Spartan Men’s Water Polo All-Academic Honorees Tops In GCC AgainSpartan Men’s Water Polo All-Academic Honorees Tops In GCC Again

Spartan Men’s Water Polo All-Academic Honorees Tops In GCC Again

            Fourteen San Jose State University men's water polo players were named to the 2019 Golden Coast Conference all-academic team in an announcement from the conference office.
 
            The Spartans had the most award winners among the Golden Coast's six conference members. UC Irvine was next with 13.
 
            Neil Arnett, Adam Bado, Ashley Castle, Brad Dennis, Yahav Fire, Niels Hofmeijer, Giacomo Lovatelli, Nick Marchione, Finn Pardon, Justin Pickering, Gage Pranajaya, Cristian Tanase, Emerson Trout and Marc Weber were named to the Golden Coast Conference All-Academic team.
 
            Seniors Castle, Lovatelli, and Weber earned their fourth academic all-conference recognition.  Pickering and Pardon are three-time award winners. Bado, Dennis, Fire, Hofmeijer, Tanase, and Trout now are two-time honorees. Arnett, Marchione, Pranajaya picked up their first Golden Coast Conference All-Academic team honor.
 
            "We couldn't be more proud of the team's academic performance this last season. Having the most players on the all-conference academic team shows the quality of student-athletes we have as well as their priorities. Combined with our team GPA of just over 3.3 (for the year), these are great accomplishments," says San Jose State University men's water polo head coach Bruce Watson.
 
            Student-athletes qualified for the academic honor by maintaining a 3.00 cumulative grade-point average and participating in at least 50 percent of a team's contests.
 
            For the second consecutive season, more than half the team (14 of 24) earned academic all-conference honors.

2019 GOLDEN COAST CONFERENCE ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM HONOREES
 

NAME CLASS HOMETOWN
Neil Arnett Sophomore Chino Hills, Calif.
Adam Bado Sophomore Szentes, Hungary
Ashley Castle Senior Epsom, England
Brad Dennis Senior Visalia, Calif.
Yahav Fire Sophomore Kfar Hasidim, Israel
Niels Hofmeijer Sophomore Hengelo, The Netherlands
Giacomo Lovatelli Senior Los Angeles, Calif.
Nick Marchione Freshman Melbourne, Australia
Finn Pardon Junior Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Justin Pickering Junior Tauranga, New Zealand
Gage Pranajaya Freshman Dana Point, Calif.
Cristian Tanase Senior Bucharest, Romania
Emerson Trout Senior San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Marc Weber Senior Fulda, Germany