ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team had 10 of its student-athletes named to 2018 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic teams. To be eligible for the squad, a student-athlete needed to have a 3.20 or better cumulative GPA following the fall semester. The group was then split into three teams; Outstanding (3.71 - 4.00 GPA), Superior (3.41 - 3.70 GPA) and Excellent (3.20 - 3.40 GPA).
 
Crawford Smith (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Francis Kim (Houston, Texas), Declan Harrison (Vista, Calif.), and Kenny McKinlay (Aiea, Hawaii) led Navy as members of the Outstanding ranks, while Jesse Hainze (Bellevue, Wash.) was all named to the Superior team. Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.), Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.), Nick Grinnell (Pikesville, Md.), Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.), and Kevin Volkov (Freehold, N.J.) rounded out the Midshipmen on the list on the Excellent team.
 
It is the fourth career ACWPC All-Academic honor for Kim and the third for Clark and Volkov. It is the second accolade for Hainze and Smith. In total, the 10 accolades extend the program's stretch of four or more individuals on ACWPC All-Academic Teams dating back to 2005.
 
A total of 388 student-athletes earned recognition on the 2018 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Men's All-Academic Team.
 
To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete's head coach must be a member of the ACWPC, while the athlete must attain a grade point average in excess of 3.20. Divided into three teams based on cumulative GPA, 111 athletes garnered Outstanding, 162 Superior, and 115 Excellent recognition from 45 teams.