Four years ago, Giorgio Cico was regarded as little more than part of a supporting cast on a struggling Redwood varsity water polo team that limped to a 5-7 overall finish and a 4-5 record in MCAL play. But a lot has changed in four years, and now both Cico and Redwood water polo have blossomed into the respective heavyweight powers they are today, with the senior leading the charge.

Tenacious is a fitting word to describe Cico, the reigning MCAL Player of the Year, whose competition-driven work ethic has made him a force to be reckoned with in the pool.

“I hate losing, I’m super competitive. If anyone suggests that I’m not working hard, I’ll set out to prove them wrong,” Cico said. “That competitiveness is what drives me to work hard. I hate losing with a passion, I get worked up over everything. I’ve slowly learned to let some things go, but I got worked up in third grade if another kid could do their math facts faster than me,” Cico said.

Cico’s competitive drive is evident in his flashy career statistics (282 points, 165 goals, 117 assists, and 97 steals in 69 games), and in his desire to win, as he helped lead Redwood to an MCAL and NCS title this season, a far cry from where the team was four years ago.

Cico’s dynamic play is enough to change a game and a team, and that is perhaps no better illustrated than in the team’s playoff track record over the last four years.

In the 2011-12 season, Cico’s freshman year, Redwood was dealt a 12-9 loss to Tam to boot them from the MCAL playoffs in the first round. Not to be discouraged, Redwood came back stronger in Cico’s sophomore year, but fell to Drake in the second round of the MCAL playoffs. Last year’s finish tasted bitter as Redwood again fell short to rival Drake—this time in the MCAL championship game—before losing in the NCS finals to Alhambra.

So when Redwood once again geared up for a battle with Drake in the MCAL finals this year, Cico had a bit of a personal vendetta to add to the sting of last year’s loss to the Pirates.

“I’m from San Anselmo, and the Drake coaches were my coaches growing up, so I kind of left them to come to Redwood,” Cico said. “Drake had all the kids I grew up with, so finally taking it to them and beating them felt absolutely amazing.”

It’s not too far-fetched to assume that Redwood water polo owes their MCAL and NCS pennants largely to the contributions of Cico. But you didn’t hear it from him. Cico plays with a team-first mindset, the mentality that individual stats come second to winning.

“We were all role players this year, especially because we developed in a way where everyone was very good at one thing specifically,” Cico said. “I think that’s why we succeeded this year, as opposed to earlier years, because our game plan didn’t revolve around one guy.”

That’s not to say that Cico’s individual stats don’t tell their own story, as he led the team in both goals per game, with 2.8, and assists per game, with 3.3, in his senior year.

But Cico believes his contributions to the team amounted to more than just goals and assists.

“My freshman and sophomore years, our offense really revolved around one player, Cayman [Bearly-Malinowski],” Cico said. “My junior and senior years, we were able to really incorporate everyone into our game plan. I was more of the type of person who was there to calm everyone down and not freak out. I like to think I helped with the little things, more of a vocal leader.”

Now, the Johns Hopkins-bound recruit hopes to bring the same kind of vocal leadership to the Blue Jays’ Division-III water polo team. But he isn’t completely satisfied with his level of play just yet.

“I used to force a lot of shots and passes, but playing against teams like Drake have really forced me to be smarter in my decision making. I’m still working on not relying on my outside shot as much, so I have a long way to go,” Cico said.

Cico’s competitiveness is apparent in more than one sport, as the dual-sport athlete also plays an important role on Redwood’s varsity swim team, whose boys and girls teams won MCALs this season.

As his time at Redwood comes to an end, Cico said that while the championships and, of course, beating Drake, are great memories to look back on, the time with his teammates is what will really stick with him.

“This year all the seniors were really close and I think remembering those guys and all the fun we had and being comfortable with the atmosphere and the guys around you and winning with them is what I’ll remember most,” Cico said.