Stanford men’s water polo will welcome eight student-athletes to the program this summer, head coach John Vargas announced Friday.
Beginning their academic and athletic careers on The Farm ahead of the 2014-15 school year will be Harrison Enright (Sacred Heart Prep), Geoffrey Lewis (Punahou High, Honolulu), Mitchell Mendoza (Harbor High, Newport Beach), CJ Porter (Lodi High), Spencer Rogers (Pasadena Poly), Grant Sivesind (Campolindo, Orinda), Cody Smith (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) and Grady Williams (Dana Hills High).
“This is an outstanding freshmen class, which will give us depth and strength at each position,” Vargas said. “The members of this class are excellent water polo players from great high schools and club programs in addition to being outstanding students that are a perfect fit for Stanford University.”
The octet of incoming freshmen bolsters a Cardinal squad that reached the National Collegiate Tournament last season for the first time since 2008 and also reached the final of the MPSF Championships. Stanford in 2014 will also return four ACWPC All-Americans, including first-team selections Alex Bowen and Bret Bonanni.
Enright comes to Stanford after leading Sacred Heart Prep to three consecutive CCS Division II titles from 2011-13. In this past fall’s title game against Menlo School, Enright, a utility, scored four goals in the second half to help the Gators rally from a one-goal halftime deficit.
The class also features a talented goalie in Lewis. He was named an Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) All-Star in both 2012 and 2013. He was the team’s goalie for its ILH title run in 2012, and helped Punahou reach the ILH finals last fall.
Mendoza, a 6-5 lefty attacker, was named to the CIF Southern Section Division I First Team as well as to the Orange County Register’s All-County Team this past fall while helping lead the Sailors to a Southern Section semifinal appearance.
Porter helped lead Lodi High to CIF Sac-San Joaquin Section Division I semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2013, while being named to the all-section team as a senior. He is also an accomplished swimmer for the school, owning its 50-yard freestyle record and placing in the top six in two events at the section’s championship meet this month. On the academic side, Porter has also been named Lodi’s 2014 valedictorian.
Another proven scorer coming to The Farm this fall is Rogers, a two-meter who scored 91 goals in 2013 while being named the Pasadena Star-News Player of the Year for the second straight year. Rogers’ play has helped Pasadena Poly capture the CIF Southern Section Division V title in 2012 (during which he scored 117 goals) and reach the semifinals this past season, the program’s sixth such appearance in seven years.
Another section champion set for his Stanford debut this fall is Sivesind, who helped Campolindo to its first CIF North Coast Section Division I title this past November. Sivesind scored twice in the 11-10 title-game win over two-time defending champion Miramonte, and went on to be named the East Bay Player of the Year and Diablo Foothill Athletic League MVP for a senior season in which he scored 92 goals. He is also a standout swimmer for the school, helping the school’s swim team set a pair of NCS relay records in 2012 and clocking times of 20.95 and 45.51 in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles, respectively.
One member of the USA Youth National Team joining the Cardinal this fall is Smith. He adds to Stanford’s list of incoming freshmen who were section champions and players of the year. He was named CIF San Diego Section Division III Player of the Year after leading Cathedral Catholic to its second straight section title in 2013, in the process snapping rival Mater Dei’s 105-game winning streak with the title-game win.
Rounding out the Cardinal’s incoming class is Williams, a center defender from Dana Hills. Williams was part of the USA Cadet National Team in 2011-12, and as a prep was named to the CIF Southern Section Third Team in 2012 and to the First Team as a senior this past fall. He was also named South Coast League Co-MVP after helping the Dolphins to the second undefeated South Coast League campaign in school history in 2013.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics