Nov. 24, 2008

Los Angeles, CA - Loyola Marymount University women's water polo Head Coach John Loughran announced the signing of four high school seniors to National Letters of Intent. Morgan Bonk (6-0, Fewick HS - Chicago, Ill.), Camille Hopp (5-8, Mission Viejo HS - Mission Viejo, Calif.), Michelle Slagle (6-0, Granite Bay HS - Granite Bay, Calif.) and Erin Manke (5-9, Bishop Alemany HS - Mission Hills, Calif) have commited to LMU and to play water polo starting in 2009-10.

Bonk decided to call Los Angeles her home for the next four years after developing as a very successful swimmer in the state of Illinois.  An all-state swimmer in the 200 freestyle, her water polo resume is even more impressive as she has been a member of the All-State team for four straight seasons. The three-time All-American has also helped her team win the state title in 2006 and 2008 and a second place finish in 2007. Morgan chose to attend LMU over both Santa Clara and Michigan.

"Morgan is a player that should be able to develop within our system and make an impact in college water polo," said Loughran. "She brings great speed and size to the team, which is rare for a player to have both assets. We are expecting great things out of Morgan as she continues to see better competition."

Hopp is another impressive swimmer who will call LMU home. She will compete for both the swim team and the water polo program starting 2009-10. Hopp is a three-time swimming All-American with her fourth season yet to start. She has been named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American Team the past two seasons while also earning All-American honors in water polo.

She was also a member of the CIF first-team and the South Coast League Co-MVP in water polo. She trains with the successful SET Water Polo Club out of Orange County under former Olympian Brad Schumacher where her team has placed 3rd and 5th in the Junior Olympic tournament. Camille has chosen LMU over UC Davis and UCLA.

"Camille is a national level swimmer that happens to have one of the strongest outside shots that we have seen in a long time," said Loughran. "Camille's offense has always been her strong suit and we will expect her to continue to be offensive minded as she gets into her college career."

Also joining the Lions is the goalie Slagle. She has been a 3 time All-League member and a member of the All-Section and Al-Metro Team as a junior with her senior year awards still to come. Slagle plays for the American River Water Polo Club out of the Sacramento area and she has been named as an All-American in both the Senior Nationals and Junior Olympics.

"Adding an athletic goalie that has good size to the squad is something that we are very excited about. Michelle's improvement has continued to impress her coaches and we are looking forward to having her develop further at LMU," said Loughran.

As for Manke she has been a member of the United States National Team's programs for quite some time. She has been a member of the 2006 and 2007 Cadet team where she made the travel team in 2007. Erin has also been a member of the Junior National team most recently. She has been a three-time All-Mission League member with her senior season yet to come. Her success with the Los Angeles Water Polo Club is also well documented as she has been a three-time Junior Olympic All-American from 2005-2007.

"Erin has been a member of the National Team system for a few years and her experience with these programs has been invaluable to her development," said Loughran. "We are very excited to add a left hander to our system and look for her to have an immediate impact on our team next season."

- GO LIONS -