Water Polo
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 764-6545
Features on Marcelo
• Leonardi Opening Doors for International Student-Athletes (MGoBlue.com)
• Two Years in, Players Love Leonardi (Michigan Daily)
• Pillars Lead to Rise in Program (MGoBlue.com)
• Leonardi's Dissertation Spells Out Pillars of Success for Water Polo (Michigan Daily)
• Kornacki: Education Makes Leonardi Better Coach, Teacher (Holland Sentinel)
• 2014 Q&A (MGoBlue.com)
• Dr. Marcelo Leonardi Named Michigan Water Polo Head Coach (MGoBlue.com)
Dr. Marcelo Leonardi enters his eighth season as the head coach of the Wolverines in 2022. Leonardi was introduced as the new coach on May 30, 2014, becoming the third coach in U-M history.
In seven seasons, Leonardi has recorded a 164-61 (.729) overall record at Michigan. He has guided the Wolverines to four NCAA appearances, four CWPA Championships and three first place conference finishes during the regular season.
Leonardi increased the team's win total by 11 from year one to year two and has only lost two conference games in five seasons (36-2). He coached Ali Thomason into becoming the first to earn first team All-America honors in program history. Six have earned All-America recognition in his first four years. He has coached 18 All-CWPA selections, including three CWPA Player of the Year recipients and two CWPA Rookie of the Year honorees.
In just his second year at Michigan, Leonardi took the Wolverines to their highest point in the 16 years of the program. U-M achieved its highest ranking of all-time, No. 4, after placing 4th at the NCAA Championship. The Wolverines won the CWPA Championship for the sixth time and first since 2010, giving Leonardi his first college championship. He was named the Doc Hunkler Coach of the Tournament. The team finished with a 30-8 overall record.
The 2017 team followed one successful year with another one. Leonardi once again led the Wolverines to a CWPA Championship and to the NCAA Championship. His team finished the year with a 28-9 overall record and perfect 8-0 conference mark. Senior Allison Skaggs was named the CWPA Player of the Year and CWPA Championship MVP. Leonardi was the Doc Hunkler Coach of the Tournament for the second straight year and five individuals made the All-CWPA teams.
In 2018, Leonardi led his team to a three-peat at the conference championships, defeating top-seeded Princeton, 11-8, for the CWPA title. His team has a 32-9 overall record, the highest win total in the nation and made the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, losing to No. 3 Cal in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. Junior Julia Sellers was named the CWPA Championship MVP and was joined by sophomore Maddy Steere on the All-CWPA first team.
The 2019 team went undefeated at 6-0 in conference play and finished the regular season with a 21-8 overall record. The team then defeated Princeton, 10-6, in the CWPA Championship for an unprecedented fourth straight conference championship, the first time in program history U-M has won four in a row. Maddy Steere was named the CWPA Player of the Year, Abby Andrews was the CWPA Rookie of the Year and Rookie of the CWPA Tournament and Julia Sellers was the CWPA Tournament MVP. Heidi Ritner was also a first team All-CWPA selection. U-M lost to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
The team was off to an 11-8 start in 2020 before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 illness.
Named the 2014 and 2018 recipient of USA Water Polo's Sandy Nitta Distinguished Women's Coaching Award, Leonardi has been heavily involved with the national governing body since 2009. He served two cycles as the USA women's national youth team coach, leading Team USA to gold at the FINA Youth World Championship in Madrid, Spain in 2014 and to a fifth place finish in New Zealand in 2016. His gold medal in 2014 was the first Youth World Championship in USA Water Polo history.
Leonardi has served as the national technical director for the women's Olympic Development Program (ODP) and has been associated with the organization since 2013. In his role with USA Water Polo, Leonardi oversees the implementation of training for all female athletes in the Olympic Development Program nationwide as well as competition at the national training and selection camps.
Leonardi took over the Michigan women's water polo program after spending the previous five seasons as the women's water polo coach at California State University in Northridge. In 2014, he guided the Matadors to a second-place finish in the regular-season Big West Conference standings and a runner-up showing at the conference championship. CSUN compiled a 23-9 overall record on the year and ranked as high as No. 9 in the CWPA national polls.
