WOODLAND, Calif. – Fifteen Stanford men’s water polo student-athletes were named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Scholar-Athletes, MPSF Executive Director, Al Baird announced. The Cardinal totaled the most Scholar-Athletes of any school in the conference.
Adam Abdulhamid, Griffin Bolan, Bret Bonanni, Reid Chase, BJ Churnside, Drew Holland, Jackson Kimbell, Mitchell Mendoza, Justin Roberto, Cody Smith, Sam Pfeil, Connor Stapleton, Kyle Weikert, Harrison Enright and Adam Warmoth were recognized for their combined work athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible, students must have a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average, be at least a sophomore academically and have spent at least one academic year at the institution and must have competed in fifty percent of their team’s competition this season.
Bonanni, a senior All-American who became Stanford’s all-time scoring leader in 2015, earned academic accolades each year during his Cardinal career. The science, technology and society major concluded his career with a school and conference-record 360 career goals. He passed Stanford legend and current captain of the United States Men’s Water Polo National Team, Tony Azevedo during his senior season. He scored in 29 of Stanford’s 30 games with multiple goals in 25 contests in 2015. Bonanni recorded 95 career multiple-goal games and 68 career hat tricks. Bonanni was also honored by the MPSF for his performance in the pool all four years, collecting first-team honors three times and second-team laurels once.
Churnside, an electrical engineering major, picked up his fourth MPSF Scholar-Athlete honor as well. He was the recipient of the NCAA’s Elite 89 award in 2014. The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships. In the pool, Churnside was fourth on the team with 32 goals for the Cardinal this season.
Abdulhamid, a Computer Science major, has been recognized each of his three years of eligibility with the Cardinal. He finished the season second on the team and eighth in the MPSF in scoring with 59 goals. The redshirt junior scored five goals in the MPSF Championships. Abdulhamid scored in 25 of Stanford’s 30 games overall, with multiple scores in 16 contests. He recorded 10 hat tricks on the year, with a season-best five goals against Santa Clara and MIT.
Bolan, a redshirt junior human biology major, has also be recognized by the MPSF in each of his first three years of his eligibility. He scored 10 goals for the Cardinal this past season.
Holland, Stanford's starting goalie and a management science & engineering major, was honored by the MPSF for the second year in a row. He posted a 7.06 goals-against-average and averaged 11.19 saves per game in the cage for the Cardinal.
Chase, a junior Science, Technology & Society major, was recognized for the second straight year. He finished third on the Cardinal in scoring with 38 goals.
Stapleton, a junior management science & engineering major, was named an MPSF Scholar-Athlete for the second consecutive year. He was fifth on the Cardinal with 27 goals on the year.
Warmoth (engineering physics) and Pfeil (management science & engineering) were also honored by the MPSF for their work in the classroom for the second straight season. Pfeil had nine goals on the season and Warmoth finished with eight scores on the year.
Juniors Kimbell and Weikert (management science & engineering), sophomores Smith and Roberto (public policy), and redshirt freshmen Mendoza and Enright earned MPSF academic laurels for the first time in their careers. Stapleton finished fifth on the roster in scoring with 27 goals, while Smith was sixth with 26 scores and Mendoza was seventh with 25. Kimbell finished the season with 18 goals, and Weikert had 13 scores.
Stanford concluded its season 22-8 overall, placing fifth in the MPSF Championships.
