Ryann Neushul is one of three finalists for the women’s Peter J. Cutino Award, an iconic honor in the NCAA to recognize the Division 1 water polo players of the year.
The men’s finalists are Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal), Jake Ehrhardt (USC), and Reuel D’Souza (Pacific).
Neushul, a Dos Pueblos alum, helped Stanford win the NCAA Women’s National Championship for the second year in a row.
She’s joined on the finalists list by Stanford teammate Aria Fischer and Tilly Kearns of national runner-up USC.
Ryann Neushul would be the third water polo player from the Santa Barbara area — and second in her family — to win the Cutino Award. Her older sister and DP alum, Kiley, and Santa Barbara High alum Kami Craig each won it twice in their collegiate careers. Kiley Neushul was honored in 2012 and 2015 while playing for Stanford. Craig won the award as a USC Trojan in back-to-back years (2009-2010).
Ryann Neushul scored 62 goals, with a team-high 21 multiple-goal games, including all three games of the Cardinal’s NCAA Tournament run. She was named to the All-Tournament First Team following an All-MPSF First-Team selection.
Fischer was named MVP of the MPSF and NCAA Tournaments. She was the top scorer for Stanford with 71 goals and climbed into the top five in school history with 226 career goals scored. She also led the team with 43 assists. Her sister, Makenzie, is a two-time winner of the award (2019, 2022) for Stanford.
Tilly Kearns racked up 69 goals, 35 drawn exclusions, and 35 steals for USC. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team and the All-MPSF First Team.
The Cutino Awards will take place Saturday, June 3, at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed free of charge courtesy of USA Water Polo at YouTube.com/USAWP. The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes, coaches plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety.
Established in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the Cutino Award is given annually to the top men’s and women’s NCAA Division I water polo players as voted on by coaches from across the country. The namesake of the award is a legend in United States water polo history, with eight NCAA titles as head coach at Cal.