By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Zach Yawn was speaking by phone from the Iona College campus near New York City Tuesday afternoon during his first day of classes.

Like most freshmen, he was excited and, perhaps, a little awed by the chain of events that led him a thousand miles north from his Kissimmee home.

Yawn will play water polo for Iona, the first from Osceola County to land a collegiate grant for that sport.

“It happened late, in July,” Yawn, a 2010 OHS graduate, said. “Up until then, honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

Yawn was a four-year mainstay for the Kowboys swimming, soccer and water polo programs.

But, after graduation, he thought he would be attending classes somewhere in Florida.

“That was what I was looking at, a school somewhere in the state,” Yawn said.

But, with a little assistance from OHS coaches Trish and Jaime Abell, who have run the OHS water polo program since its inception, Yawn found a home with the Gaels, ranked No. 8 nationally in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll.

“I knew the (Iona) coach (Mike Kelly) from going to his camps a couple of years ago, and we built a good relationship,” Yawn said. “It wasn’t a complete surprise that I came here, but how it happened, it ended up happening quickly.”

Trish Abell said she is thrilled to see Yawn earn the grant to Iona.

“We are very proud of his accomplishments,” she said.

Yawn, who will major in biology,  said he is settling in.

“It’s a beautiful place, 20 minutes from Penn Station,” said Yawn.

Iona’s most famous coaching alum is Jim Valvano, the colorful icon who coached basketball there in the 1970s before taking North Carolina State to the national championship in 1983.

Yawn said he is adapting to the rigorous routine that water polo players follow at Iona.

“In the summer we practiced twice a day, four hours each, for a total of eight hours,” Yawn said. “The hardest part is that you have to be up early, and run to practice. It’s uphill, about nine-tenths of a mile, so while you are doing that, you know that you have four hours of practice when you get there. It’s not so bad coming back, though.”

Yawn said most of the work is conditioning, a lot of swimming, push-ups and running. Then, it’s into the pool for water polo drills.

“Right now they’re talking about me being a driver. That’s the guy on the wing who usually breaks down the pool for the outlet pass,” he said. “But, I may be moving into the hole at some point.”

The hole, the center position in front of the opponent’s goal, is one of the most physically demanding positions in sports. The hole is the hub of the offense, and the position attracts plenty of interest from defenders.

“It’s a tough position. It takes a lot of strength and stamina,” Yawn said.

As one of eight incoming Iona freshmen, Yawn isn’t sure whether he will see significant playing time this season. The season begins in early September.

“They have 17 guys returning here from a good team, so I’m not sure yet how it’s going to work,” he said.

For now, Yawn is concentrating on practice and his freshmen classes.

“It’s going great so far.  I’m finding my way around,” he said.