BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Washington & Jefferson College will host the 2019 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship on Saturday-Sunday, October 26-27, at Chartiers Valley High School in Bridgeville, Pa. The champion and runner-up from the event will qualify for the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship slated for the weekend of December 6-8 at a site to be determined among the membership of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
A multi-conference field, the CWPA Division III Championship consists of Connecticut College, Johns Hopkins University, Monmouth College and Washington & Jefferson of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC); the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC); along with Penn State Behrend and Austin College of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
Per league policy, the championship field is seeded based on a vote of the seven competing institutions’ head coaches.
Nine-time champion MIT (1991, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018) will aim to defend its most recent Division III title, while Johns Hopkins will seek to add to its legacy of 17 Division III crowns (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017) in 26 title games with losses in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2019. Hopkins did not compete in two Division III Championships as the Blue Jays’ missed the championship game in 2007 and 2016 by not attending the event.
Former varsity team Washington & Lee University defeated Johns Hopkins in 1992 and 1993 in the second and third Division III tournament for the only titles not held by either the Blue Jays or Engineers as W&J, Connecticut, Monmouth, Penn State Behrend and Austin will strive to acquire the programs’ first CWPA Division III Championships.
2019 marks the first-year the CWPA Division III Championship will serve as a qualifier for the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship.
A joint effort by the Division III water polo institutions and USA Water Polo to provide Division III student-athletes the opportunity for a meaningful postseason competition in addition to offering an incentive for other Division III institutions to add the sport on a varsity level, the site of the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship will begin to rotate between the SCIAC and the CWPA beginning in 2020.
