ANN ARBOR, Mich. “”mdash; The NCAA’s decision to switch
from a four-team championship tournament to eight teams was met
with mixed reviews. In the eyes of Leslie Whittemore, chairwoman of
the NCAA committee, the change has been successful. “Giving
bids to the (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and (Southern
California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will only allow
water polo to grow to continue to get better,” Whittemore
said. “Now the MAAC and the SCIAC conference use that as a
recruiting tool. Those high school athletes now have a chance to
get to the NCAA in the MAAC schools. I think in the long run it
will be better for the sport.” A few grumbles have surfaced,
however, mainly because the eight-team format does not necessarily
represent the strongest eight teams in the sport. Yet Whittemore
alluded to the possibility that new conferences will be added,
creating more automatic bids based on conference champions as
opposed to an increase in at-large bids. UCLA coach Adam Krikorian
is a firm advocator of the change, despite that MAAC representative
Wagner and the SCIAC’s Redlands were easily defeated in the
tournament by scores of 22-2 and 18-2, respectively. “A huge
goal is to continue to promote the sport and grow the sport,”
Krikorian said. “And the only way we’re going to be
able to do that is to have teams like Wagner and to have some East
Coast teams. If we don’t get them this opportunity, and if
it’s solely West Coast, then it’s going to be West
Coast forever, and that can’t happen.”
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN: Former UCLA coach Guy Baker and USC coach
Jovan Vavic have done it twice. But after Sunday’s NCAA title
win over Stanford, Krikorian is in a league of his own, clinching
his third season (1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2004-2005) in which both
his men’s and women’s water polo programs have won a
national title. Krikorian credits Baker as an integral part of his
and his teams’ success. “He’s a big reason why
I’m in the position I am today,” Krikorian said.
“He’s taught me a lot about water polo and why
perseverance and dedication lead to success.
AWARDS CEREMONY: Senior Natalie Golda, junior Thalia Munro and
sophomore Kelly Rulon each earned first-team All-NCAA honors. This
was the third time Golda was selected to the first team (2002,
2003, 2005). Both Munro (2002) and Rulon (2003) have earned second
team recognition in the past. Emily Feher was named second team
All-NCAA.