Nine Bruins Headline All-America List
December 19, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced the selection of the organization's 2015 Men's Division I All-America Team today.
Comprised of 62 student-athletes, the team features players from 21 institutions as the UCLA (nine), USC (eight), California (six), Stanford (six), Pacific (six), the University of UC Irvine (three), UC Davis (three), Brown (two), Bucknell (two), Fordham (two), Harvard (two), Princeton (two), Long Beach State (two), San Jose State (two), UC Santa Barbara (one), Loyola Marymount (one), Pepperdine (one), Santa Clara (one), St. Francis College Brooklyn (one), Air Force (one) and the Navy (one) each garnered a minimum of one athlete on either the First, Second, Third or Honorable Mention Division I All-America lists.
Headlining the team is 2015 Division I Player of the Year Garrett Danner of NCAA Champion UCLA. A two-time Division I All-America First Team selection (2015, 2014) at goalie, Danner is the fourth UCLA player to earn Player of the Year notice and the first since 2004 as he joins Brett Ormsby (2004), Sean Kern (2000, 1999) and Matt Swanson (1996, 1995).
The Bruins sweep the individual awards as UCLA head coach Adam Wright claims his second consecutive Division I Coach of the Year laurel after previously picking up a nod in 2014. The award marks the seventh Coach of the Year notice for a UCLA men's water polo coach since the inception of the honor in 1982 as Wright stands in the company of Adam Krikorian (2004) and Guy Baker (1999, 1996, 1995, 1991).
Further, Wright moves into a tie for fourth place on the list of most men's water polo National Coach of the Year honors with Steve Heaston of the University of California and Ed Newland of the University of California-Irvine as the trio rank behind Jovan Vavic of the University of Southern California (eight), Dante Dettamanti of Stanford University (six) and Pete Cutino of the University of California (three).
Joining Danner as a First Team All-American is junior attacker Ryder Roberts and junior center Gordon Marshall. For Danner and Marshall, it is their second straight year earning first team accolades. Roberts was on the third team last year.
Senior utility Daniel McClintick and senior defender Anthony Daboub were both named Second Team All-Americans. Daboub was on the third team last year with McClintick picking up honorable mention plaudits.
Two more Bruins were named Third Team All-Americans, both picking up AA honors for the first time in their careers. Junior attacker Max Irving and sophomore attacker Patrick Fellner were second and third, repectively, in scoring for UCLA this season.
Junior defender Chancellor Ramirez and sophomore utility Alex Roelse each were named Honorable Mention All-Americans to bring the Bruins' total to nine All-American selections this season, the most in any one year for UCLA and one more than last year. For Ramirez, it was his second straight honorable mention honor while it was the first for Roelse.
The mission of the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) is to promote the development and advancement of collegiate water polo. This shall be accomplished by providing its membership with professional education, services, training and a united voice.
Since 2005, it has been the goal of the ACWPC to bring a unified voice, abundant resources and recognition to collegiate programs across the USA. It is our hope that the ACWPC grows to include all collegiate coaches in all levels, serving to unite the collegiate water polo world to further protect and advance the sport at a time when budget cuts and sport elimination is commonplace. Join us and help us to build solid water polo programs that help to represent the institutions, the sport and the country on a level few sports have been able to accomplish. The overall academic and athletic abilities of our student-athletes is among the best in the nation, we hope to help all collegiate water polo coaches to continue this trend by offering solid educational programs, coaching insights and strategy, and networking opportunities that will foster long-term relationships.
