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January 24, 2006
Whittier College Says Good-Bye to a Legend
Head Water Polo Coach Mitch Carty to Step Down
From the day he set foot on the Whittier campus as a freshman in 1992,
it was evident that Mitch Carty would leave his mark on the college.
After eight all-conference selections as a water polo player and golfer
and 213 wins (and counting) as a men’s and women’s water polo coach, the
Whittier College Hall of Famer is parting ways with the Purple and
Gold. Carty has announced his resignation, effective at the conclusion
of the 2006-07 academic year. |
Mitch Carty |
Carty was an exemplary
student-athlete; earning Academic All-American honors in 1995-96. He
was named first-team All-SCIAC in 94-95 and 95-96 in water polo and
92-93, 93-94 and 95-96 as a golfer. In 1995-96, he was the individual
champion at the Southern California Intercollegiate Golf Championships.
As great of an athlete as he was, Carty has developed into one of the
finest water polo coaches in the country. He began coaching the men’s
water polo team as a graduate assistant in 1996 and took over the
program in 1997. He is the program’s all-time leader in wins (153)
which includes a SCIAC Championship in 2004 when the team finished the
season 23-10 overall and 9-1 in conference play. Twice Carty reached
the 23 win mark in a season, a record for the program. In 2003, he took
over the women’s water polo team and has a program record 60 wins. In
2006, the team finished in fourth place at the Division III National
Championships.
With all of his accomplishments as a player and coach, if you ask Carty
what his proudest moments have been, he will tell you his family has
provided more joy than anything he could accomplish in athletics. He
and his wife Lyn have recently been blessed with the birth of their
second child, and Carty doesn’t want to miss out on a single memory.
“With a growing family, I am committed to sharing as many precious
moments with them as possible. Rather than compromise my role as a
husband and father OR my role as a committed collegiate coach, I step
down now to allow new energy to pick up where I stop,” said Carty. |
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Carty was inducted into the Whittier College Hall of Fame in October
2006. |
Carty will continue to
coach, but instead of college coaches having to prepare for a Poets team
that Carty has finely tuned to compete in intercollegiate athletics,
they will be turning to him to recruit the young talent that he will
produce at the high school level. “My passion for coaching still burns
as hot as ever,” Carty adds, “As I depart, I will be pursuing other
coaching opportunities, primarily at the high school level. I will
forever cherish the friendships and relationships I have developed at
Whittier College and in the SCIAC and WWPA conferences and hope to stay
in close touch with many of you in the future.”
Whittier College Athletic Director, Rob Coleman acknowledges that
Carty’s successor will have some large shoes to fill. “Mitch’s loyalty
to his alma mater and the Whittier College athletic program will be
sorely missed. Both our Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams are
successful programs due to Mitch’s hard work and dedication. He will be
missed by all of his peers in the athletic program as well as past and
present student-athletes. We certainly wish him the best of luck with
his future endeavors. Our program will begin the process of securing a
coach that can continue to move our program in a positive direction.”
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