Ransom water polo coach Eric Lefebvre finished a recent early morning practice a little different than usual.

Lefebvre asked both his boys’ and girls’ teams to line up on the deck of the school’s brand-new campus pool and watch the sunrise.

It left the team speechless.

“It was an amazing sight,” said senior goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson said. “It was so pretty. We are lucky to have a place like this to practice and play.”

The Raiders hope to be watching a sunset this April from the same spot — with gold medals hanging from their necks.

Ransom Everglades hopes to debut their new state-of-the-art competition pool in style when it hosts the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state championships April 27-28.

The FHSAA named Ransom its host site for the next two years, making it the first Miami-Dade County host of the state championships since becoming an FHSAA-sanctioned sport during the 2005 season. The facility was completed in January following a two-year process that included construction over a one-year period.

The home facility has allowed for both the Ransom boys’ and girls’ teams to practice simultaneously and encouraged more of the school’s students to participate in the water polo programs.

The home site, which will host the eight-team boys’ and girls’ tournaments, will also host the school’s invitational and the district championships. It includes several amenities for spectators including elevated seating to give fans stadium-like view and an underwater viewing area on the bottom level.

Johnson, a Princeton signee, along with her sister, sophomore Chelsea Johnson, and senior Gaby Serure, a Michigan signee, hope the familiar digs will help the Raiders as they vie for their fourth consecutive state championship.

“It’s a new world of opportunities,” Serure said. “It’s given us the chance to give a lot more of our players a chance to practice and develop.”

Ransom’s girls have a young core of players, led by junior Carolina Meneses, around their senior trio that will give them a chance to contend again along with some of the state’s top teams that includes Gulliver and Winter Park.

Gulliver is coming off a state semifinals berth, and returns talented juniors Katja Rocha and Isa Granados as well as sophomore Camila Scaffer.

BOYS’ SIDE

Ransom is one of the county’s top teams on the boys’ side as well, but rival Gulliver appears to be the local favorite to challenge for the state crown.

Gulliver returns a veteran group that led it to the state finals last season. Senior goalkeeper Kenny Cutler and solid field players in senior Carlos Heros and junior Matthew Friedland hope to challenge defending state champion Boca Raton St. Andrews, the team Gulliver lost to in the state final last year, Belen and Ransom for dominance.