It was announced earlier today that the University of Redlands men's water polo program gained 13 individual awards for academic achievement from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC).

Individually, the ACWPC has three levels of individual academic honors: "Outstanding" acknowledges student-athletes with a GPA of 3.71 and above, "Superior" awards those between those between 3.41 and 3.7, and "Excellent" recognizes those between 3.2 and 3.4.

Furthermore, in order to receive an award, the student-athlete must compete in at least 50% of the team's contests.

Senior center-driver Jake Funk (Fremont, CA), junior center-driver Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA), junior goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL), and freshman center-driver Mitchell Walker (Kearns, UT) all reached the "outstanding" level of achievement.

Freshman driver Austin Donoghue (Santa Ana, CA), sophomore driver Chris Blank (Menlo Park, CA), and junior driver Brandon Yee (San Mateo, CA) all earned "superior" status.

Junior driver Taylor Althaus (Alta Loma, CA), senior center John Koning (Poway, CA), junior driver Kyle Murata (Brea, CA), freshman center Billy Clifford (Redlands, CA), senior center driver Nelson Glendinning (Philadelphia, PA), and junior driver Zac Polmanteer (Long Beach, CA) each earned "excellent" standing.

As a team, the Bulldogs improved tremendously in the pool during the 2015 campaign, earning an overall record of 17-14 with an 8-3 mark in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition. Redlands finished in third place after defeating the Chapman University Panthers in the SCIAC Championship Tournament.

To view all of this year's recipients, please visit the ACWPC web site.