In five years as the head coach at Cal State Northridge, Leonardi compiled a 115-64 overall record with four 20-win campaigns and top 20 final national rankings each year. Leonardi had student-athletes named All-Big West 23 times, accumulating 10 first-team citations, five second-team honors and eight honorable mention accolades. He had six student-athletes earn All-America honors eight times. In the classroom, his student-athletes had a cumulative grade point average above a 3.0 all five years.
Leonardi was the interim head coach at CSUN for the 2009-10 season, compiling a school record 28 wins (28-8), the Big West regular season title and a No. 9 national ranking. Prior to moving into the head coaching role, Leonardi spent four years as an assistant coach for the Matadors (2006-09).
Before joining the staff at Cal State Northridge, Leonardi was head coach for the El Rancho High School water polo and swim programs for six years. During his tenure, the Dons twice claimed the Del Rio League water polo titles (2003 and 2004) and played in the CIF Division III championship game in 2004. Leonardi was named the CIF Division III Coach of the Year in 2004 and also led the swimming team to the league title that same season.
Leonardi earned a bachelor of arts in biology and Spanish from Whittier College (Calf.) in 1998. He added a Master's degree in education from Whittier in 2001 and a single-subject teaching credential in biology and life sciences from the institution in 2003. As a collegiate player, Leonardi was a three-year starter and letterman in water polo at Whittier (1994-96).
He added a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Azusa Pacific University in 2011.
Leonardi and his wife, Kendra, reside in Ann Arbor.
Career Résumé
Leonardi's All-Time Coaching Record
| Years | School | Position |
| 2000-05 | El Rancho High School | Head Coach for water polo/swimming |
| 2006-09 | CSUN | Assistant Coach |
| 2010-14 | CSUN | Head Coach |
| 2015-present | Michigan | Head Coach |
| Year | School | Overall | Conference | Regular Season Finish | Tournament Finish | NCAA Finish |
| 2010 | CSUN | 28-8 | 4-1 | T-1st | 2nd | --- |
| 2011 | CSUN | 21-16 | 3-2 | T-2nd | 4th | --- |
| 2012 | CSUN | 19-20 | 1-4 | T-4th | 3rd | --- |
| 2013 | CSUN | 23-12 | 3-4 | 5th | 5th | --- |
| 2014 | CSUN | 23-9 | 3-2 | 2nd | 2nd | --- |
| 2015 | Michigan | 19-13 | 8-1 | 2nd | 4th | --- |
| 2016 | Michigan | 30-8 | 7-0 | 1st | 1st | 4th |
| 2017 | Michigan | 28-9 | 8-0 | 1st | 1st | QF |
| 2018 | Michigan | 32-9 | 7-1 | 2nd | 1st | QF |
| 2019 | Michigan | 23-9 | 6-0 | 1st | 1st | QF |
| 2020 | Michigan | 11-8 | 0-0 | * | * | * |
| 2021 | Michigan | 21-5 | 6-0 | 1st | 1st | QF |
| Total | ||||||
| Michigan | 164-61 | 42-2 | ||||
| 278-126 | 56-15 |
* Postseason did not take place due COVID-19
Coaching Honors
• 2016 Doc Hunkler Coach of the CWPA Tournament
• 2017 Doc Hunkler Coach of the CWPA Tournament
Career Highlights
• 278-126 (.688) overall record
• 164-61 (.729) Michigan record
• 42-2 (.954) CWPA record
• Four CWPA Championships
• Three CWPA Regular Season first place finishes
• One NCAA Semifinal Appearance
• Four NCAA Appearances (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
• 25 ACWPC All-America honors, eight at Michigan
• One first team All-American, one second team All-American, two third team All-Americans
• Three CWPA Players of the Year and one Big West Player of the Year
• 41 all-conference selections, 20 at Michigan
• 17 first team all-conference selections, eight at Michigan
• Two CWPA Rookie of the Year and one Big West Freshman of the Year
• One CWPA Scholar Athlete of the Year
• One CoSIDA Academic All-American
