The Stanford men's water polo team had four players earn All-America honors from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC), the organization announced Tuesday.

Sophomore utility Alex Bowen was named to the ACWPC All-America first team for the second straight year while freshman driver Bret Bonanni was named to the second team. Redshirt junior Forrest Watkins and freshman BJ Churnside were both named honorable mention.

The quartet helped lead the Cardinal to 16-7 record and 5-3 MPSF mark in 2012. Stanford finished the year with a No. 4 national ranking.

Bowen and Bonanni were named to the U.S. Senior National Team alongside Jeffrey Schwimer ('11) last Thursday, and will participate in the UANA World Aquatic Championship Qualification Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from Wednesday through Sunday.

Bowen scored 64 goals, second-best on the team, in 2012. He was named to the All-MPSF first team for the second year in a row and led the Cardinal with 11 goals at the MPSF Championship in November.

Leading the team in goals in 2012 was Bonanni, whose total of 73 was the highest for a Cardinal player since Tony Azevedo netted 80 goals in 2004. The Huntington Beach native posted 12 hat tricks.

Tuesday's announcement marked the second All-America nod for Watkins, who was named to the ACWPC's second team in 2011. This season, Watkins helped anchor a Cardinal defense which ranked fourth in the MPSF with just 7.78 goals allowed per game.

Joining Watkins on the honorable mention list was Churnside, who ended the year third on the team with 31 goals. He scored 22 goals over the team's final seven games.

Women's gymnastics
Stanford senior captain Ashley Morgan was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for the week of Jan. 21- 27, the conference announced Tuesday.

Morgan had a tremendous week, winning the all-around at Georgia on Monday and at California on Saturday. Out of eight events, Morgan scored at least 9.800 in six of them.

The All-American claimed three individual titles against Cal, finishing first on vault, floor exercise and the all-around. Morgan tied her career-best on vault (9.925), recorded a season-best on floor (9.925) and tied her season-best on uneven bars (9.850).

Morgan also won her second all-around title of the week with a 39.225, after claiming her first of the season on Monday at Georgia with the same score.

This is Morgan's second Gymnast of the Week honor in her career. It marks Stanford's 23rd selection all-time and first this season.

Morgan will look to continue her momentum as No. 11 Stanford hosts No. 4 UCLA at home on Saturday at 4 p.m. The meet will take place in Burnham Pavilion and be televised live on the Pac-12 Network.

Women's water polo
Nationally No. 1-ranked Stanford will be out to keep its record perfect when it hosts the 2013 Stanford Invitational this Saturday and Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center.

The Cardinal, which went 5-0 over its opening weekend at home and in Santa Barbara, has won its home tournament the past three seasons, capping last year's title with a 9-5 win over UCLA.

Along with the Cardinal, this year's field features seven additional teams ranked in last week's CWPA Varsity Top 20 Poll in No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 California, No. 9 San Jose State, No. 12 Hawaii, No. 13 UC Davis, No. 14 Indiana and No. 16 Hartwick.

The Olympic Club, based in San Francisco, also will send a squad that will take on Stanford and UC Davis Saturday.

The Cardinal will open the tournament against The Olympic Club in exhibition action at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in Belardi Pool. Stanford will return to action at 4 p.m., facing San Jose State in Avery Pool.

Stanford opened the 2013 campaign this past Friday with an 11-2 win over No. 10 Michigan at Avery Aquatic Center, then followed up with wins over No. 18 Cal Baptist, No. 6 UC Irvine, Cal Baptist and No. 8 Loyola Marymount at the Santa Barbara Invitational.

Senior two-meter and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Melissa Seidemann led the Cardinal with 14 goals over the weekend, posting four hat tricks. Stanford's rookies flexed their scoring muscle as well, as Anna Yelizarova, Gurpreet Sohi and Maggie Steffens combined to score 28 goals over the five game, paced by Yelizarova's dozen.

All three Cardinal goalies, senior Kate Baldoni, sophomore Emily Dorst and freshman Gabby Stone, saw action, anchoring a defensive effort that allowed just 18 goals.

— Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Media Relations

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