Christi Gilmore head coach for Southern Oregon Water Polo and AHS Water Polo has been involved in aquatics since she was five years old. She started swimming year round AAU/USSA when she was ten. Christi got involved in water polo when she moved to Modesto area in her freshman year. She played for Atwater High School during the high school seasons and Modesto Water Polo club during the summers. She was nominated league MVP, All-American her senior year and was invited to try out for the USA Junior National Team in Las Vegas. Selected for the team, she played throughout Europe for the Junior Nationals team and then moved up to the Senior National were she spent two years. When USA Water Polo did not qualify to go to the Olympics in 1992 she retired from the sport. Christi moved to Ashland six years ago where she encountered a friend from her USA team of twenty years earlier who knew Ashland needed a coach.

Christi applied and is now going into her sixth year as the Head Coach. As the head coach for AHS Water polo she has a combined girls and boys regular season record* of 96 wins and 33 losses. In 2008 she guided both teams to 5A state championships, the first in Ashland high school history.  In the fall of 2009 she lead the girls and boys teams to a 12 - 2 and 13 - 5 record respectively, and Boys team to their second consecutive 5A state water polo championship.  Also, in 2009 she lead the girls to a second place finish in the State tournament.

Quote from the Coach in 2008: "The teams hadn’t really thought of winning the title at the beginning of the year, but played for the love of the game.  However, they eventually found out what it’s like.  “Being a champion is something that can’t be explained,” Gilmore said.  “It’s not about a parade or an assembly, but the feeling you get inside.  Then you know why you worked so hard.”