BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Bucknell University’s Rade Joksimovic (Jr., Novi Sad, Serbia/Gimnazija Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj) claims his third consecutive Most Valuable Player honor, while the United States Naval Academy’s Isaac Salinas (Fr., Spring City, Pa./Malvern Prep) and Luis Nicolao garner the Rookie and Coach of the Year awards, respectively, as the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region All-Conference Team is released prior to the MAWPC Championship on Friday-Sunday, November 16-18, at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.
A total of 15 athletes are recognized as a tie occurred among the field players on the Second Team.
A 2018, 2017 and 2016 MAWPC-East All-Conference First Team selection to go along with three MVP awards and 2016 MAWPC-East Rookie of the Year plaque, Joksimovic leads a contingent of three Bucknell athletes on the All-Conference Team. He is joined on the First Team by inaugural honoree Logan Schofield (Jr., Maumee, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales), while Marko Djordjevic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Eighth Belgrade Gymnasyum) also nets his first All-Conference nod with Second Team accolades following a regular season in which the Bison captured the MAWPC-East title.
Joksimovic’s third MVP award makes history as no athlete in the annals of the MAWPC and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) had ever before recorded three consecutive MVP awards during their intercollegiate career – especially during their first three seasons of intercollegiate competition.
Defending league champion and 2018 regular season runner-up George Washington University also places three athletes on the All-Conference squad as Atakan Destici (Jr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) picks up his third First Team nod (2018, 2017, 2016) with goalie Austin Pyrch (Sr., Denton, Texas/Billy Ryan) joining him on the First Team for his first All-Conference award. 2017 First Team selection Andrew Mavis (Jr., Princeton, N.J./The Pennington School) collects Second Team recognition in 2018.
2017 MAWPC Championship runner-up and 2018 regular season Third Place finisher Wagner College earns a pair of All-Conference awards as 2017 First Team selection Jasmin Kolasinac (So., Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College) repeats in 2018, while Lachlan Trabinger (Jr., Canberra, Australia/St. Edmunds College/Golden West College) notches Second Team recognition.
Fordham, the host of the 2018 MAWPC Championship, receives three All-Conference awards as goalie Bailey O’Mara (Fr., Darien, Conn./Darien) and Ian Watson (Sr., Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) record Second Team laurels with 2017 First Team and 2016 Second Team recipient Jake Miller-Tolt (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) repeating as a First Team selection in 2018 after helping the Rams to a Fourth Place finish during the regular season.
Led by Nicolao and Second Team selection Salinas, who becomes the first Navy athlete to garner Rookie of the Year notice, the Midshipmen earn three All-Conference selections with Salinas and Andrew Shashin (So., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) picking Second Team recognition to accompany a First Team decoration for Bobby Lee (So., Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill).
The 2004 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Men’s National Coach of the Year, Nicolao’s MAWPC-East Coach of the Year prize marks his fourth men’s and seventh overall COY notice as he received three Men’s Southern Division (2001, 2003, 2008), three Women’s Southern Division (2001, 2005, 2006) and one CWPA Women’s Coach of the Year award as head men’s and women’s water polo coach at Princeton University.
Overall, it is the 11th Coach of the Year bestowed on Navy as Lee Lawrence (1982, 1984), CWPA Hall of Fame member Mike Schofield (1986, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010), Mladen Stanicic (2013) and Nicolao (2018) have been honored for their on deck performance.
Johns Hopkins University completes the All-Conference team as 2017 Second Team, 2016 First Team and 2015 Southern Division First Team honoree Giorgio Cico (Sr., San Anselmo, Calif./Redwood) becomes a four-time recipient with 2018 Second Team recognition.
Athletes are selected based on institutional nominations from the seven MAWPC-East institutions’ (Bucknell, Fordham, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, La Salle University, Navy, Wagner) head coaches. A ballot is compiled of the nominations and presented to head coaches to vote for 12 field players, two goalies, a Most Valuable Player, a Rookie of the Year and a Coach of the Year based on the cumulative efforts of the athletes during the 2018 season.
2018 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-East Region All-Conference Team
Most Valuable Player: Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University)
Rookie of the Year: Isaac Salinas (United States Naval Academy)
Coach of the Year: Luis Nicolao (United States Naval Academy)
First Team:
Austin Pyrch (Goalie – George Washington University)
Atakan Destici (George Washington University)
Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University)
Logan Schofield (Bucknell University)
Jake Miller-Tolt (Fordham University)
Bobby Lee (United States Naval Academy)
Jasmin Kolasinac (Wagner College)
Second Team:
Bailey O’Mara (Goalie – Fordham University)
Ian Watson (Fordham University)
Andrew Shashin (United States Naval Academy)
Isaac Salinas (United States Naval Academy)
Mark Djordjevic (Bucknell University)
Andrew Mavis (George Washington University)
Giorgio Cico (Johns Hopkins University)
Lachlan Trabinger (Wagner College)
