Brown Men's Water Polo Honored by ACWPC for Highest Team GPA in Nation

March 24, 2009

Providence, RI - For the second consecutive year, the Brown men's water polo team was named the top All-Academic Team on Tuesday by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches for having the highest cumulative team GPA, coming in at 3.52. In addition, eleven Bears were honored as members of the 2008 Men's All-Academic Team, led by freshman Toby Espinosa (Palo Alto, CA), freshman Marcus Gartner (San Jose, CA), junior Kent Holland (Orinda, CA), freshman Bryan Russell (Arcadia, CA) and sophomore Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA), who were all named to the "Outstanding" level for having a GPA above a 3.71.

Student-athletes were recognized in three levels: 3.20 to 3.40 (Excellent), 3.41 to 3.70 (Superior) and 3.71 to 4.00 (Outstanding.). Making the "Superior" list was senior Nico Fort (Miami, FL), senior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA), senior Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA), senior Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA) and sophomore Brandon Yoshimura (Haverford, PA). Last, but certainly not least, junior Zach Levko (Wildwood, MO) was placed on the "Excellent" list.

Athletes were nominated by their coach/sports information director and were active participants on the team and a full-time student at the institution that nominated them. Further, each student-athlete achieved a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or higher based on the most recent grades posted through the fall semester of the 2008-09 academic year.

In team GPA, St Francis College tied the Bears with a 3.52, followed by Stanford University and Princeton each with a 3.28.