Jack Finch joined the Navy water polo program as an assistant coach in March of 2023. A member of the USNA Class of 2015, Finch was a four-year letterwinner for the Midshipmen water polo team.
In 2024, Navy went 22-10 overall with a 10-4 mark in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC). The Midshipmen earned the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, but advanced to the championship game, finishing as the runner ups for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last four years.
Navy closed out the 2024 season ranked in the final CWPA national rankings, coming in at #19. The Midshipmen were ranked or receiving votes each week of the year, starting during the preseason poll. Additionally, the Mids were ranked 19th in the final Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) national poll.
Once again, Navy participated in a daunting schedule, playing 10 (of 32) games against teams ranked in the CWPA national rankings, including five games against teams in the top 10.
The ACWPC announced that Navy’s Kiefer Black was among the 20 student-athletes selected to the Peter J. Cutino Award Watch List, making Black the second athlete in program history to be named to the watch list. The Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. The watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the college game, awareness of the honor, and the excellent play of athletes around the country.
Black was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-American by the ACWPC. It was the second All-American accolade in his career, earning honorable mention distinction as a freshman in 2023.
The MAWPC announced its all-conference honorees and three Navy student-athletes were selected. Black was named to the first team, while Orion Erwin was tabbed second team. Additionally, Michael Heller claimed honorable mention distinction.
For his efforts in the MAWPC Tournament, freshman Ryan Munch was named Rookie of the Tournament, while Black and Erwin were each selected First Team All-Tournament. Additionally, Billy Zech was selected Second Team All-Tournament. In addition to being Rookie of the Tournament, Munch was named honorable mention all-tournament.
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied 476 goals in 32 games (14.9 gpg) with 22 different student-athletes finding the back of the net.
Kiefer Black led the team with 171 points on 94 goals and 77 assists. He registered his second consecutive 100-point season, joining Luis Nicolao (118 point in 1990; 114 in 1991) and Doug Munz (113 points in 1993; 184 points in 1994) as the only players in program history with multiple 100-point seasons.
Heller, Luka Sekulic, Quinn Bartlett, and Erwin followed Black to round out Navy’s top five. Heller had 63 points on 47 goals and 16 assists, while Sekulic was one point back with 62 points on 48 goals and 14 assists. Bartlett finished with 61 points on 33 scores and 28 helpers, while Erwin was relatively balanced with 35 goals and 24 assists for 59 points. Austin Kahn was second on the team with 32 assists with Bartlett (28), Rory Begin (25), and Erwin (24) closing out the top five with 20-plus helpers.
Defensively, Navy primarily used three goalkeepers on the year. Munch led the team with 169 saves, while Jack Hightower and Jack Rodoni follow with 62 and 58 stops, respectively. Holden Seybold led the team with 36 steals, while Black (30) also recorded 30-plus takeaways. Maddox Garrahy paced the team with 67 ejections drawn with Zech following with 60 kickouts drawn.
#17 Navy outlasted Air Force in sudden-death overtime, 19-18, in a back-and-forth contest on the first day of the Rare Air Challenge to retain possession of the Freedom Vase. Knotted at 18-18, Garrahy gave the Midshipmen a one-goal victory over their rivals with his fifth goal of the game.
With an 18-7 win against Concordia at the Rare Air Challenge, Nicolao recorded his 500th victory as a men's head coach. Nicolao became the eighth coach to reach that mark, joining Ted Newland, former Navy head coach Mike Schofield, Denny Harper, Jovan Vavic, Terry Schroeder, Dante Dettamanti, and Pete Cutino with 500 or more wins. Just one day later, Nicolao reached another milestone, recording his 100th victory as the Navy head coach with a 24-16 win over Cal Lutheran.
Black broke the Navy water polo single-game record for goals, assists, and points, scoring 10 goals and six assists for 16 points to lead Navy to a 24-16 win over Cal Lutheran. Black broke the previous record of nine goals in a game, originally set by Brian Wineke against Slippery Rock in 1993 and matched by Isaac Salinas at Johns Hopkins in 2018 and Black last season against George Washington. The 16 points topped Wineke's previous mark of 11 against Slippery Rock in 1993, while the six assists were the top performance in program history, topping the previous mark of five by many players – most recently by Black earlier in the season against #14 Harvard.
In his first season as an assistant, the Midshipmen posted a 21-6 overall record in 2023, including a 9-3 mark in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC). Navy dropped a close 12-10 decision to #15 Fordham in the 2023 MAWPC Championship Game, finishing 2-1 overall in the tournament. It was the second time Navy has advanced to the MAWPC Championship Game under head coach Luis Nicolao, and the 19th time in program history.
