STANFORD, Calif. – Seventeen Stanford men's water polo student-athletes garnered Association of College Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic Awards, the group announced.
Stanford's team grade-point average of 3.49 was the fourth-highest in the nation, and the highest in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Only Salem International University (3.58), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3.57) and Brown University (3.52) posted a higher team GPA.
Student-athletes eligible for the ACWPC All-Academic award must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher. Athlete merit levels include "excellent" (3.2 to 3.4), "superior" 3.41 to 3.7 and "outstanding" 3.71 to 4.0. A total of 357 athletes were named to the team with the ACWPC awarding 86 Outstanding, 135 Superior and 136 Excellent accolades.
It is the second straight year Stanford has had 17 honorees on the ACWPC Academic Teams.
Two members of the Cardinal were named to the "Outstanding" list, including Blake Parrish (undeclared) and Adam Warmoth. It was the second straight year, both made the "Outstanding" group.
Warmoth, a senior engineering physics major, was an ACWPC All-Academic honoree all four years he competed for Stanford.
The "Superior" list included Bennett Williams (undeclared), Nelson Perla-Ward (undeclared), Duncan Mactavish (undeclared), Spencer Rogers (public policy), Justin Roberto (public policy), Marco Stanchi (undeclared) and Mitchell Mendoza (computer science).
Roberto was honored by the ACWPC for the third time, while Mendoza, Rogers and Stanchi were recognized for the second time. Bennett Williams, Mactavish, and Perla-Ward were first-time honorees.
Eight members of the Cardinal were recognized on the "Excellent" list, including Sam Pfeil (management, science and engineering), Oliver Lewis (earth systems), Kyle Weikert (management, science and engineering), Cody Smith (decision making & rationality), Dylan Woodhead (undeclared), Harrison Enright (management, science and engineering), Andrew Chun (undeclared) and Grady Williams (computer science).
Lewis, Pfeil and Weikert earned a spot on the ACWPC academic list for the third year in a row, while Grady Williams and Enright were second-time honorees and Smith, Woodhead and Chun each earned all-academic recognition for the first time.
Parrish and Smith were also selected as ACWPC All-Americans for the 2016 season.
Stanford, ranked fifth in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, concluded its season 13-8 overall with a fourth-place finish in the MPSF Tournament.