ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College water polo team is headed to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship, which will be hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps April 25-26 in Claremont, Calif. This is the first trip to the national tournament for the Scots since the tournament's inception in 2022.

Macalester will face Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. Central. Pomona-Pitzer was runner-up to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the SCIAC Tournament last weekend.

Macalester, coached by Scott Reed, earned a spot in the national championship by advancing to the finals of the CWPA Division III tournament. The Scots won the CWPA title by defeating Carthage College, 14-9 in the final on April 12 at Wheaton College in Newton, Mass. Carthage will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the other semifinal at 4:00 p.m. Central. The third-place game will be played on Sunday, April 26 at 12:30 p.m., with the championship match to follow at 2:30 p.m.

Leading the Scots into the national tournament is senior Jess Palmer-Sammons (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay), the two-time CWPA Most Valuable Player and All-American. She was named the CWPA Tournament's Most Valuable Player after registering six goals and five assists for 11 points over the three games. Senior goalkeeper Jayden Kratt (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn), who made 37 saves in the three wins, joined Palmer-Sammons on the All-Tournament first team. Winegar, who scored five goals this weekend, was chosen the Rookie of the Tournament and made the All-Tournament second team. First year Reese Winegar (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd), who scored five goals this weekend, was chosen the Rookie of the Tournament and made the All-Tournament second team.

The CWPA title is the fourth under Reed, who also led the Scots to the conference championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019. 

This is the first time the Scots will face Pomona-Pitzer (19-16, 12-0 SCIAC), who won the regular-season SCIAC title before losing to C-M-S in the final of the conference tournament, 14-10. Earlier this season, Macalester played SCIAC teams Caltech, Whittier, Chapman and Redlands during the team's Spring Break trip and compiled a 3-1 record in those games, losing only to Chapman.

The USA Water Polo Division III National Championship will be played April 25-26 at Axelrood Pool on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Tickets can be purchased online. The games also will be streamed live on overnght.com. A free account is required to watch the games.

Tournament Website | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

2026 USA Water Polo Division III Championship - Axelrood Pool, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Claremont, Calif.
(Times are Central Daylight Time)
Saturday, April 25
Semifinal 1 - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. Carthage, 4:00 p.m.
Semifinal 2 - Macalester vs. Pomona-Pitzer, 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 26
Third Place - 12:30 p.m.
Championship - 2:30 p.m.