It didn’t take long for Harvard women’s water polo coach Scott Russell to realize he wasn’t in Michigan anymore.

Russell, whose Wolverine squad had won 11 consecutive Big Ten titles, took over a Crimson team that had finished just 11-16.

But Russell led Harvard to an auspicious start in 2004, as the Crimson jumped out to a 13-6 record to start the season including a 5-4 win at Blodgett Pool over then-No. 18 Brown.

Then it all fell apart.

Harvard traveled to California over spring break and dropped two out of three. Three days later, the Crimson was back on the East Coast, dropping three straight games by a goal and finishing last in the ECAC Championships. Harvard was exhausted, and Russell was the first to take the blame.

“We had a tough weekend, and we lost a couple close games to teams we had beaten during the year,” Russell said. “Most of the reason for that was the fatigue that had set in from traveling all week.”

With just two tournaments left in the season, it seemed that the Crimson would just coast to the finish. But Russell immediately rallied the troops, as Harvard won three straight matches at the Northeastern Championships, before falling to Brown in the final, 9-2.

Despite the strong performance, the Crimson came into the Eastern Championships seeded 10th. But Russell was still convinced that his team was much better than that billing.

“I expect us to finish in the top six,” Russell said after the Northeastern Championships. “The Eastern Championships are pretty wide open, and I think we’ll prove our ability in the water.”

Russell’s expectations were met and exceeded as his squad upset seventh-seeded Iona, eighth-seeded George Washington and fifth-seeded Princeton, finishing fifth in the tournament and earning a No. 20 ranking to end the season.

It may not have been the Big Ten title, but coaching the Crimson to a 20-13 record, a top-20 ranking and a fifth place finish is more than enough to earn Russell recognition as one of the top Harvard coaches this year.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.