March 22, 2010

Bridgeport, Pa. - Five Fordham water polo players were named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Scholar-Athlete Team this past week. Previously named the All-Academic Team, the program honors varsity and club student-athletes who have achieved grade point averages of 3.2 or higher and competed during the 2009 men's season.

Overall, a record 310 student-athletes were named to the team, where 90 were honored with Outstanding (3.71-4.0) recognition, while 119 earned Superior (3.41-3.7) and 101 were recognized with Excellent (3.2-3.4) accolades. The previous record was 284 in 2007.

For Fordham, junior Martin de Jong (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Polytechnic) and graduate student Ali Arat (Istanbul, Turkey/Sisli Terakki Secondary) received Outstanding honors (3.71-4.0), junior Mark Connor (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) and freshman Cashel Barnett (Carmichael, Calif./Rio Americano) earned Superior accolades (3.41-3.70), and junior Mikey Edwards (Walnut, Calif./Rowland) was among those on the Excellent listing (3.20-3.40).

A Communications & Media Studies major, de Jong receives his third academic accolade from the CWPA in three seasons. This season, he set career-highs in goals (14), assists (28), points (42), and steals (25), as the Rams had one of their most successful seasons in recent memory.

Currently attending the Graduate School for Business, Arat wrapped up an incredible first season at Fordham, where he earned Honorable Mention All-American honors and was selected as the 2009 CWPA Rookie of the Year and 2009 Rookie of the Eastern Championship. A First Team All-Northern Division pick, Arat was second on the team with 71 goals and 28 steals, while tying for the team lead in points (79).

Like de Jong, Connor, a Biological Sciences major, receives CWPA academic accolades for the third straight season. A 2010 co-captain, Connor led the Rams to a share of the CWPA Northern Division regular season title and a second place finish at the 2009 Northern Division Championship. Individually, he set personal-bests with six goals and 15 assists for 21 points.

Barnett is the lone freshman to earn academic honors this season. Still undecided on a major, he appeared in 18 games for Fordham in his first season, netting four goals and two assists for six points.

A Philosophy major, Edwards was right along with Arat among Fordham's scoring leaders all season long. He earned Second Team All-Northern Division honors after leading the Rams with 72 goals to go with seven assists and 15 steals.

In addition to the individual accolades, twelve teams, including Fordham, were among the Team GPA Award recipients, which goes to teams that exceed the 2.75 team GPA necessary for inclusion.