USC’s Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns Named Peter J. Cutino Award Finalists
May 22, 2025 | Women's Water Polo
Trojan freshman and senior were all-around forces for USC in a strong 2025 campaign.
LOS ANGELES — USC women's water polo has two Trojans in line for the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award for the eighth time in program history, as Olympians and all-around impact players Emily Ausmus and Tilly Kearns have been named finalists for the 2024-25 award.
A 2024 Olympian with Team USA, Emily Ausmus was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-MPSF First Team in her first season at USC. The freshman attacker scored in all 34 games for USC to set a school single-season record with 114 goals. In addition to becoming the fastest Trojan to reach 100 goals, Ausmus also handed out 55 assists and stole the ball 46 times in 2025. En route to the NCAA Championship game, she scored three goals with two assists and two steals in the national quarterfinal against Harvard.
A 2024 Olympic silver medalist with Australia, Tilly Kearns became a three-time All-MPSF First Team honoree this season for USC. The senior center scored 100 goals and finished her time as a Trojan ranked No. 3 all-time in scoring with 262 career goals. In addition to the scoring, Kearns earned 62 exclusions and notched 48 steals on the year. She earned NCAA All-Tournament First Team honors and was instrumental in propelling USC to the NCAA Championship game by scoring five goals and earning six exclusions in the Trojans' national semifinal win over UCLA. This is Kearns' third selection as a Cutino Award finalist, following pick in 2022 and 2023.
Ausmus' and Kearns' finalist selections gives USC 25 such honors in program history. This is Kearns' third pick as a finalist in her fourth seasons of work at USC. The last Trojan duo to be named Cutino Award finalists in the same season were Denise Mammolito and Maud Megens in 2021, with Megens emerging as the Cutino Award Winner that year. They followed back-to-back finalists Paige Hauschild and Amanda Longan in 2018 and 2019. Since the award's inception in 1999, USC women have collected nine Cutino Awards. Past USC women's Cutino Award winners are: Bernice Orwig (1999), Aniko Pelle (2000), Moriah Van Norman (2004), Lauren Wenger (2006), Kami Craig (2009 & 2010), Stephania Haralabidis (2016), Amanda Longan (2018) and Maud Megens (2021).
Ausmus and Kearns are joined on the 2025 women's finalist list by Stanford's Ryann Neushul. On the men's side, USC has Max Miller named a finalist alongside UCLA's Ryder Dodd and Pacific's Mihailo Vukazic, who will play for the Trojans as a transfer addition next season.
Established in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the award is given annually in honor of the late Peter J. Cutino, the former University of California Berkeley and The Olympic Club coach, who passed away in September 2004. Mr. Cutino is in the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame. He won "Water Polo Coach of the Year" 17 times. He led UC Berkeley to eight NCAA National Championships. In his career, Cutino also coached in the Pan American Games, the Water Polo World Championships and the World University Games. The Olympic Club has a long and distinguished competitive water polo history, a tradition that continues today in the pool with some of the best age-group teams in the world.
The Cutino Awards will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 7 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed free of charge courtesy of USA Water Polo on overnght.com. The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes and coaches, plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety.
ABOUT THE OLYMPIC CLUB
Founded in 1860, The Olympic Club enjoys the distinction of being among the oldest athletic clubs in America. Since its birth, The Olympic Club has fostered amateur athletics in San Francisco. The Winged "O" currently fields teams in 17 sports. Additionally, The Olympic Club has hosted five U.S. Opens, and looks forward to hosting the 2028 PGA Championship and 2032 Ryder Cup at its world-class Lakeside Clubhouse golf courses.
