Edison, N.J. (Aug 18, 2020) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40th Anniversary throughout the 2020-21 academic year, continuing its mission to provide student-athletes the opportunity to succeed in both academics and athletics.
The 40th Anniversary Water Polo Team highlights some of the best student-athletes in MAAC history. MAAC Water Polo traces back to 2003, where Wagner College captured the first MAAC Championship with a 9-8 win over Iona College. Since, Wagner leads the conference with nine championships overall, followed by Marist College and Iona with four championships each. The MAAC Water Polo Championship is set to return May 1 and 2 in 2021, with games hosted by Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
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| Iona College | |
| Cecilia Leonard | 2009-12 |
| Jenny Shoemaker | 2001-04 |
| Hannah Shultz | 2015-18 |
| Maggie Wood | 2008-11 |
| Amy Olsen – 2011-14 Amy Olsen was part of Iona’s three-peat from 2011-2013. Olsen is a household name when it comes to Iona and MAAC Water Polo. When it comes to the record book, she is in the top five in just about every category. Her freshman year she was voted the MAAC Rookie of the Year, after winning the MAAC Rookie of the Week seven times. She earned additional praise being named to the All-MAAC Second Team. Olsen’s reputation would only grow from there; as a sophomore she was the Preseason MAAC Co-Player of the Year and at the end of the year she was named to the First Team All-MAAC. Her junior year was her best year yet with accolades that included ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention, MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, All-MAAC First Team, MAAC Championship All-Tournament Team and NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team selection. Olsen’s senior season saw her named the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year for a third time and by the end of the season she was named to the ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention, MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, All-MAAC First Team, MAAC All-Academic Team, and MAAC Championship All-Tournament Team Selection. |
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| Coach Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is in his 25th year as head coach of the men’s and women’s water polo squads. The fourth coach in the history of the men’s program and founder of the women’s program, Kelly has guided his alma mater since 1995. Coming into the 2020-2021 season, his 615 total combined wins from the two programs make him the winningest coach in Iona College athletics history. He is also the most winningest coach at Iona in a single sport with 399 wins for the women’s program. The Gaels posted 16 consecutive winning records, from 1998 to 2013 and 21 straight winning seasons in the MAAC. The women claimed MAAC Championships in 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 2011 squad earned a program-high 26 wins, including a perfect 10-0 record in MAAC competition, and earned the Gaels their first national ranking. The season concluded with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championship in Ann Arbor, MI. In total Kelly has coached eight All-Americans and has been named the MAAC Coach of the Year four times. |
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| Marist College | |
| Kristen Barnett | 2007-10 |
| Jessica Hamby | 2012-15 |
| Katelin McCahill | 2006-09 |
| Katherine Tijerina | 2016-19 |
| Amanda Amorosa – 2014-17 Marist’s all-time leader in goals (293), assists (175) and points (468), Amanda Amorosa is the Red Foxes’ greatest water polo player of all time. She was a four-time All-MAAC First Team honoree and was named Rookie of the Year in 2014. She earned MAAC weekly awards 12 times throughout her stellar career, and led the Red Foxes to four consecutive appearances in the MAAC Championship finals. |
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| Coach Ashleigh Huckins Ashleigh Huckins served as head water polo coach at Marist for six seasons (2008-13), and won three straight MAAC championships with the Red Foxes from 2008-10. The Red Foxes won a game in the NCAA Tournament in both 2009 and 2010, becoming the first program in MAAC history to accomplish that feat. Her 2008 team set a school record with 27 victories, and went a perfect 10-0 in MAAC play. She compiled an overall record of 129-92, and with a 53-11 mark in conference play. Huckins coach four MAAC Defensive Players of the Year, one MAAC Rookie of the Year, and 12 First Team All-MAAC selections. |
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| Siena College | |
| Shanna Allen | 2003-06 |
| Diana Fernandez | 2017-20 |
| Katie Ness | 2009-12 |
| Camille Norman | 2008-11 |
| Lauren Garrigan – 2006-09 Garrigan is the program’s all-time leader in points (382), goals (248) and steals (232). The 2009 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, she was a two-time First Team All-MAAC and two-time Second Team All-MAAC selection. |
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| St. Francis Brooklyn | |
| Jelena Maljkovic | 2003-04 |
| Thalita Paladino | 2008-11 |
| Regina Toth | 2010-13 |
| Jelena Vukovic | 2004-07 |
| Andrea Dolnay – 2008-11 Dolnay had a stellar career on Remsen Street as she was a four-time All-MAAC selection and helped the Terriers to two MAAC Tournament appearances. Dolnay was selected to the All-MAAC First Team in 2008, 2009, and 2010. She was tabbed to the All-MAAC Second Team during her senior year in 2011. Additionally, she helped the Terriers clinch berths into the 2009 and 2011 MAAC Tournaments, and she was named to the MAAC All-Championship Team in both of those years. |
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| Villanova University | |
| Julie Conrath | 2013-16 |
| Ellen Howe | 2002-05 |
| Kim Pare | 2003-06 |
| Naomi Ng | 2013-16 |
| Carla Martinez | 2005-08 |
| Virginia Military Institute | |
| Sarah Dolitsky | 2016-19 |
| Issi French | 2017-20 |
| Bailey Huddleston | 2014-17 |
| Natalie Rivas | 2015-1 |
| Shelby Barkley – 2015-18 Shelby Barkley ’18 was the first VMI women’s water polo player to earn All-American honors, and was a two-time first-team All-MAAC honoree. She holds program records for goals in a season (107) and career (314) and scored a goal in 64 consecutive games. Barkley also is the program steals leader for a season and a career and drawn exclusions for a season and a career. She earned VMI’s prestigious Intercollegiate Award in her junior and senior campaigns for all-around excellence in NCAA competition. |
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| Wagner College | |
| Katie Hauck | 2003-06 |
| Billy Hoelck | 2005-08 |
| Kelsey Rodgers | 2008-10 |
| Megan Rodriguez | 2013-16 |
| Jess Lundgren – 2013-16 One of the most successful collegiate water polo players in Wagner College history, Lundgren rewrote the history books in her four-year career, while finishing her time with the Seahawks by winning three straight MAAC Championships. She collected First Team All-MAAC honors in all four seasons, as well as being named MAAC Offensive Player of the year twice, in her junior and senior seasons, MAAC Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore season, and MAAC Rookie of the Year in her freshman campaign. She finished her sophomore year with what was then the fifth-most goals in a season in MAAC history, 104, but would surpass it twice in the following two seasons, placing second all-time in the MAAC record books with 116 goals her junior year and setting the still standing MAAC record with 146 scores in her senior campaign. While known for her prolific scoring abilities, placing first all-time in the Wagner record books with 428 career goals, Lundgren was an overall playmaker, currently placing first all-time in Seahawk history with 505 career steals, second all-time with 277 exclusions drawn, and third all-time with 237 assists. |
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| Coach Chris Radmonovich One of the most successful coaches in MAAC history, Coach Chris Radmonovich finished a nine-year tenure as the leader of the Seahawks’ water polo team with a record of 223-103 and a 66% winning percentage. During his successful Wagner tenure from 2010 to 2019, Coach Radmonovich claimed three Women’s Water Polo MAAC Coach of the Year honors (2013, 2016, 2018) and guided his teams to six consecutive MAAC Titles, three undefeated MAAC seasons, and two NCAA Tournament victories, while helping to develop a total of eight All-Americans. His incomparable run featured a staggering seven 25-plus win seasons, highlighted by a program-best 30-10 season in 2019. |
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