Women's polo achieves second-highest team GPA in the nation

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women’s water polo team continues to be among the smartest squads in the pool. Even after leading the nation in team grade-point average last year, the Panthers improved their overall mark from 3.42 to a 3.45 team GPA during the 2009-10 school year. Despite the improvements, Chapman was edged in the national rankings by Macalester College (Minn.) who earned a 3.52 GPA and the top spot in the NCAA.

The rankings, released by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC), have the Panthers No. 2 in the nation ahead of Harvard University (Mass.) with a 3.43, Wheaton College (Ill.) at 3.42 and Brown University (R.I.) at 3.33. Other notables include Stanford (3.25), Cal Berkeley (3.11) and USC (3.02).

It is Chapman’s third top-five finish in the past five years. The ACWPC rankings measure the team average based on cumulative GPAs from every player on the school’s active roster.

A school-record 13 Chapman players earned ACWPC All-Academic Awards, led by sophomore Briana O’Keefe and freshman Emma Carson who earned “Outstanding” honors for having GPAs in the 3.71-4.0 range.

Sophomore Arielle Worthington, freshman Kellie Stump, sophomore Fernanda Gallo Moreno, freshman Alicia Wei, freshman Briana Hawkins, sophomore Stephanie Roy, freshman Samantha Martin and freshman Samantha McLaughlin earned “Superior” honors (3.41-3.70 GPAs).

Meanwhile, freshman Ani Marganian, sophomore Lisa Horn and freshman Mandy Sheehan earned “Excellent” honors with GPAs of 3.20-3.40.

Players must have competed in at least 50 percent of the team’s games during the 2010 season and have at least a 3.2 GPA to earn ACWPC honors.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director