McQuin Baron caps strong season with Cutino Award

Goalie McQuin Baron won the Peter J. Cutino Award on June 4, becoming the fifth Trojan in program history to win college water polo’s highest honor. Baron was a stalwart in cage throughout the men’s water polo team’s 2016 run to the NCAA title game, tallying 247 saves on the season and finishing the year second all-time on USC’s career saves list.

Baron thanked his friends, coaches and family as he accepted the award. He also remembered former high school teammate and standout Trojan 2-meter Jon Walters, who passed away in 2014.

“I accept this award with a huge hole in my heart, knowing that Jon Walters would have been here receiving this honor instead of me,” Baron said.

The Cutino Award caps a strong year of water polo for Baron. The goalie entered his junior season in 2016 after representing Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and he anchored the Trojans in net upon his return from Brazil, as the team advanced to its 12th consecutive NCAA final.

Baron averaged 11.62 saves per game versus only 4.47 goals-against per game, including a career-high 19 saves against Cal in the title match. Baron’s performances earned him MPSF Tournament MVP honors as well as a spot on the All-MPSF First Team and NCAA All-Tournament Second Team.

As Baron gears up for his final season in cardinal and gold, he sits just 38 saves shy of matching Joel Dennerley’s all-time program record. Dennerley was also a Cutino Award winner (2011), alongside Kostas Genidounias (2014), J.W. Krumpholtz (2008 and 2009) and Juraj Zatovic (2005). All winners — and the Trojans’ nine finalists — have played under current head coach Jovan Vavic, who was named Pac-12 Coach of the Century in 2015.

One day after Baron received his award, five players from the record-setting women’s water polo team earned All-American selections. Senior driver Stephania Haralabidis headlined the pack, as she was named to the All-American First Team for the second consecutive year. After leading the MPSF in scoring last season. Haralabidis finished her Trojan career with 269 goals — second-most in program history.

While Haralabidis became just the eighth Trojan to graduate as a four-time All-American, freshman utility Maud Megens started along the senior’s path, earning a spot on the second team in her debut collegiate campaign. Megens led USC in goals last season and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team in addition to a host of conference honors. Her 58 scores were the third-most ever by a Trojan true freshman.

Senior 2-meter Brigitta Games and sophomore goalie Amanda Longan were named to the All-American Third Team. Longan secured her second straight All-American selection after earning a spot on the first team following last season’s championship run. She saved 221 shots and averaged 10.91 saves per game. Games wrapped up her three-year career at USC with a strong final campaign during which she netted 57 goals. Games was also a Cutino Award finalist in 2016.

Finally, junior driver and
second-year captain Brianna Daboub rounded out this year’s group of All-American Trojans. Daboub chipped in 20 goals, including a key hat trick in the NCAA semifinal match against Michigan, en route to her second straight
All-American Honorable Mention.

The women’s water polo team now looks forward to the 2018 season after setting a national-record 52-game win streak in 2017, only to lose the streak and berths to both the MPSF and NCAA championship games to Pac-12 rival Stanford. The men’s team, on the other hand, gets set to kick off a new year in September, as the Trojans look to avenge their loss to Cal in the 2016 title game.