Men’s Water Polo Recognizes Team Award Recipients

Pictured: Egen Atkinson
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The Harvard men’s water polo team handed out its team awards recently. The team presented five awards at a small gathering. Earlier in the year, Bret Voith and Luka Babic were named captains for the 2010 season.

The Most Valuable Player award was given to senior co-captain Egen Atkinson. Atkinson was second on the Crimson with 28 goals. He was named the CWPA Northern Division Player of the Week once, Oct. 6. The product of Honolulu, Hawaii registered 10 multiple goal games.

The team introduced a new award, the Peter Hursh ’74 Memorial Award. The award is presented annually to the Harvard water polo senior who embodies the spirit and tenacity of Peter Hursh ’74. The inaugural recipient was Atkinson.

The recipient of the Most Improved Player award was sophomore Kevin DiSilvestro. The Philadelphia, Pa., native netted 19 goals on the year in his second season with the Crimson.  DiSilvestro notched a goal last season against Brown at the ECAC Championship.

Freshman Max Eliot was tabbed the Rookie of the Year. Eliot ranked fourth on the team with 24 tallies. He was named the CWPA Northern Division Rookie of the Week three times in the fall. The native of Studio City, Calif., notched his first collegiate score against Redlands at the MIT Invitational, Sept. 6. Eliot buried two or more goals in seven games this season.

The Coach’s Award was presented to senior Nikhil Balaraman. Balaraman played in 13 games at goalie for Harvard and accrued 116 saves on the year. The senior turned in a career-high 13-save performance against No. 11 Princeton at the Princeton Invitational Sept. 12.