MWPA Announces Week 7 District Players of the Week

The Michigan Water Polo Association (MWPA) has announced their week 7 district players of the week.

Full breakdowns of each players week are below.

District 1, Boys | Micah Bayle - #1 ranked Hudsonville Eagles

Hilariously, a newspaper headline once called an ambidextrous baseball pitcher "amphibious." According to head coach Josh Ahrendt, BOTH of those long words starting with an "A" apply to Bayle who Ahrendt said "He shoots the exact same way with his right and left hands," leaving this writer completely dumbfounded. That alone is pretty ridiculous. He scored 10 goals with six helpers, five drawn exclusions, three steals and a field block in leading the Eagles to a District 1 Championship this week. And yes, water polo players are amphibious beings, we're normalizing recognizing them as that.

District 1, Girls | Kelsy Toth - #7 ranked Zeeland Polo

If Dora the Explorer ever runs into Kelsy Toth we can assure you that she would not be thrilled with Toth. The whole "Swiper no Swiping!" deal would not deter Toth. Try 31 steals in FOUR GAMES. She added 10 goals, eight assists and a pair field blocks for Dave Vruggink's Zee's, who finished third in District 1 this past weekend. She also drew five exclusions and a scolding from Dora. No swiping Kelsy we went over this already!

District 2, Boys | Brenden Saur - #2 ranked Rockford Rams

The Saur family has yet another good one in Brenden, as he helped lead the Rams to a District 2 Championship with a pretty gaudy stat-line. He had 10 goals, 10 steals seven assists, five drawn exclusions, and went all Mutumbo with four field blocks for Craig Peterman's Rams. As someone who played against Rockford back in the day, finding a forest of arms to shoot through isn't exactly news to me. But it seemed like everyone had one or two blocks each. To have one guy with multiple in a short span of time is pretty impressive.

District 2, Girls | Chloe Krumm - #6 ranked Hotel/Okemos Co-Op

Funnily enough when Hotel/Okemos assistant Katie Smith sent in photos she said it was hard to find non-blurry ones because Krumm often moves so fast. NOTTA BIG DEAL. Krumm had 15 goals, nine steals, four drawn exclusions, a pair of field blocks and an assist for Hotel/Okemos who was inches from playing for the District 2 Championship but ultimately had a third place finish last week after an 8-7 loss to then #3 Rockford. Madi Zink is getting excellent mileage out of Krumm, who helped guide the Co-Op past #8 Skyline last night as well.

District 3, Boys | Johnny Carlson - #9 ranked Grand Blanc Bobcats

Batman watches Sunday morning cartoons about him. The circus ran away to join him. If he patted you on the back, you'd list it on your résumé. He is Johnny Polo (trademark still pending, you'd figure they'd have gotten on this by now!). Well in two games he had 10 goals, five drawn exclusions, four steals, and a pair of assists in the District 3 tournament where the Bobcats finished second to Birmingham Groves. Dan Command will need Johnny Polo (if we say it enough, will it become a thing?) to stay on his hot streak as they make a bid for the State Tournament.

District 3, Girls | Sarah Hartwell - Grand Blanc Bobcats

Sarah Hartwell is what coaches call A PROBLEM when it comes to game-planning. She's excellent defensively (19 steals in three games is pretty sweet), draws a lot of exclusions (8, again in just three games), scores at a strong clip, she had nine this week, and had three assists. The Bobcats lost a heartbreaker to Birmingham Groves in the District Semi-Finals, but rebounded for a third place finish and Hartwell has been a true match-up nightmare in the pool for Emily Overmyer's Bobcats.

District 4, Boys | Graham Baker - Ann Arbor Huron River Rats

We've all heard of the world's great mysteries: The Loch Ness Monster (which totally exists), Bigfoot (plenty of evidence there!), and of course the freshman that scored ten times in a single postseason game. HOLD UP WHAT?! Yes, Graham Baker scored 12 goals on the week and 10 in a district tournament game win over Saline. Paul Barnett has to be thrilled knowing he gets three more years of this talented young man, who also had six assists and six steals.

District 4, Girls | Bella Turner - Chelsea Bulldogs

Flex if you scored five of your team's seven goals in the first playoff win in school history! Bella Turner helped Jessica Hinderer's Bulldogs to that mark in a thrilling third sudden death overtime win over Ann Arbor Pioneer to send the Bulldogs to the Regional Tournament. The fans were so excited that the video of the game-winning goal cuts off as the ball crossed the goal line and the fans went BANANAS. Turner turned in a fine district tournament performance with 10 goals, 17 steals, 10 drawn exclusions and eight assists as the Bulldogs are headed for the Regional Quarterfinals for the first time in school history.