Brown's Svetozar Stefanovic, Navy's Conor Handley

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) announced the 2011 Men's Northern and Southern Division All-Conference teams this evening at the organization's CWPA Eastern Championship Hall of Fame Banquet at the Holiday Inn Boston-Somerville in Somerville, Mass.

Selected by the league's varsity coaches in the Northern and Southern Divisions, 28 student-athletes in the league are honored with Northern and Southern Division coaches selecting 14 players to earn the distinction "All-Conference" for the 2011 season.

Among the Northern Division selections, 2009 and 2010 Northern Division Player of the Year Svetozar Stefanovic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/Russian Embassy) makes history as he becomes the first men's player in league history to garner three consecutive Most Valuable Player of the Year awards.  A three-time First Team All-League honoree with this year's selection, Stefanovic is joined on the First Team by teammate and 2010 Second Team selection James McNamara (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake).

2010 First Team and 2009 Second Team selection Columbus Leonard (Sr., Mill Valley, Calif./St. Ignatius) anchors the First Team in goal, while 2010 Rookie of the Year and Second Team pick Craig Cheney (So., Sherwood, Ore./Newberg) moves up to the Top Six field players in 2011.

Iona College's Cameron Hudson (Sr., Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) earns his first All-Conference nod, while 2010 First Team pick Marko Gencic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/Sports Gymnasium) is joined by first-time honoree and fellow Terriers' player Filip Sasic (Sr., Zagreb, Croatia/Titus Brezouazki) to complete the First Team selections.

The Second Team is dominated by Terriers, Bears and Crimson as St. Francis, Brown and Harvard University each had two players honored by the Northern Division coaches.

In goal, Igor Mladenovic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/Sportska Gimnazjia) of St. Francis picks up his second selection to the Second Team in as many years with teammate Aleksander Pantic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Sports High School) notching his first nod to the league's All-Stars.  Robert Fleming (Jr., Loomis, Calif./Jesuit/Cal-Davis) of Fordham, Max Eliot (Jr., Studio City, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Evan Ramsey (Fr., Irvine, Calif./Corona del Mar) of Harvard, while Michael Hartwick (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and 2011 Northern Division Rookie of the Year Hank Fox (Fr., Mercer Island, Wash./Lakeside School) of Brown round out the selections.

In addition, Saint Francis College head coach Igor Samardzija garnered the division's Coach of the Year award, the first honor in the career of the third-year leader of the Terriers.

Conor Handley (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) of the United States Naval Academy leads the selections in the Southern Division as the Midshipman garnered First Team and the division's Most Valuable Player of the Year award.

He is joined on the First Team by 2009 selection and division MVP Kyle Wertz (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Westlake), while Navy head coach Mike Schofield, who rates as the all-time wins leader at the Academy, picked up the Coach of the Year award.

Handley's award marks the seventh time in the last 12 years that a Navy player was named the CWPA Southern Division Player of the Year after Sean Foster (2000), Nick Hill (2002), Alex Ratcliffe (2005), Aaron Recko (2006), Michael Mulvey (2007) and Wertz (2009) were each named winners of the award since the 2000 season.

Joining Wertz and Handley on the First Team are Brian Barron (Jr., Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and goalie Mike Napleton (Jr., Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) of Bucknell University who receive their first nods to the All-Conference Team. 

George Washington University's Daniel Tyner (So., Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson Classical) earns his second All-South selection following Second Team honors a year ago, while Johns Hopkins University's Alex Whittam (Jr., Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) claims his third consecutive award with Second and First Team honors in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Completing the First Team is with Kevin "Kayj" Shannon (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) as the lone freshman to rank among the Top Six players in the division according to the coaches.

Leading the Second Team in cage is 2011 Southern Division Rookie of the Year Danny Ovelar (Fr., Caracas, Venzuela/Emil Friedman) of Johns Hopkins, with teammate Kielan Crow (Jr., Portola Valley, Calif./Lick-Wilmerding) also earning honors.  Jack Else (So., Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) of Bucknell, Brett Luehmann (So., Ancaster, Ontario, Canada/Ancaster) of Mercyhurst College, Stevie Ray (Sr., Baytown, Texas/Ross S. Sterling) of Navy, Vanja Kopilas (Jr., Dubrovnik, Croatia/Queens College) of Notre Dame College and Drew Hoffenberg (Fr., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./The Bishop's School) of Princeton round out the Second Team selections as no player on the Second Team previously earned All-Conference notice.