BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) regular season champion Princeton University sweeps the individual awards as Jovana Sekulic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/The Episcopal Academy (Pa.)), Lindsey Lucas (Fr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) and Derek Ellingson receive Most Valuable Player (MVP), Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year honors as the CWPA releases the 2023 Division I All-Conference team.
Sekulic – who was honored as the 2022 Rookie of the Year – garners the institution’s 14th MVP award. She is the second Tigers’ women’s water polo athlete to collect a league-wide honor following two-time Olympic Gold Medalist goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson who claimed Most Valuable Player recognition in 2015. Prior to 2015, Most Valuable Player status was presented based on divisions (North, South) with Katie Rigler (2012-South, 2013 South, 2014-South), Phoebe Champion (2009-South, 2010-South), Elyse Colgan (2004-South, 2005-South, 2006-South, 2007-South), Cassie Nichols (2002-South), Adele McCarthy-Beauvais (2001-South) and Goga Vukmirovic (2000-South).
First year goalkeeper Lucas becomes the sixth Princeton athletes to earn women’s Rookie of the Year laurels as she follows Sekulic (2022), fellow netminders Marissa Webb (2018) and Johnson (2013-South), Lauren Brunner (2008-South) and Megan Donahue (2003-South).
Lucas’ selection follows in the line of previous Rookie of the Year recipients Donahue (2003 – Princeton), Shana Welch (2004 – University of Michigan), Bronwen Knox (2005 – Hartwick College), Aubrey Rowe (Bucknell University – 2006), Kirsten Hudson (Hartwick – 2007), Jessica McKee (Hartwick – 2008), Devan Kennifer (Harvard University – 2009), Lily Martinez (Hartwick – 2010), Kate Woods (Brown University – 2011), Taylor Barnett (Bucknell – 2012), Johnson (Princeton – 2013), Melissa Balding (Harvard – 2014), Kelly Matthews (Indiana University – 2015), Kim Johnson (Michigan – 2016), Lena Kotanchyan (Hartwick – 2017), Webb (Princeton – 2018), Abby Andrews (Michigan – 2019), Emese Szucs (Saint Francis University – 2021) and Sekulic (Princeton -2022) dating back to the inaugural honor in 2003.
Ellingson collects his second women’s accolade (2023, 2019) and the institution’s 10th Coach of the Year nod as he joins Becca Dorst (2018), Luis Nicolao (2000-Mid-Atlantic, 2001-South, 2004-South, 2005-South, 2006-South, 2013-South) and Paul Nelson (1997-Mid-Atlantic) in earning recognition for Princeton.
Sekulic, Lucas and teammate Kayla Yelensky (So., Stamford, Conn./Greenwich Academy) lead the seven-member First Team as four teams placed athletes on the team. The award marks the second All-Conference nod for Sekulic and Yelensky who respectively registered First and Second team honors in 2002.
2022 First Team honoree Zoe King (Sr., Almaden, Calif./Leland) of Brown, 2019 First Team member Grace Thawley (Sr., Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) of Harvard and 2001 First Team/2022 Second Team selection Erin Neustrom (Gr., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) of Michigan add to their collegiate legacies, while Kayla Utassy (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Konyves Kalman Secondary School) of Michigan garners her inaugural All-Conference decoration.
On the Second Team, a pair of Wolverines lead the way in the persons of goalkeeper Alex Brown (Sr., Clayton, Calif./Carondelet) and Ava Morrant (Gr., Maple Ridge, B.C./Maple Ridge Secondary School) of Michigan. A 2022 Second Team honoree, Brown joins fellow All-Conference incumbents Laura Larkin (Sr., Solana Beach, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) (2022 Second Team) of Princeton and Taylor Halbauer (Sr., Edmonton, Alberta/Mother Margaret Mary) (2021 Second Team, 2022 Second Team) from Saint Francis University in continuing among the best-of the-best in the CWPA.
The remainder of the Second Team is comprised of athletes earning their inaugural All-Conference honors as Brown’s Madeline Poissonnier (Fr., Tustin, Calif./Foothill), Bucknell’s Bridget Moynihan (Sr., San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) and Harvard’s Brooke Hourigan (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) round out the honored 14 athletes.
Selected based on nominations and votes by the head coaches of the league’s Division I institutions (Brown University, Bucknell University, Harvard, Princeton, Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s University, Saint Francis University), the All-Conference Team honors the 14 best players (12 field players, two goalies) in the majority opinion of the coaches.
An All-Conference team was not selected in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely terminating the season.
| 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I All-Conference Team | |
| Most Valuable Player: | Jovana Sekulic (Princeton University) |
| Rookie of the Year: | Lindsey Lucas (Princeton University) |
| Coach of the Year: | Derek Ellingson (Princeton University) |
| First Team | |
| Lindsey Lucas (Goalie) | Princeton University |
| Jovana Sekulic | Princeton University |
| Kayla Yelensky | Princeton University |
| Kata Utassy | University of Michigan |
| Erin Neustrom | University of Michigan |
| Zoe King | Brown University |
| Grace Thawley | Harvard University |
| Second Team | |
| Alex Brown (Goalie) | University of Michigan |
| Ava Morrant | University of Michigan |
| Madeline Poissonnier | Brown University |
| Bella Moynihan | Bucknell University |
| Brooke Hourigan | Harvard University |
| Laura Larkin | Princeton University |
| Taylor Halbauer | Saint Francis University |
