ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Three University of Michigan water polo seniors have a chance to become the first class in program history to win four straight Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championships.
Winning four in a row has not been done by any school in the CWPA since 2001, when Michigan added water polo.
“I think we’re reaching a new territory, a new frontier, where legacy-wise, I think it’s a dynasty for this senior class,” said head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi. “If you can go through your entire career and be a conference champion each year, that says a lot about them as individuals and collectively what they have brought to this program.”
When Delaney Cleveland, Kim Johnson and Julia Sellers were being recruited in 2014, the Wolverines had not won a conference title in four years. In his first year as the head coach at U-M, Leonardi sold them on his vision for what the program could become and on them being a part of the building process.
“Growing up I was on underdog teams,” said Johnson. “My teams always went from being the underdogs to making this big run and really becoming successful. I really enjoy being a part of that growth. I kind of had a feeling that was going to be some of the magic happening here, so that’s something I really wanted to be a part of.”
When they joined the program as freshmen in 2016, no member of the team had experienced a conference title. In Leonardi’s first season, the team lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Indiana University in the CWPA semifinals and then lost to Hartwick College in the Third Place game.
The 2016 team had a breakout year, climbing to No. 4 in the country, defeating Indiana, 9-2, for the CWPA Championship, and then finishing fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship after a late goal against Arizona State University lifted them to the semifinals. The team had a strong group of seniors in Julia Campbell, Kelly Martin, Emily Sejna and Ali Thomason.
“The seniors put an emphasis on the fact that we had a chance to win and if we did, it would be a really big deal,” said Cleveland.
The 2016 CWPA Championship and the success the team had that season has fueled the inner fire of the 2019 seniors for the last three years.
“One of the things I told Marcelo my freshman year is ‘I will never lose a conference championship,” said Sellers. “That was going to be one of the lasting impressions that I have. It was a big deal to win our freshman year, and I wanted more.”
Each conference title has come with a different set of challenges, but the Wolverines have been able to jump in the pool and hoist the trophy each of the last three years. Putting a premium on conference games has led to a 22-1 league record during the regular season the last three seasons and 9-0 record in the CWPA tournament.
When the three seniors came to Michigan, the Indiana University was a big rival for the team. They learned from the upperclassmen that the game had extra meaning. Indiana has since changed conferences to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), but the Wolverines did play the Hoosiers for Senior Day in 2019, winning 16-8, the highest goal total by either team in the 56-game history of the rivalry.
“It ended up being a really emotional day for me,” said Sellers. “Normally, I am pretty laser-focused and nothing really gets to me, but before the game and for the first two minutes, my heart was fluttering a little bit. I just tried to slow everything down and take it all in. It made for a great, great day.”
Overall the three seniors have been a part of 105 wins and have won better than 75 percent of their games with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I have always felt super grateful to be a part of Marcelo’s first recruiting class,” said Sellers. “It has been a special experience. I knew coming in my freshman year that this program was going to be something special. I knew that we were going to do great things. I have always felt that there is a little bit of a special connection between us just because we did come here for him and to see that this program could become what is has been.”
Leonardi has a vision of how far the program can still go but is very appreciative of the three seniors who have helped him turn an unranked team into a perennial top-10 squad.
“It’s a bit nostalgic because of all the changes that we tried to implement, they were part of that change,” said Leonardi. “That original class, at that point, that’s what Michigan needed. They have grown within the program, they’ve set records, and they’ve accomplished a lot within that change.”
Johnson and Sellers are two of the more accomplished players in school history, both ranking in the top 10 for career goals and points. It has also been impressive that the two of them have never missed a game in four years, playing in 139 consecutive games.
Three seniors still have more they want to accomplish, including adding a fourth championship to their resume.
“We were recently talking in our leadership training session about the impact you leave on your team,” said Johnson. “I know my career is about to end, and I’m really trying to focus on making sure I’m making the best of the time that I have left.”
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
