FLACKS LEADS AGOURA BY WORDS AND DEEDS JUNIOR IS A MAIN COG FOR CHARGERS IN THEIR QUEST FOR WATER POLO TITLE.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO 

Staff Writer

AGOURA - Casey Flacks spoke, everyone listened.

The Agoura High girls' water polo team gathered at one end of the pool to listen to coach Jason Rosenthal give a pep talk after a recent practice. The girls paid attention to Rosenthal's instructions. When Flacks elaborated on her coach's speech, everyone listened a bit more attentively, including Rosenthal.

"That's the respect these girls give her," Rosenthal said. "She's a natural leader and she's not afraid to let her teammates know what their roles are. Her will not to give up even when things are down and wanting to keep going, that's what the other girls see and they want to do it, too. She's not afraid to lead in and out of the water."

Flacks, a 5-foot-3, 115-pound junior, is considered a small attacker in the hole/set (two-meter) position, but that doesn't keep her from beating bigger defenders, partly because she grew up playing against larger and stronger opponents.

Flacks was about 10 when she saw her first action against boys and girls who were four to six years older while playing for the Harvard-Westlake water polo foundation.

"As much as they pushed me and threw me around, they helped me get better," said Flacks, who leads the Chargers in assists (69), steals (48) and drawn ejections (33) and is second in scoring with 68 goals. "That was probably the best thing I got out of that. They threw me in there and told me to just swim."

Flacks could have played at Harvard-Westlake of Studio City but chose Agoura because of the program's reputation, the school's proximity to her Calabasas home and the chance to make a name for herself.

Flack's older sister Lindsay was a standout cross country runner at Harvard-Westlake, and her mother, Dawn Barrett, coaches the boys' swim team at the private school. Lindsay led the Stanford women's cross country team to a national title last year.

Her brother, Brian, was the Daily News boys' water polo Player of the Year in 2005 after a standout season at Harvard-Westlake. He's now at UCLA.

Flacks is following in her brother's footsteps with her play in the pool, but is making her own mark at Agoura. She has already attracted attention from Division I colleges such as Cal, Stanford and UCLA.

The two-time All Southern Section selection is the fastest swimmer on the team and often becomes the center of attention for opposing defenses. She has led the Chargers (22-6) to consecutive Div. IV playoff appearances, including last year's championship game, in which they lost to Santa Barbara.

This season, Agoura went undefeated in Marmonte League play to clinch its third consecutive league title and its eighth in nine years.

Flacks will try to help Agoura reach the title game again, this time in Div. II. The Chargers host Ventura at 3:15 today in a first-round playoff game.

"Our minds are now focused on CIF," Flacks said. "One game at a time until we can get to where we want. I don't stop. It's just something that's in me. I feel that if I don't go all out, then what's the point? I have nothing to lose. I think it's a good feeling when you've gone all out and you end up tired."

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Casey Flacks leads the Agoura High girls' water polo team in assists and steals and is second in scoring.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News