team all-county selection in 2025, it saw no team progress for him. However, the switch to Northeast High School finally brought Juan closer to the winner circle as he helped the revived program reach all the way to the regional semifinal, their highest finish in over a decade. Juan will be attending Florida International University this fall where he will be studying civil engineering.
Diesel Warywoda (So.) - First Team All-County Selection - the giant from Northeast proved himself to be one of the most deadly two-way post players in the state, the mobile giant became the talisman for Northeast as he became impossible guardable in one-on-one situations in front of the goal as well as nearly impossible for anyone to post up against. The massive presence in the middle allowed for the outside shooting arms of Northeast to come alive and helped to push the historic program back into relevancy amongst the state’s top programs.
Holden Harkins (Sr.) - Second Team All-County Selection - Holden will leave high school with an incredible resume in team sports. Along with being a two-time state champion in the pool for Saint Thomas Aquinas boys’ water polo, he also holds four state championship rings as part of the nationally famous Saint Thomas Aquinas football team where he played as the team’s long-snapper. The six-time state champion saw his role grow on the water polo team after an impressive show of his hard work ethic saw him score a goal in the 2023 state championship game, in 2023 he would also be honored with a third team all-county selection while in 2024 he would be awarded with a first team all-county selection as a sophomore and in 2025 and 2026 he would achieve second team all-county selection all while helping cement Saint Thomas’ winning culture in both water polo and football. Holden will be attending Florida International University as well where he will continue his football career as the Panthers’ long-snapper.
Matthew Lapin (So.) - Second Team All-County Selection - Matthew arrived in Florida as an outsider, moving from southern California the previous summer, Matthew had a culture shock when he arrived. Though California is the water polo capital of the United States, Matthew hailed from a smaller program in the Los Angeles region and was brought into a completely different world of expectations when he made the choice to attend Saint Thomas Aquinas. Though shocked, Matthew answered the call to action, providing timely goals and a developing offensive game, it was on the defensive end that Matthew truly showed his worth as he led the Raiders in nearly every defensive statistic over the long season that paid off with him being crowned as a state champion.
Matthew Orsini (Sr.) - Second Team All-County Selection - With Nova High School losing its water polo team, several of the athletes from South Florida WPC that played there found themselves with no team to play for in high school, with Juan Lopez joining Northeast, they followed the same path to create one of the strongest teams in Broward for the 2026 season. A big reason for it, was Matt Orsini, though Matt began playing water polo much later then some of the other athletes, his natural athletic ability, hard work ethic and athletic mind helped him stand out quickly. His powerful shooting arm was an instrumental tool for the success of the Northeast Hurricanes’ season as he along with his star-studded line up pushed Northeast to an incredible season. Matt was also a two-time all-county honorable mention in his two previous seasons for Nova High school in 2024 and 2025.
Magnus Warywoda (Sr.) - Second Team All-County Selection - When Magnus entered high school at Northeast High School, there was barely a water polo team left of the once upon a time powerhouse of the Broward region that had won the very first two FHSAA state championships. However, with Magnus’s arrival the slow revival began, in fact in Magnus’s first two season Northeast was incapable of qualifying as a team under FHSAA high school rules and thus was not able to compete truly on the biggest stage. However, with Diesel’s entry into high school and a rag-tag group of kids, Northeast was finally allowed to compete under FHSAA in Magnus’s junior year where they reached the district finals. The 2026 season was an ode to Magnus’s persistence, perseverance and loyalty to the program he had come into, while he could have left to another school to compete, Magnus stayed and helped revive the dormant giant, with the arrival of Juan Lopez, Matt Orsini and several other club athletes to Northeast, the Hurricanes reached the semifinal of the region on the back of Magnus’s choice to stay. Along with this selection, in 2023 Magnus was selected as a all-county honorable mention. Now graduated, Magnus will be continuing his education at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton where he will also continue in ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) and he will also be joining our coaching staff at South Florida Water Polo Club.
John Corbett (Sr.) - All-County Honorable Mention - John’s path into water polo was by chance, his mother, Lea, who now coaches our club’s splashball program, had played for Coach Michael Goldenberg when he was still the head coach at Western High School in Davie, though she was a life-long swimmer as did both of her sons grow up similarly. It was by a chance meeting that Lea saw Coach Mike coaching the Saint Thomas Aquinas boys’ program during John’s eighth grade spring that she had reconnected the Coach Goldenberg and created the pipeline for John to start playing water polo. In 2023, John was an inexperienced freshman on a team with bundles of talent that went on to win the state championship, however, with the mass graduating of 11 seniors it meant that the Raiders would need all hands on deck to rebuild, that included John, who went from an end of the bench player immediately into the starting lineup. However, it was earned, John’s work ethic, realistic attitude and team-first mentality would see him be the athlete who kept STA grounded when things were going to well but also sparked the flame when they needed inspiration. Headed into his senior year of high school, John made the choices to switch to water polo full-time after years of swimming, the choice paid off incredibly, after a long and arduous season, John now gets his recognition with the all-county honorable mention as well as he can boast to being one of only five athletes in Saint Thomas Aquinas water polo history to win two state championships.
Riley Andres (Sr.) - First Team All-County Selection & Player of the Year - Riley caps her senior season and one of the most decorated high school careers seen in Florida in quite some time by leading her Saint Thomas Aquinas Lady Raiders to the same place she was led to her freshman season, the state championship tournament. Over 700 goal and assists contributions later and four years later, Riley graduates with an impressive first team all-county selection all four years, along with being a two-time player of the year in her junior and senior years. Now an alumnus, Riley will be attending Saint Mary’s College in north California where she will continue her water polo career in varsity water polo as Saint Mary’s College will be competing in their inaugural season next spring.
Viktoria Konnikov (Fr.) - First Team All-County - Lev Konnikov’s younger sister stepped into Saint Thomas Aquinas girls’ team as the most touted prospect since Riley had come into the program. The young multi-sport athlete proved herself to be essential for the Lady Raiders as she nearly eclipsed the 100-goal mark in her first high school season along with adding on nearly over 50 assists and 50 steals, Viktoria’s impact was so profound and needed for the Saint Thomas women’s program that she was the only underclasswoman selected onto the Miami Herald’s First Team All-County.
Stella Tomastello (So.) - All-County Honorable Mention - While the Saint Thomas Aquinas girls’ program was led by the senior and freshman duo of Riley and Viktoria, it takes a team around them that is willing to do the unseen work, the work that does not show up on the statistics. That is where Stella’s game shone this past season, the defensive work she did on the ball as well as putting the effort to swim through and create space for other shooters and attackers showed the value that Stella gave the team that earned them a state championship berth.
