May 20, 2008

Providence, RI - Brown Head Water Polo Coach Felix Mercado has announced that six freshmen will join the Bears' men's water polo team in the fall as part of his first recruiting class. With the Bears losing just two seniors, the six new members - Toby Espinosa, Marcus Gartner, Maxwell Lubin, Aristides Nakos, Xander Tabloff, and Robby Yass - will add to the team's depth, with some sure to make an impact right away on a team that finished the season ranked 20th in the CWPA National Poll.

"We have a strong team coming back, and with an even deeper squad than last year, I'm very excited about our possibilities to be even better this fall," Mercado said.

Headlining the incoming class are utility players Espinosa and Gartner, and goalie Lubin. Espinosa was a 10th Team All-American at Menlo School in Atherton, Calif. The Palo Alto native was named First Team All-Peninsula League and First Team All-CCS Division 2 as well. Gartner, the younger brother of Brown's two-time Honorable Mention All-American, Mike Gartner, comes to the Bears from Leland High School in San Jose, Calif. He was named the Blossom League Senior of the Year this fall, and was First Team All-BVAL.

Lubin is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, alma mater of rising senior Hank Weintraub and sophomore Corey Schwartz. The 6'4" goalie was named a First Team All-American at the Junior Olympics, competing for the LAWPC, and was also named Most Valuable Goalie and First Team All-Mission League for Harvard-Westlake.

Nakos, a driver, joins the Bears all the way from Rhodes, Greece, where he played club water polo from Ygros Stivos of Rhodes. The 6'3" Tabloff, a two-meter specialist, is a graduate of Suncoast High in North Palm Beach, Fla., where he was a three-time varsity letterwinner. Yass, a driver, is a graduate of Haverford (PA) School, where he was a teammate of rising sophomore Brandon Yoshimura. He was named the team's Most Improved Player this fall.

The Bears went 20-11 this fall, placing second in the Northern Division Championship and sixth at the Eastern Championship. Mercado was named the Northern Division Coach of the Year for the second year in a row in his first season as Brown's coach.