Fullen honored at White House again after title

This time there was no need for sightseeing in Washington D.C. For Brittany Fullen, she had been there done that.

This time, she and her teammates relaxed. No itinerary per se, just be at the White House at noon.

That’s where Fullen, the Corona del Mar High product, and the rest of the players from the UCLA women’s water polo team were honored Tuesday for winning an NCAA championship, along with 19 other teams. Anne Belden, a former Newport Harbor standout who will be a senior for the Bruins, and UCLA assistant Sam Bailey, a former Corona del Mar coach, were also recognized.

It was the second straight year these Bruins (33-0) had been to the White House.

The UCLA women’s water polo team has actually won the NCAA championship for the past four years. Fullen’s been on three of the teams.

“It was real cool,” said Fullen, an All-American goalie who just completed her junior year at UCLA.

The Bruins hanging out in Washington D.C. wasn’t the only sense of familiarity. President George W. Bush also remembered them from last year.

Fullen said Bush still had in his memory the gift the Bruins gave to him last year. It was Speedo shorts and a pair of Rainbow sandals. This year they gave him a robe and a slingbox, which is a TV streaming device for computers.

Visiting the White House and posing with President Bush was definitely great. Yet Fullen still has a special place in her heart for what the team did after winning the NCAA title in her freshman year.

The Bruins didn’t go to D.C. Instead they spent a few hours at the house of John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach. Wooden spoke to the team and showed the players several of his awards and the letters he writes to his late wife.

Fullen said the day was special.

This year proved to be quite meaningful to Fullen in the pool. She had been a back-up her first two seasons, playing behind Emily Feher, a four-time All-American.

But she became the starter this year, playing in all 33 matches and earning second-team All-American honors. She finished the season with a 4.73 goals against average and a school record 237 saves. Fullen recorded 10 saves or more in eight matches, including a season-high 15 saves in UCLA’s 8-7 victory over Stanford in overtime at the UC Irvine Invitational title match.

“It’s different this year in the sense that I was actually in the cage,” Fullen said. “I felt a lot of pressure at the beginning of the season, filling such big shoes. But winning a national title at any point is sweet no matter what.”

It also must’ve been pretty sweet to beat rival USC, 6-3, for the NCAA title.

Fullen said she will work as an assistant to the Corona del Mar club team, helping out Coach Aaron Chaney this summer.

— Steve Virgen