CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior attacker Nick Kennedy of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team was named the Division III National Player of the Year by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC), the organization announced today. 

Greg Lonzo also earned the ACWPC Division III National Coach of the Year for the Stags, who finished with a 24-5 overall record, while Dave Merryman earned the Division III Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

Kennedy was joined on the ACWPC All-America first team by senior attacker Thomas Walker and senior goalie Jake Taylor, while Luke (Bear) Weigle earned a spot on the second team. Senior utility Donovan Davidson and junior attacker Gavin Netherton earned honorable mention distinction to give the Stags a total of six honorees on the All-America teams. 

Kennedy capped off a stellar junior campaign by earning Most Outstanding Player honors while leading CMS to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship on Dec. 6-7. He finished the year with 99 goals and 76 assists, earning 175 total points, and was named the SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year as well. Kennedy scored at least one goal in every game this year, with a high of eight against Concordia, as well as six in a win over No. 13 UC Irvine, and ended the year with nine goals in the national championship tournament (four in the semis and five in the title win over Pomona-Pitzer). 

Walker added 71 goals and 32 assists for the Stags this season, crossing the 100-point plateau in the national semifinals. He had a season-high of six goals against nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara, which he matched in a win over Redlands, and added five more in a win over Harvard.

Taylor capped off his senior year with a 12-save performance, allowing only four goals, in the national championship win over Pomona-Pitzer. He had 259 saves overall on the year, adding nine more in a SCIAC Championship win over Pomona-Pitzer, as well as a season-high 16 in a win over Chapman. 

Weigle earned All-America honors for the fourth time in his career, including two first-team selections and two second-team selections. He had 43 goals this fall, including a hat trick in the national semifinals against Augustana, while finishing his career with 196 and helping the Stags to a pair of national titles. 

Davidson had 33 goals and 24 assists in his senior season this fall, capping off his career with a key fourth quarter goal in the national championship win over Pomona-Pitzer. He also had the tying and winning goals in the last two minutes of a 6-5 national title win over Redlands as a sophomore in 2023 and finished his career with 62 tallies.

Netherton capped off his junior year with the go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter of the national championship win over Pomona-Pitzer, and also had a buzzer-beater goal in a win over Harvard. He finished the season with 32 goals and 33 assists and now has 55 goals and 63 assists through his first three seasons. 

CMS finished the year with a 24-5 record, earning the SCIAC Tournament title and the USA Water Polo Division III National title for the second time in the last three seasons. The Stags five losses included four to ranked Division I programs, and an overtime regular season loss to Pomona-Pitzer, which it avenged twice in postseason championships.