Jeff Tully
BURBANK -- Competing on the college level can be an eye opening
experience for many athletes.
Athletes who are used to success and almost star status in high school
can be brought back down to earth very quickly once they begin playing
the collegiate game.
But for a handful of athletes from the area, this season has been a
banner year not only for individual accomplishments, but for team success
as well.
Here is a look at how some of these players from the Burbank area are
doing:
Alfonso Tucay at UCLA: The most successful team that features a local
player is the UCLA men's water polo squad. Sunday, the Bruins captured an
NCAA championship with an 11-2 win over UC San Diego at Pepperdine
University.
It was UCLA's second straight title and its fourth in six years. The
Bruin program has also won seven men's NCAA water polo crowns, and the
school has an unprecedented 83 national titles, more than any other
Division I college.
Former Burroughs High standout Alfonso Tucay is a reserve two-meter
player for the Bruins. For the 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior, it is his
second championship with the Bruins.
Although Tucay saw limited playing time this season, he did contribute
when he had the chance. Playing in 18 matches, Tucay had five goals and
three assists for a UCLA team that went 19-7.
In the championship match, all five of the Bruins' seniors scored to
pace the team to the victory. While Brian Brown had three goals, Sean
Kern and Jeff Pfueger each had two, and Andy Bailey, Dave Parker, Blake
Wellen and Dan Yeilding each had goals.
After taking a 3-1 lead after a period, UCLA shutout and outscored
UCSD, 7-0, the next two quarters.
Tucay, an All-CIF player who graduated in 1997, scored 348 career
goals with the Indians. He also helped Burroughs to the CIF Southern
Section semifinals as a junior.
Jaclyn Johnson at Kansas: Former Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls'
basketball star Jaclyn Johnson has become an ironwoman for the University
of Kansas women's basketball team.
The 6-1 senior forward has missed just one game -- her freshman year
-- during her four-year career with the Jayhawks. Seven games into this
season, Johnson has played in 101 of 102 games for the team.
Not only is she playing, but the team captain is making an impact on
the squad, as well as putting her name in the school's history books.
Earlier this season, Johnson scored the 1,000 point of her collegiate
career to become just the 15th Jayhawk women's player to accomplish the