The MAWPC announced its all-conference honorees and three Navy student-athletes were selected. Freshman Kiefer Black and senior team captain Caden Capobianco were named to the first team, while freshman Aiden Day was tabbed second team. Additionally, Black was honored as the league's Rookie of the Year, becoming the third Midshipmen in program history – second under head coach Luis Nicolao – to earn Rookie of the Year honors, joining Isaac Salinas ('22) and Kyle Wertz ('12) who were named top freshmen in 2018 and 2008, respectively. With the selections of Black and Capobianco to the first team, it marked the first time since 2010 that the Midshipmen had multiple first-team honorees.
For his efforts in the MAWPC Tournament, Kiefer Black was named Rookie of the Tournament, while Black, Caden Capobianco, and Aiden Day were selected First Team All-Tournament. Additionally, Michael Heller was selected Second Team All-Tournament.
The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced the 2023 Men's Division I All-America teams and Navy attacker Kiefer Black and goalkeeper Caden Capobianco were named as honorable mention selections. For Capobianco, it was the second All-American accolade in his career, while Black became the first Navy freshman to be named All-America since Kyle Wertz ('12) earned the first of his two All-American honors in 2008.
Additionally, the ACWPC announced that Navy senior team captain Caden Capobianco was among the 20 student-athletes selected to the Peter J. Cutino Award Watch List. The Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. The watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the college game, awareness of the honor, and the excellent play of athletes around the country.
Navy closed out the 2023 season ranked in the final CWPA national rankings, coming in at #17. The Midshipmen were ranked each week of the year, starting during the preseason poll. Additionally, the Mids were ranked 17th in the final Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches national poll.
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied 372 goals in 27 games (13.8 gpg) with 23 different student-athletes finding the back of the net. Navy was led by freshmen Kiefer Black, Aiden Day, and Sam Collingwood, who had 125, 56, and 51 points, respectively. Black led the team with 68 goals and a team-high 57 assists, while Day was second on the squad with 42 goals. Collingwood and Hayden Kahn followed with 37 and 36 goals, respectively, while Nathan Duchez rounded out Navy's top five with 22 goals. Tommy McKnew (21), Michael Heller (20), Billy Zech (15), Rory Begin (14), Ivan Pang (14), Holden Seybold (13), Connor Cashman (12), Luka Sekulic (10), and Henry Williams close out the double-digit scoring for the Mids.
In addition to Kiefer Black's 57 assists, Rory Begin (22), Ivan Pang (19), Sam Collingwood (14), Aiden Day (14), and Henry Williams (12) each had double-digit helpers.
Defensively, goalkeeper Caden Capobianco saw a majority of time between the posts. The team captain appeared in 23 games, notching 237 saves and a 55.9 save percentage. Additionally, Capobianco led the team with 52 steals. Kiefer Black was the team's leading position player with 33 steals, while Holden Seybold (21), Jack Hightower (17), Rory Begin (15), Sam Collingwood (14), Luka Sekulic (14), Aiden Day (13), Nathan Duchez (13), Hayden Kahn (12), and Michael Heller (11) followed with double-digit takeaways.
Tommy McKnew (44), Hayden Kahn (39), and Kiefer Black (24) paced the squad in ejections drawn, while Michael Heller (14), Holden Seybold (14), Billy Zech (14), Sam Collingwood (13), Nathan Duchez (12), and Alejandro Schmidt-Corujo (11) followed with double-digit kickouts drawn.
Once again, Navy participated in a daunting schedule, playing eight (of 27) games against teams ranked in the CWPA national rankings. The Mids squared off against a pair top 10 opponents, including a 10-9 victory over #9 Long Beach State and a game against #1 Cal who won its third consecutive national champion in 2023.
Finch was a member of the Navy water polo team from 2011 through 2014, playing in 97 games. The attacker finished his playing career with 122 total points on 31 goals with 91 assists. When he graduated, he ranked ninth on the Navy career assists list. As a junior, Finch registered 45 helpers, which was the sixth-best single-season performance in program history. As player, he helped lead the Midshipmen to an 85-40 (.680) record.
From May of 2015 through August of 2016, Finch gained valuable coaching experience working with the Navy Aquatics Water Polo Club while waiting to report to the fleet. He returned to direct the Navy Aquatics Club in 2018, serving as the team’s coach while he was working in Washington, D.C.
Finch was active duty in the United States Navy, gaining extensive leadership experience within the office of Naval Intelligence where he advised senior Defense Department officials on countering emerging cyber threats.
During his tenure in the Navy, Finch ranked in the top five percent of Naval Intelligence Officers at command and was appointed to POTUS-level Crisis Response Team (1 out of 20) to provide 24/7/365 support to forward deployed operations.
Finch returns to the Academy after spending three years as a senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton (July 2020 – June 2021) before assuming the same position with Deloitte Consulting LLP (June 2021 – March 2023).
Finch graduated from the Naval Academy in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in economics. The California native currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, and he enjoys yoga, snowboarding and ballroom dancing.
