May 7, 2004
San Francisco, Ca - Tony Azevedo, regarded as one of the great water polo players in the world, and Wendy Watkins, who will lead the Stanford women's water polo team at this weekend's NCAA Championships, have been nominated for the Peter J. Cutino Awards.
The awards, announced by The Olympic Club of San Francisco, is given to the outstanding male and female collegiate water polo players in the United States.
The male nominees, in additon to Azevedo, are Brett Ormsby from UCLA and Attila Banhidy from California. The female nominees, in addition to Watkins, are Betsy Armstrong from Michigan, Holly Hartzell from San Diego State, and Moriah Van Norman from USC.
Azevedo was named the 2002 American Water Polo Coaches Association Player of the Year for a third straight season. Azevedo, a junior, helped lead the Cardinal to the NCAA championship game for the third consecutive season in 2003. Azevedo scored a team-leading 89 goals. Azevedo is Stanford's all-time leading scorer with 252 goals.
Watkins will lead the second-ranked Cardinal women's water polo team into the NCAA Championships held on May 8-9 at Stanford's Avery Aquatics Center. This season, Watkins has led Stanford in scoring with 27 goals, and earned first team all-league honors. Watkins, a senior, was a third-team All-American last year.
The winners will be announced at the fifth annual Peter J. Cutino Awards Night Dinner to be held on May 22 at the Olympic Clubs' City Club facility loacted at 524 Post Street in the Union Square area of San Francisco.
The awards are given annually in honor of the former University of California Berkeley and Olympic Club coach Peter J. Cutino. Cutino is a member of the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame. Cutino won "Water Polo Coach of the Year" 17 times, and led the Golden Bears to eight NCAA national championships. Cutino also coached in the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games, the Water Polo World Championships and the World University Games.