At the end of October, the women’s Water Polo team at Delta College, along with friends, family, and the greater community; said goodbye to beloved teammate, Makaela Crespin. At just 18 years old, Crespin’s life was taken abruptly in a tragic traffic collision on the evening of Oct. 29 in downtown Stockton.
“She’d always tell us how much she loved us. Nothing negative ever came out of her mouth which is hard to say for a lot of people. She had no enemies, ever,” said teammate Ally Ratto on the hardship felt by the team. “She has the sweetest soul, everywhere she was, she went, she just lit up the room with her smile,” she said.
This season was the first at Delta College for Ratto and Crespin.
“We all showed up to the vigil together, we all had a team meeting, that’s how we were told. We had been doing dinners together, we did lunch together yesterday. We went to the Edison [vs] Lodi game, because she used to play for Edison as well,” Ratto said.
Prior to this year, Crespin played water polo with Edison High and was coached by Nikka Simoni, who spoke about the tragic loss felt by our community on video with KCRA 3.
“She definitely made a huge impact on every team and every friend — anybody that she came in contact with, she made a huge impact with,” she said. “The sky was the limit for her,” Simoni said to KCRA 3.
“So, yes this is very hard, but we are all very much leaning on each other, for going through this,” said Ratto. “There’s 19 girls on our team, so really just leaning on each other is the most important thing. Delta has fantastic resources for us as well. Everyone is here at a click of a button,” she said.
Alex Breitler, was available to comment via email on behalf of Delta’s administration.
Crisis counselors had been made available to anyone affected, and they are in contact with the coach of the woman’s water polo team. The coach is said to be in contact with the Crespin family during this difficult time, and the greater athletic community has reached out as well.
“Also, other teams have provided support and encouragement as well; the women’s soccer team came to water polo practice earlier this week and gave each player a rose and a bracelet.
We know this must be an incredibly difficult time for everyone who knew Kayla, and we’ll continue to be there for each other like the close-knit community that we are,” the email read.
“Our coach, Nate, he has fostered a very, very close environment. We care alot about each other,” Ratto said in regard to the team’s perspective. “It doesn’t matter if we are losing games, winning them, we will always be each other’s number one fans,” Ratto said.
“[Kayla] is literally the sweetest person you will ever get to know and I am so privileged that I got to know her and be on the team with her because she was truly one of the best teammates I have ever had in my 6 seasons of playing,” she said.