USC Cutino Award Women's Finalists
1999 — Bernice Orwig (winner)
2000 — Aniko Pelle (winner)
2004 — Moriah Van Norman (winner)
2005 — Brittany Hayes
2006 — Lauren Wenger (winner) & Brittany Hayes
2007 — Erika Figge
2009 — Kami Craig (winner) & Michelle Stein
2010 — Kami Craig (winner) & Tumua Anae
2011 — Kristen Dronberger
2013 — Monica Vavic
2016 — Stephania Haralabidis (winner) & Brigitta Games
2018 — Amanda Longan (winner) & Paige Hauschild
2019 — Paige Hauschild & Amanda Longan
2021 — Maud Megens (winner) & Denise Mammolito
2022 — Tilly Kearns
2023 — Tilly Kearns
All-time Peter J. Cutino Award winners:
1998-99 - Bernice Orwig (USC)
1999-2000 - Sean Kern (UCLA) & Aniko Pelle (USC)
2000-01 - Sean Kern (UCLA) & Coralie Simmons (UCLA)
2001-02 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Brenda Villa (Stanford)
2002-03 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Jackie Frank (Stanford)
2003-04 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Moriah Van Norman (USC)
2004-05 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Natalie Golda (UCLA)
2005-06 - Juraj Zatovic (USC) & Lauren Wenger (USC)
2006-07 - John Mann (Cal) & Kelly Rulon (UCLA)
2007-08 - Tim Hutten (UC Irvine) & Courtney Mathewson (UCLA)
2008-09 - J.W. Krumpholz (USC) & Kami Craig (USC)
2009-10 - J.W. Krumpholz (USC) & Kami Craig (USC)
2010-11 - Ivan Rackov (California) & Annika Dries (Stanford)
2011-12 - Joel Dennerley (USC) & Kiley Neushel (Stanford)
2012-13 - Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific) & Melissa Seidemann (Stanford)
2013-14 - Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific) & Annika Dries (Stanford)
2014-15 - Kostas Genidounias (USC) & Kiley Neushel (Stanford)
2015-16 - Garrett Danner (UCLA) & Stephania Haralabidis (USC)
2016-17 - McQuin Baron (USC) & Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton)
2017-18 - Luca Cupido (Cal) & Amanda Longan (USC)
2018-19 - Ben Hallock (Stanford) & Makenzie Fischer (Stanford)
2019-20 - Ben Hallock (Stanford)
2020-21 - Nicolas Saveljic (UCLA) & Maud Megens (USC)
2021-22 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Makenzie Fischer (Stanford)
2022-23 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Aria Fischer (Stanford)
2023-24 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Isabel Williams (Cal)
A 2024 Olympian with Team USA, Emily Ausmus was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and a member of the All-MPSF First Team in her first season at USC. The freshman attacker scored in all 34 games for USC to set a school single-season record with 114 goals. In addition to becoming the fastest Trojan to reach 100 goals, Ausmus also handed out 55 assists and stole the ball 46 times in 2025. En route to the NCAA Championship game, she scored three goals with two assists and two steals in the national quarterfinal against Harvard.
A 2024 Olympic silver medalist with Australia, Tilly Kearns became a three-time All-MPSF First Team honoree this season for USC. The senior center scored 100 goals and finished her time as a Trojan ranked No. 3 all-time in scoring with 262 career goals. In addition to the scoring, Kearns earned 62 exclusions and notched 48 steals on the year. She earned NCAA All-Tournament First Team honors and was instrumental in propelling USC to the NCAA Championship game by scoring five goals and earning six exclusions in the Trojans' national semifinal win over UCLA. This is Kearns' third selection as a Cutino Award finalist, following pick in 2022 and 2023.
ᴅᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ! 👯♀️
👏Congrats to Emily & Tilly! 👏
Two Trojans are tapped as Peter J. Cutino Award finalists!#FightOn ✌️ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝙇𝘼𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘.
Ausmus' and Kearns' finalist selections gives USC 25 such honors in program history. This is Kearns' third pick as a finalist in her fourth seasons of work at USC. The last Trojan duo to be named Cutino Award finalists in the same season were Denise Mammolito and Maud Megens in 2021, with Megens emerging as the Cutino Award Winner that year. They followed back-to-back finalists Paige Hauschild and Amanda Longan in 2018 and 2019. Since the award's inception in 1999, USC women have collected nine Cutino Awards. Past USC women's Cutino Award winners are: Bernice Orwig (1999), Aniko Pelle (2000), Moriah Van Norman (2004), Lauren Wenger (2006), Kami Craig (2009 & 2010), Stephania Haralabidis (2016), Amanda Longan (2018) and Maud Megens (2021).
