Jan. 29, 2013

2012 ACWPC All-America Teams

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford men's water polo had four players earn All-America honors from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC), the organization announced Tuesday.

Sophomore utility Alex Bowen was named to the ACWPC All-America First Team for the second straight year while freshman driver Bret Bonanni was named to the second team. Redshirt junior Forrest Watkins and freshman BJ Churnside were both named honorable mention.

The quartet helped lead the Cardinal to 16-7 record and 5-3 MPSF mark in 2012. Stanford finished the year with a No. 4 national ranking.

Bowen and Bonanni were named to the U.S. Senior National Team alongside Jeffrey Schwimer '11 last Thursday, and will participate in the UANA World Aquatic Championship Qualification Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from Jan. 30-Feb. 3.

Bowen earned his second straight first-team nod after scoring 64 goals, second-best on the team, in 2012. He was named to the All-MPSF First Team for the second year in a row and led the Cardinal with 11 goals at the MPSF Championship in November. He also posted 12 hat tricks, including a pair of six-goal performances in two games against Long Beach State.

Leading the team in goals in 2012 was Bonanni, whose total of 73 was the highest for a Cardinal player since Tony Azevedo netted 80 goals in 2004. The Huntington Beach native posted 12 hat tricks highlighted by an MPSF record-matching nine in a win over Air Force on Oct. 21. He went on to be named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and to the All-MPSF First Team.

Tuesday's announcement marked the second All-America nod for Watkins, who was named to the ACWPC's second team in 2011. This season, Watkins helped anchor a Cardinal defense which ranked fourth in the MPSF with just 7.78 goals allowed per game. On the offensive end, Watkins tied for fourth on the team with 22 goals, including five multi-goal games, among those a five-goal performance against Pepperdine at the SoCal Tournament on Sept. 30.

Joining Watkins on the honorable mention list was Churnside, who ended the year third on the team with 31 goals. The Orange, Calif. native finished the season with a flourish as he scored 22 goals over the team's final seven games. That stretch included 10 goals, including two four-goal efforts, at the MPSF Championship.