BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Jess Palmer-Sammons (Sr., Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay), Reese Winegar (Fr., Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) and the rest of the Macalester College women’s water polo team were recognized for their achievements during the institution’s year-end celebration on Sunday, May 3, on campus at the Kagin Ballroom.
Palmer-Sammons earned Macalester’s Women’s Team Athlete of the Year award following a season in which repeated as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Player of the Year (2025, 2026) and earned First Team All-Conference honors for the fourth time (2023 CWPA Division III-West Region First Team, 2024 First Team, 2025 First Team, 2026 First Team). At the conference championship, she was selected Tournament MVP with First Team All-Tournament recognition.
A 2024 and 2025 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America Honorable Mention selection with the 2026 awards slated to be announced in the coming weeks, she ed the team in goals (46), assists (31), points (77) and field blocks (10), while finishing second in steals (46), to demonstrate her impact on both ends of the pool. In addition, she was named a 2026 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Division III At-Large Academic All-America with the 2026 honors set for announcement within the next month.
Winegar collects the Rising Scot Women’s Team First-Year award which recognizes a first year who has made an immediate impact on their sport while performing at a high level.
A key member of the Scots’ 2026 CWPA Division III Championship squad which claimed third place at the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship, she received All-CWPA Second Team notice to rate as the lone first year to earn All-Conference honors. The 2026 CWPA Division III Championship Rookie of the Tournament and an All-Tournament Second Team awardee at the CWPA Division III Championship hosted by Wheaton, she led the Scots in steals (48), ejections drawn (20) and penalties drawn (seven) during her inaugural varsity season to accompany third place marks in goals (26), assists (19) and points (45).
As a team, women’s water polo posted the highest grade point average (3.815) among all varsity programs at Macalester to earn the women’s Academic Team of the Year prize. Overall, the squad topped the men’s soccer team – which collected the male honor with a 3.80 GPA – to rate as the best-of the-best in academics among all Scots’ varsity teams.
