Wednesday, January 30, 2002
Hartwick water polo to open season ranked 18th
Staff Report
The Hartwick College women's water polo team ended last year as the 18th-ranked team in the country and will start the 2002 season with the same ranking.
The Hawks completed their inaugural season last year with a 20-14 record, a Collegiate Water Polo Association Northern Division Championship and a CWPA New York Region title.
With those accolades, Hartwick will start the season ranked 18th in the American Water Polo Coaches Association national poll. The Hawks are ranked fourth in the inaugural CWPA East Region poll.
Eleven of the top 12 teams in the country are from California. The other is the University of Hawaii. Hartwick's first three games this season are against the Nos. 9 (San Diego State), 11 (Long Beach State) and 12 (UC-San Diego) teams in the country. The Hawks should have a chance to play other ranked teams at the UC-San Diego Tournament on Feb. 9-10 and then at the UC-Santa Barbara Tournament on Feb. 23-24.
Brown, which Hartwick beat in last year's Northern Division semifinals, is the highest ranked team among squads from the East Coast in the national poll. In the East poll, University of Michigan is first and Princeton is second.
Hartwick returns all of its starters from last year's squad and nearly returns every player from a year ago. The Hawks, under head coach Mike Maroney, also have a number of newcomers. The Hawks open the season with a 5 p.m. game at San Diego State on Feb. 8.
WATER POLO RANKINGS
1. UCLA 100
2. Stanford 95
3. USC 90
4. California-Berkeley 85
5. San Jose State 80
6. UC-Santa Barbara 75
7. Hawaii 70
8. Loyola Marymount 65
9. San Diego State 60
10. UC-Davis 55
11. Long Beach State 50
12. UC-San Diego 45
13. Brown 37
14. Princeton 33
15. Michigan 33
16. Pacific 23
17. California Baptist 22
19. Massachusetts 10
20. Indiana 8
1. Michigan 99
2. Princeton 93
3. Brown 92
5. Indiana 81
6. Massachusetts 75
7. Harvard 70
8. George Washington 66
9. Bucknell 36
10. Villanova 34
Also receiving votes: Slippery Rock (22), Queens (12), Iona (11).
