POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK – Marist water polo head coach Natalie Benson has been inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Benson is one of three inductees in this year’s Hall of Fame class.
Benson, along with 1996 Men's Olympic Team Head Coach Richard Corso, and Women's National Team veteran and FINA referee Amber Drury, will be honored at a benefit celebration May 30 at the Costa Mesa Hilton in Costa Mesa, California.
A great two-way player, Benson was known as one of the best defenders to ever play for the USA Water Polo Women’s National Team. She rounded out her talent by becoming an offensive force by the time her water polo career was complete. Benson was an integral part of two Olympic medal winning squads for Team USA at the 2004 (Bronze) and 2008 (Silver) Olympic Games.
Benson led the way for the United States to three FINA World Championship medals (2003, 2005, 2007), including two gold medals. Before the 2003 FINA World Championship, Benson won the 2001 FINA Junior World Championship title. Both were firsts in program history.
Benson made her way to the Senior National Team in the midst of her dominant college career. During her time at UCLA, Benson was an integral part of three national championships. In a collegiate career packed with awards and accolades, Benson’s most impressive season came in 2005. After red-shirting the 2004 season to compete in the Olympic Games, Benson resumed her position at UCLA and led the team to an undefeated season and yet another NCAA title while earning Cutino Award honors as the top player in the college game. Benson added national and conference player of the year honors to an All-American selection.
Benson more recently served as a coach in the Women’s National Team pipeline, as she led the Women’s Youth National Team to a gold medal at the 2013 Youth Pan American Games.
At Marist, Benson is in her second season as head coach and has an overall record of 37-29. In her fist season, she led the Red Foxes to an 11-3 record in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and was named the Anaconda Sports Head Coach of the Year. Marist placed second overall in the conference in 2014.
This season the Red Foxes are 17-12 and 9-1 in the MAAC currently tied for first place in the conference. Benson led the team earlier this season to defeat #9 Indiana 9-8. This was the highest-ranked team defeated by the Red Foxes in program history.