STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford men's water polo was well recognized by both the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) for academic success.
The Cardinal, an NCAA finalist this past season, was among the top 10 academic teams in collegiate water polo across all divisions with a team grade-point average of 3.35.
Eleven members of the Cardinal were recognized by the ACWPC. Student-athletes eligible for the ACWPC All-Academic award 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.
Senior Blake Parrish, who was also a three-time All-America selection by the ACWPC, was the recipient of the Elite 90 award at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Water Polo Championship. He is a four-time ACWPC Academic All-American. Parrish was honored as a CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-District selection last season as well. The computer science major earned ACWPC Outstanding distinction all four years.
Joining Parrish with ACWPC Outstanding distinction are freshmen Parker Killion, Jackson Seybold and AJ Rossman.
Senior Oliver Lewis, junior Bennett Williams, sophomores Ben Hallock and Tyler Abramson, and freshman Zach LaGrange were named to the ACWPC's Superior Team. Lewis has been recognized by the ACWPC all four years on The Farm. Lewis earned ACWPC honors for the third consecutive year. Hallock, who was also named the ACWPC National Player of the Year, has earned ACWPC academic honors each of his first two seasons.
Senior Marco Stanchi and junior Dylan Woodhead were honored on the ACWPC's Excellent squad. Both were recognized by the ACWPC for the third consecutive year.
The MPSF, which honors student-athletes in their sophomore year academically and up with at least a 3.00 grade-point average, recognized 10 members of the Cardinal as All-Academic Scholar-Athletes.
Parrish and Stanchi collected MPSF All-Academic honors all three years, while Lewis, Williams and Woodhead were recognized for the second time
Abramson, Hallock, Killion (redshirt freshman) and LaGrange (redshirt freshman) were honored in their first year of eligibility. Redshirt sophomore Duncan Mactavish earned his first MPSF All-Academic recognition.
Stanford advanced to the NCAA Championship match this past fall. The Cardinal, which captured the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season and tournament titles, finished the year 21-3 overall and ranked No. 2 nationally.