Davis makes waves for Blue Jays

When senior year rolls around for a varsity athlete, two things occur. First, he thinks about his legacy. He looks back at the four years of competition, contemplating how he will be remembered in the program and reminiscing about the sport that has played an integral part in his collegiate career. Second, he thinks about this one last season, the final hoorah. Every athlete wants his senior year to be special. At the culmination of his four years of hard work and dedication, he wants that championship game in all its glory. For senior utility water polo player Peter Davis, these two aspects of the final season are fully integrated.

"One of the things we've been trying to get back to is back in my freshman year we were ranked the number one DIII team in the nation. That year stands out as one of my favorite moments and we've been trying to get back to that ever since," Davis said, when asked to reflect on his favorite memory from his experiences on the water polo team.

The epic 2005 season was a monumental year for the Blue Jays. The team finished 24-6, defeating 17 Division I schools and never losing to a DIII opponent. The season culminated with a hard-fought Eastern Championship game against MIT, which the Jays won out by a score of 13-8 to earn the top spot in the tournament. Three years later, Davis and his teammates hope to return to that glory.

"I think we all know that this is one of the best teams we've had at Hopkins," Davis said. "We really need to start coming together as a team and start meshing a little more. We haven't really gelled as much as we'd like as a team, so we're going to work on that."

"Peter's (recruiting) class may be the best recruited class in Division III on the East Coast," head coach Ted Bresnahan said. "Not only do they have Peter, they have Josh Kratz, who's one of our team captains, and Alex Bond, who's up there with the All-Americans."

As this dream-team senior class fights toward the championship season, there's no doubt that Davis is a major force in the pool. Davis is a two-time All-American player. He is currently one of the top Division III scorers in the nation, and coach Bresnahan described him as "one of the top two-meter presences in the East."

This past week, Davis was in top form, scoring five goals against George Washington University, tying his season-high and bringing the team to a 16-8 victory. "We were coming off a few losses, so the team needed a big win," Davis said. "We're usually pretty strong for games at our home pool in front of our fans."

"Peter leads by his example in the pool," Bresnahan said. "He's been able to take over games with his presence. Basically, he's the best Division III player on the East Coast."

"He works really hard and has a lot of knowledge for the game," fellow teammate Peter Sauerhoff said. "He is a very physical player that no one likes playing against."

And Davis's performance is growing stronger with each game. He currently leads the team with 53 total points, 38 goals and five blocks, reflecting an exemplary offensive and defensive performance. With five games still remaining in the regular season, Davis is a mere two points behind his previous season's total. He looks to establish himself as one of the all-time Hopkins greats in the pool.

As the season comes to a close, Davis looks to complete the academic requirements for his economics major and possibly pursue graduate school. When he's not studying or training, he and his friends like to play a game called "the rock game."

"It's just a recreational game that we all play," Davis said, when asked to describe this activity. While the nature of the game might remain a mystery, Davis's performance in the pool certainly will not. With four years of top-notch water polo under his belt, Peter Davis looks to climb out of the pool after his final game as one of the top Hopkins water polo players in recent history.