San Francisco, CA - April 22 - The Olympic Club has announced the men's finalists for the Peter J. Cutino Award, an iconic honor in NCAA water polo to recognize the best men's and women's players each year. The men's finalists are
Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal),
Roko Pozaric (Princeton), and
Rafael Real Vergara (UCLA). The women's finalists will be announced following the conclusion of the women's season.
Nikolaos Papanikolaou led Cal to a third straight national championship, earned a third straight NCAA Championship MVP Award, and hopes to cap off an incredible career with a third straight Cutino Award as well. Papanikolaou set a career-high with 95 drawn exclusions and scored 43 goals to end his tenure with 253 (second in program history) while becoming the Golden Bears' first five-time All-American.
Roko Pozaric helped Princeton to its best season ever with 28 wins and became the first Tiger to ever be named a First-Team All-American with his third overall selection. Pozaric scored 76 goals, fourth most in program history, with a career-best 47 assists to go along with 41 steals, 28 drawn exclusions, and a 111-9 sprint record.
Rafael Real Vergara led UCLA to the NCAA Championship where he recorded a hat trick in the 11-13 loss to Cal. A four-time All-American, Real Vergara earned his third straight selection to the First-Team. He finished the season with an MPSF-high 71 goals, the most by a Bruin in 20 years and seventh all-time on the UCLA single season scoring list. Real Vergara also had 23 assists, 13 field blocks, and finished fourth in the league in scoring with 94 points.
The Cutino Awards will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 1 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed free of charge courtesy of USA Water Polo on
Overnght.com.
The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes, coaches plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety. Those interested in attending the awards can register by
clicking here.
Established in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the Cutino Award is given annually to the top men's and women's NCAA Division I water polo players as voted on by coaches from across the country. The namesake of the award is a legend in United States water polo history, with eight NCAA titles as head coach at Cal. The Olympic Club has a long and distinguished competitive water polo history, a tradition that continues today in the pool with some of the best age-group teams in the world.
ABOUT THE OLYMPIC CLUB
Founded in 1860, The Olympic Club enjoys the distinction of being among the oldest athletic clubs in America. Since its birth, The Olympic Club has fostered amateur athletics in San Francisco. The Winged "O" currently fields teams in 17 sports. Additionally, The Olympic Club has hosted five U.S. Opens, and looks forward to hosting the 2028 PGA Championship and 2032 Ryder Cup at its world-class Lakeside Clubhouse golf courses.
