Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases 2017 Women’s Division I All-Conference Team; Skaggs Named Most Valuable Player

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) announces the 2017 Division I All-Conference Team based on nominations and balloting of the head coaches from Brown University, Bucknell University, George Washington University, Hartwick College, Harvard University, Indiana University, Princeton University, Saint Francis University and the University of Michigan.

Michigan, which rolled through the schedule to post an 8-0 league mark in claiming the No. 1 seed for the CWPA Division I Championship on Friday-Sunday, April 28-30 at Indiana’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Indiana, receives a conference-high five All-Conference nods as 2017 CWPA Division I Player of the Year Allison Skaggs (Sr., Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) and Maddy Steere (Fr., Pascoe Vale, Australia/St. Catherine’s School) garner First Team notice with the trio of Kim Johnson (So., Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas), Danielle Johnson (Sr., Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas) and goalie Heidi Ritner (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) achieving Second Team accolades.

Steere and Ritner garner their inaugural All-Conference nods for performances during their first intercollegiate season, while Danielle Johnson is recognized for the first time by the league’s head coaches.  Kim Johnson, who earned the 2016 CWPA Division I Rookie of the Year award, collects her second All-Conference nod after earning Second Team notice in 2016.

Skaggs picks up her fourth All-Conference as she previously collected notice as the 2014 CWPA Western Division Rookie of the Year to accompany 2014 Western Division Second Team, 2015 CWPA Division I/II Second Team and 2016 CWPA Division I Second Team laurels.  Further, she joins a list of Wolverines that have claimed an MVP award from the league since 2004 that includes two CWPA Hall of Fame inductees and some of the best players to come through the league over the past decade. Her selection marks the 10th time a Wolverine has earned an Player of the Year award as Olympic Gold Medalist goalie/CWPA Hall of Fame inductee Betsey Armstrong (Western Division – 2004), CWPA Hall of Fame inductee Shana Welch (Western Division – 2005, 2006, 2007), Julie Hyrne (Western Division – 2008, 2009), Leah Robertson (Western Division – 2010), Kiki Golden (Western Division – 2012) and Ali Thomason (CWPA Division I -2016) previously collected earned individual plaques from the Collegiate Water Polo Association.

The league’s two other individual awards find a home in Oneonta, N.Y. as Hartwick freshmen Lena Kotanchyan (Fr., Moscow, Russia/Elk Island School #368) and head coach Alan Huckins received honors as the 2017 CWPA Division I Rookie and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Huckins takes his fifth Coach of the Year nod following previous Northern Division awards in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010.  Overall, it marks the seventh Coach of the Year award presented to Hartwick as Michael Maroney earned status as the 2001 and 2002 Northern Divsion Coach of the Year prior to the arrival of Huckins.

Kotanchyan, who also earns a spot on the First Team, becomes the sixth Hawks’ student-athlete to garner Rookie of the Year status following Bronwen Knox (CWPA – 2015), Kirsten Hudson (CWPA – 2007), Jessica McKee (Northern Division – 2008), Lily Martinez (Northern Division – 2010) and Kamila Zakirova (Western Division – 2013).

She is joined on the First Team by Zsofia Polak (Jr., Dunajuvaros, Hungary/Rudas) who takes her third All-Confernece award after previously posting Second Team (2015 – CWPA Division I/II) and First Team (2016 – CWPA Division I) notice as Hartwick joins Indiana, Harvard and Princeton in notching pairs of All-Confernece recipients in 2017.

Princeton joins Michigan and Hartwick in placing two players on the First Team in 2016 Second Team honoree Haley Wan (Jr., Irvine, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) and Olympic Gold-Medalist goalie Ashleigh Johnson (Sr., Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades).

A four-time All-Conference First Team selection (2015 – CWPA Division I/II; 2014 – CWPA Southern Division; 2013 – CWPA Southern Division) to tie the league record for most First Team awards and become the first player to achieve the feat in five academic years, Johnson adds to her legacy after also taking 2013 Southern Division Rookie of the Year and 2015 Division I/II Most Valuable Player notice.

Indiana notches two awards as Kelly Matthews (Jr., Roxboro, Quebec, Canada/St. Thomas) rounds out the league’s seven highest selections with Mollie Williams (Fr., Sydney, Australia/Meriden) landing on the Second Team.

The 2015 CWPA Division I/II Rookie of the Year, Matthews previously notched 2016 First Team (CWPA Division I) and 2015 Second Team (CWPA Division I/II) as she becomes a three-time All-Conference honoree.

Joining Williams on the Second Team is a pair of players from Harvard and a solo athlete from Brown as the Crimson’s Kristen Hong (So., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) and Michelle Martinelli (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) join the Bears’ Marisa Kolokotronis (Sr., Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis) all receive their first All-Conference awards from the league’s coaches.