BOYS' WATER POLO: CRESPI GOALIE IS UP TO SPEED.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

Ryan Martin swims faster than most of his teammates on the Crespi High of Encino boys' water polo team. Few are likely to know of Martin's speed, though, since he seldom gets to swim more than a few feet. Martin is in his third season as the Celts' starting goalkeeper, a position often inhabited by players who are athletic but not the strongest swimmers.

But Crespi is far from concerned about wasting Martin's speed. If Martin's school-record 1,000-plus career saves weren't enough to convince the Celts he's in the right place, a lineup full of other speedsters keeps Crespi confident and successful.

``Overall speed, we're pretty quick,'' said Celts coach Jonathan Schild, whose team is in second place in the Mission League and playing well enough to like its chances of becoming the program's first since 1990 to advance past the first round of the playoffs. ``This is probably the fastest team we've had since I've been here. They've got wheels.''

Senior Daniel Parlato won every sprint in a 13-9 loss to powerhouse Harvard-Westlake of Studio City and is ``probably the fastest guy in the Mission League,'' according to Schild.

Sophomore Brock Roverud is one of the youngest members of the team containing nine seniors, but he is as quick as the rest of the group. Roverud won the Mission League title last spring in the 100-yard backstroke and was the league's fastest freshman in the 200 freestyle. So far he's contributed 20 goals to a balanced offense that is led by Parlato's 36 goals.

Martin gives the Celts (13-4, 3-1) another league-champion swimmer. As a junior, he won the 50 freestyle in 22.2 seconds and placed second in the 100 free with a time of 49.72.

``It really is kind of unusual to have one of your fastest players in goal,'' Schild said. ``During the summer sometimes we'll toy around with (using Martin as a field player), but he's been a goalie his whole life. He's not as comfortable in the field, and he does so well as a goalie.''

--Marmonte faceoff: Agoura and Royal of Simi Valley have made a habit of playing each other for the Marmonte League title - the two have accounted for 19 of the past 20 titles - and appear ready to continue that trend as they head into today's matchup as the league's last two undefeated teams.

Agoura (12-4, 2-0) opened league play last week against two of the league's weakest teams. However, Royal already has shown it can beat one of the league's best when the Highlanders (13-6, 2-0) defeated promising Newbury Park (12-7, 1-1) 10-9 last Friday in a game decided on a shot by Ryan Diamond in the final second.

Among the intriguing matchups when Royal faces Agoura will be Diamond against Chargers senior goalkeeper Erik Acevedo. Both are three-year varsity players on teams without a lot of varsity experience, so they are more familiar with each other than most. Acevedo generally is considered the league's best in goal, but Diamond is one of the hottest scorers.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

DAILY NEWS TOP 5