Ausmus and Kearns are joined on the 2025 women's finalist list by Stanford's Ryann Neushul. On the men's side, USC has Max Miller named a finalist alongside UCLA's Ryder Dodd and Pacific's Mihailo Vukazic, who will play for the Trojans as a transfer addition next season.
Established in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the award is given annually in honor of the late Peter J. Cutino, the former University of California Berkeley and The Olympic Club coach, who passed away in September 2004. Mr. Cutino is in the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame. He won "Water Polo Coach of the Year" 17 times. He led UC Berkeley to eight NCAA National Championships. In his career, Cutino also coached in the Pan American Games, the Water Polo World Championships and the World University Games. The Olympic Club has a long and distinguished competitive water polo history, a tradition that continues today in the pool with some of the best age-group teams in the world.
The Cutino Awards will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 7 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed free of charge courtesy of USA Water Polo on overnght.com. The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes and coaches, plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety.
ABOUT THE OLYMPIC CLUB
Founded in 1860, The Olympic Club enjoys the distinction of being among the oldest athletic clubs in America. Since its birth, The Olympic Club has fostered amateur athletics in San Francisco. The Winged "O" currently fields teams in 17 sports. Additionally, The Olympic Club has hosted five U.S. Opens, and looks forward to hosting the 2028 PGA Championship and 2032 Ryder Cup at its world-class Lakeside Clubhouse golf courses.
USC Cutino Award Women's Finalists
1999 — Bernice Orwig (winner)
2000 — Aniko Pelle (winner)
2004 — Moriah Van Norman (winner)
2005 — Brittany Hayes
2006 — Lauren Wenger (winner) & Brittany Hayes
2007 — Erika Figge
2009 — Kami Craig (winner) & Michelle Stein
2010 — Kami Craig (winner) & Tumua Anae
2011 — Kristen Dronberger
2013 — Monica Vavic
2016 — Stephania Haralabidis (winner) & Brigitta Games
2018 — Amanda Longan (winner) & Paige Hauschild
2019 — Paige Hauschild & Amanda Longan
2021 — Maud Megens (winner) & Denise Mammolito
2022 — Tilly Kearns
2023 — Tilly Kearns
All-time Peter J. Cutino Award winners:
1998-99 - Bernice Orwig (USC)
1999-2000 - Sean Kern (UCLA) & Aniko Pelle (USC)
2000-01 - Sean Kern (UCLA) & Coralie Simmons (UCLA)
2001-02 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Brenda Villa (Stanford)
2002-03 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Jackie Frank (Stanford)
2003-04 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Moriah Van Norman (USC)
2004-05 - Tony Azevedo (Stanford) & Natalie Golda (UCLA)
2005-06 - Juraj Zatovic (USC) & Lauren Wenger (USC)
2006-07 - John Mann (Cal) & Kelly Rulon (UCLA)
2007-08 - Tim Hutten (UC Irvine) & Courtney Mathewson (UCLA)
2008-09 - J.W. Krumpholz (USC) & Kami Craig (USC)
2009-10 - J.W. Krumpholz (USC) & Kami Craig (USC)
2010-11 - Ivan Rackov (California) & Annika Dries (Stanford)
2011-12 - Joel Dennerley (USC) & Kiley Neushel (Stanford)
2012-13 - Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific) & Melissa Seidemann (Stanford)
2013-14 - Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific) & Annika Dries (Stanford)
2014-15 - Kostas Genidounias (USC) & Kiley Neushel (Stanford)
2015-16 - Garrett Danner (UCLA) & Stephania Haralabidis (USC)
2016-17 - McQuin Baron (USC) & Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton)
2017-18 - Luca Cupido (Cal) & Amanda Longan (USC)
2018-19 - Ben Hallock (Stanford) & Makenzie Fischer (Stanford)
2019-20 - Ben Hallock (Stanford)
2020-21 - Nicolas Saveljic (UCLA) & Maud Megens (USC)
2021-22 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Makenzie Fischer (Stanford)
2022-23 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Aria Fischer (Stanford)
2023-24 - Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal) & Isabel Williams (Cal)
Players Mentioned
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