SAN DIEGO – San Diego State water polo hauled in 15 individual academic honors as well as a team honor from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) for the 2022-23 school year. The ACWPC announced its 2023 Women's All-Academic Teams from its office in Bridgeport, Pa.
The 15 Aztecs who were recognized are the third most the program has garnered, after the 20 and 21 honors it earned in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Aztecs' 15 individual honors are the third most among the eight teams in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC).
The ACWPC recognizes individual honorees in three categories: Outstanding (GPAs between 3.71-4.00), Superior (3.41-3.70) and Excellent (3.20-3.40). To qualify, the student-athletes had to have been a member of the team during the 2022-23 school year.
Sophomores Amanda Chambers, Rose Kanemy, and Brooke Lee earned inclusion on the Outstanding Team.
Seniors Danni Croteau and Jessica Leckich, junior Faith Cerussi, sophomores Klara Goldstein and Sydney Spence, and freshmen Shannon Murphy, Claudia Valdes, and Ella Wiegand are among the Superior Team.
Senior Katie Ratcliff, junior Kendall Houck, and freshmen Sydney Gish and Mandy Lagerlof earned inclusion as Excellent Team designees.
Leckich, who took advantage of the NCAA's offer of an additional year of eligibility, has been recognized by the ACWPC for the fifth time in her college career. Cerussi, Houck and Spence receive the distinction for the third time, while Chambers, Croteau, Goldstein, Kanemy, Lee, and Radcliff earned their second awards.
As a team, the 2023 Aztecs finished the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.47, a top-20 national rank, and earned team all-academic honors from the ACWPC. It is the sixth year in a row, and seventh time since 2009, that the Aztecs, as a team, have been honored for their work in the classroom by the organization.
Earlier this summer, San Diego State water polo athletes earned 16 GCC All-Academic honors, equaling the program record which was established in 2021. Since the program's inaugural season of 1995, only three other San Diego State water polo teams have earned double digit conference academic honors in a single year; the 2022 (15), 2021 (16) and the 2019 squad, which garnered 11 GCC All-Academic awards.
2023 Association of College Water Polo Coaches All-Academic Team
San Diego State individual honorees
Faith Cerussi***
Amanda Chambers**
Danni Croteau**
Klara Goldstein**
Kendall Houck***
Rose Kanemy**
Jessica Leckich*****
Brooke Lee**
Katie Ratcliff**
Sydney Spence***
Sydney Gish*
Mandy Lagerlof*
Shannon Murphy*
Claudia Valdes*
Ella Wiegand*
*- career ACWPC All-Academic honors