Courtesy: Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Bucknell University’s Rade Joksimovic (Sr., Novi Sad, Serbia/Gimnazija Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj) claims his fourth consecutive Most Valuable Player honor and teammate Andu Vlasceanu (Fr., Bucharest, Romania/Liceul Teoretic “Nikolae Lorga” Bucuresti) takes Rookie of the Year notice, while the Fordham University coaching tandem of Bill Harris and Brian Bacharach earn Coach of the Year accolades, as the 2019 All-Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region Team is released prior to the MAWPC Championship on Friday-Sunday, November 22-24, at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
A total of 15 athletes are recognized as a tie occurred among the field players on the Second Team.
A 2018, 2017 and 2016 MAWPC-East All-Conference First Team selection to go along with three prior MVP awards and 2016 MAWPC-East Rookie of the Year plaque, Joksimovic picks up his fourth MVP and First Team nod in 2019. The first player (men’s/women’s) to earn varsity MVP honors all four years of their career, Joksimovic is joined on the first team by fellow Bison/2018 First Team pick Logan Schofield (Sr., Maumee, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales).
Defending league champion George Washington University places two athletes on the All-Conference First Team as Atakan Destici (Sr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) picks up his fourth First Team nod with 2017 First Team and 2018 Second Team selection Andrew Mavis (Sr., Princeton, N.J./The Pennington School) also collecting First Team recognition in 2019.
Fordham University also earns a pair of First Team picks with 2018 Second Team recipient/goalie Bailey O’Mara (So., Darien, Conn./Darien) and Jake Miller-Tolt (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) – who previously took Second Team (2016) and First Team (2017, 2018) notice the past three seasons – garnering recognition.
The First Team is completed by 2018 Second Team pick Isaac Salinas (So., Spring City, Pa./Malvern Prep) of the United States Naval Academy who claims his second All-Conference award.
On the Second Team, George Washington leads the way with a pair of accolades for 2016 First Team goalie Matthew Taylor (Gr., Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College) and first-time recipient Andras Levai (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenk Secondary School).
Six individual awards are picked up by Dimitris Koukias (So., Athens, Greece/Athens College) of Fordham, Daniel Domotar (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Karinthy Frigyes Secondary) of La Salle University, Trevor Clark (Sr., San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills) of Navy, Oliver Fodor (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istvan Gimnazium), 2017 Second Team honoree Finn Banks (Sr., Portola Valley, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) of Johns Hopkins University and Rookie of the Year Vlasceanu from Bucknell.
Vlasceanu becomes the fourth Bison athlete to earn Rookie of the Year status since the creation of the award in 2007 by joining Joksimovic (2016 MAWPC), Grant Curry (2014 Collegiate Water Polo Association-South Region) and Richie Hyden (2007 Collegiate Water Polo Association-South Region).
The Coach of the Year goes to the tandem of Harris and Bacharach of Fordham. Harris, who was joined by Bacharach as co-head coaches earlier this season, picks up his second COY accolade as he previously earned the 2009 Collegiate Water Polo Association-Northern Division award.
Athletes are selected based on institutional nominations from the seven MAWPC-West institutions’ (Bucknell, Fordham, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, La Salle University, Navy, Wagner) head coaches. A ballot is compiled of the nominations and presented to head coaches to vote for 12 field players, two goalies, a Most Valuable Player, a Rookie of the Year and a Coach of the Year based on the cumulative efforts of the athletes during the 2018 season.
2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-East Region All-Conference Team
Most Valuable Player: Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University)
Rookie of the Year: Andu Vlasceanu (Bucknell University)
Coach of the Year: Bill Harris/Brian Bacharach (Fordham University)
First Team:
Bailey O’Mara (Goalie – Fordham University)
Jake Miller-Tolt (Fordham University)
Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University)
Logan Schofield (Bucknell University)
Andrew Mavis (George Washington University)
Atakan Destici (George Washington University)
Isaac Salinas (United States Naval Academy)
Second Team:
Matthew Taylor (Goalie – George Washington University)
Andras Levai (George Washington University)
Andu Vlasceanu (Bucknell University)
Dimitris Koukias (Fordham University)
Finn Banks (Johns Hopkins University)
Daniel Domotor (La Salle University)
Trevor Clark (United States Naval Academy)
Oliver Fodor (Wagner College)
