UCLA junior driver Brett Ormsby is among an elite group of
nominees for the fifth annual Peter J. Cutino Award, an honor given
to this past season’s finest men’s and women’s
water polo player on May 22 in San Francisco.
The men’s nominees also include Cal’s senior driver
Attila Banhidy, and two-time Cutino Award winner Tony Azevedo, a
junior driver from Stanford.
“It’s a privilege and an honor for Brett to get to
this point and be nominated,” said UCLA coach Adam Krikorian,
who will attend the ceremony on behalf of Ormsby. “It’s
not just individual statistics; it’s the best player out
there, and it’s how you can make the other players around you
better.”
Both Ormsby and Azevedo will not be in attendance for the event
because they are currently training with the U.S. National
Team.
Ormsby, who was nominated for the award for the first time in
his career, finished off the season in stellar fashion by leading
the Bruins with 70 goals. The Bruins relied heavily on
Ormsby’s arm, and he drove them to a third-place finish in
the MPSF conference. Ormsby currently ranks sixth all-time in
scoring for the UCLA.
Cal’s Banhidy, a first-team All-American, connected on 51
goals for the Bears, while Azevedo tallied a MPSF-high 89 for
Stanford.
Azevedo, who has won the award the last two years, will attempt
to surpass former Bruin Sean Kern (“˜00 and “˜01) for the
most consecutive years of capturing the award.
In Krikorian’s eyes, he will likely be a heavy favorite to
win the award once again.
“After this weekend I think they are going to call it the
Tony Azevedo award,” Krikorian said.
“It will be hard for Brett to beat Tony, but in my eyes he
is right there with him.”
Rounding out the women’s field are four nominees: Betsey
Armstrong of Michigan, Holly Hartzell of San Diego State, Moriah
Van Norman from USC and Wendy Watkins of Stanford.
The Cutino Awards are named after former Cal and Olympic Club
coach Peter J. Cutino, who is a member of the U.S. Water Polo Hall
of Fame. He has won the title of “Water Polo Coach of the
Year” 17 times.