SAN DIEGO - The Golden Coast Conference (GCC) announced on Tuesday that 115 women's water polo players had earned 2023 GCC All-Academic Team selection and the San Diego State Aztecs, for the third consecutive year took home double-digit honors, garnering a program-record equaling 16 for the recently completed school year. The announcement was made by the conference from its offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
Since the Aztecs' inaugural season of 1995, it had never earned double digit conference academic honors in three successive campaigns prior to this year. In 2021, the Aztecs set the program-record with 16 conference academic distinctions and with its haul of 15 honors last year combined with the 11 that were bestowed on the team in 2019, SDSU has for the fourth time in the last five years taken home double digit GCC awards for classroom excellence. The 16 honors earned this year are the third most of any team in the GCC, trailing Cal Baptist (21 awards) and LMU (17 awards).
For inclusion, players must be full-time students with at least one semester completed at their institution, have played in more than 50 percent of their team's games, and hold a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
The 16 Aztecs who met the requirements are: seniors Danni Croteau, Jessica Leckich and Katie Ratcliff, juniors Faith Cerussi and Kandall Houck, sophomores Amanda Chambers, Klara Goldstein, Rose Kanemy, Brooke Lee, Sofia Righetti and Sydney Spence and freshmen Sydney Gish, Mandy Lagerlof, Shannon Murphy, Claudia Valdes and Ella Wiegand.
For Leckich, who took advantage of the NCAA's offer of an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is her fifth GCC academic honor, while Cerussi, Houck and Ratcliff earned the distinction for the third time. Chambers, Croteau, Goldstein, Kanemy and Lee are receiving the designation for the second time in their careers and the remaining seven, Gish, Lagerlof, Murphy, Righetti, Spence, Valdes and Wiegand are first-time honorees.
Since joining the GCC in 2014, San Diego State players have been honored by the conference 99 times for their academic success.
Under the guidance of interim head coach Dana Ochsner, San Diego State finished the 2023 season ranked No. 22 in the final American Water Polo Coaches Association (AWPCA) poll. The team finished with a 12-19 record, 4-3 in conference play, and a fourth-place finish in the GCC Championship tournament.
Golden Coast Conference
2023 All-Academic Honors
San Diego State Honorees
Faith Cerussi, Jr., Center
Amanda Chambers, So., Attacker
Danni Croteau, Sr., Center
Sydney Gish, Fr., Attacker
Klara Goldstein, So, Utility
Kendall Houck, Jr., Attacker
Rose Kanemy, So., Attacker
Mandy Lagerlof, Fr., Goalie
Jessica Leckich, Sr., Attacker
Brooke Lee, So., Attacker
Shannon Murphy, Fr., Utility
Katie Ratcliff, Sr. Utility
Sofia Righetti, So. Defender
Sydney Spence, So., Utility
Claudia Valdes, Fr. Attacker
Ella Wiegand, Fr. Attacker