At Monday’s ceremony honoring UCLA as the winner of this
year’s crosstown rivalry over USC, four of the school’s
most prominent coaches took pictures with the Lexus Gauntlet
Trophy.
Absent from that photo was the UCLA coach who did the most to
help the Bruins garner this honor for the second time in four
years.
Adam Krikorian, who led the women’s water polo team to its
third NCAA title in five years on Sunday, had just arrived at the
Los Angeles Airport from Ann Arbor, Mich., and was driving back to
UCLA. To his right, strapped in the passenger seat, was what he and
his Bruins had been working for ““ the NCAA women’s
water polo championship trophy.
But this hasn’t been the only championship for the
seven-year coach. Krikorian, whose men’s and women’s
team went 5-0 against the Trojans, also lead the men’s
program to an NCAA title earlier this past fall.
“I’ve been blessed to coach two teams. It
hasn’t allowed me to get complacent and kind of rest on what
happened in the past,” said Krikorian, who is the only coach
to have won a NCAA title this year. “As soon as the
men’s season is over, you have to get ready for the
women’s season, and vice versa. And you can’t really
think about what just happened and any success you just had in the
past. It doesn’t really stay too long with you.”
By giving UCLA its 96th NCAA title, top in the nation,
Krikorian’s accomplishment reminded Athletic Director Dan
Guerrero of how Los Angeles Dodgers commentator Vin Scully defined
Kirk Gibson’s landmark, game-winning home run over the
Oakland A’s in the 1988 World Series.
“Vin Scully said something along the lines of in a season
that was improbable, the impossible just happened, and I think
that’s kind of how you would talk about Adam and both water
polo teams this year,” Guerrero said. “And in an
improbable year, the impossible occurred; winning two national
championships, and (coaching) a women’s water polo team that
went undefeated 33-0, is very, very difficult.
“Adam has done a tremendous job winning both. That’s
just indicative to the fact that one, he’s a great recruiter,
and two, he’s a terrific person and an outstanding coach. I
know that student-athletes love to play for him. It’s the
great combination of having a great university like UCLA with a
fantastic coach and great student-athletes. You’re going to
win national championships with that combination.”
But what often gets lost are the assistant coaches.
Along with the outstanding athletes the team possessed this past
season, Krikorian believes his coaching staff ““ assistant
coach Nicolle Payne and volunteer coach Maureen Flanagan ““
has played a major role in the sustained success of the
women’s program.
“Nicolle has been great with the goalies,” he said.
“They all benefit greatly from her instruction, her advice
and her experience. She’s really the first athlete to start
this whole thing. I feel comfortable bouncing off ideas during
games where we’re in a difficult situation.
“Mo has been able to share her feelings and thoughts to
our team just from her past experiences being a part of the team.
She still gets in the pool and competes with the girls and provides
competition for the girls that normally play during
games.”