Aug. 21, 2003

Head Coach Todd Clapper's men's water polo team returns a group of talented players along with five promising newcomers to the 2003 squad. The team returns all of last season's starting line-up, which consisted of four freshmen starters.

Senior tri-captainDoug Grutzmacher (Sacramento, CA) and sophomore Sean Tiner (Laguna Beach, CA) will once again lead the team from the 2-meter offense position. Both players had an outstanding year offensively in 2002. Grutzmacher earned Second Team All-East and All-Conference honors last season, scoring 41 goals and Tiner had a stellar rookie campaign, leading the team in scoring with 49 goals.

Rounding out the 2-meter offense position will be sophomore Graeme Lee-Wingate (Santa Barbara, CA) and freshman Alex Cripe (Santa Ana, CA).

Controlling the center position at the defensive end will be junior Pat Sandys (Laguna Beach, CA), who also made significant contributions on the offensive end last season. Senior tri-captain Dan Spencer (Wynatskill, NY) will also be looked towards to shut down the oppositions' 2-meter offense, along with freshman Luke Samson (Miami, FL)

Along with its strongest 2-meter play in years, Brown will field one of its fastest teams as well. Returning junior Paul D'Avino (Greenwich, CT) and sophomore Andy Wiener (Los Altos, CA) led the team's driving and counter attack last season and will continue at that capacity this fall. Supporting this duo are sophomore Greg Harm (Los Angeles, CA), along with freshmen Thomas Payton (Greenwich, CT), John Bourne (Greenwich, CT), and Stu Thompson (Sacramento, CA).

Anchoring the defense for Brown will be two outstanding goalkeepers in sophomore Jay Fantone (Ann Arbor, MI) and senior tri-captain Keith Stanski (Mountain View, CA). Fantone earned the starting duties early last season and grew to become one of the top keepers in the conference. Both will be competing once again this fall for the starting spot on the team.

With ten of eleven players returning from last year's squad, including all of the starters, and the addition of five talented freshmen, four of which are high school All-Americans, Brown will have a breakout year and should challenge for an Eastern Title this fall.