Stags and Athenas earn academic honors
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Swimming and Diving teams received recognition from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America for outstanding academic achievements during the Spring 2014 semester. The Stags ranked 10th among all NCAA D-III teams with a GPA of 3.43. The Athenas held a 3.44 GPA.
The Stags finished 7th at the 2014 NCAA D-III Championships and only one team (MIT) finished ahead of CMS in both the national meet standings and in overall GPA. The Athenas placed 13th at the 2014 NCAA Championships with just two teams (Emory and Springfield) concluding the season with higher finishes at Nationals and in overall GPA.
Individually, 15 CMS swimmers and divers were named to the CSCAA Scholar All-American team. Student-athletes must achieve a 3.50 or better semester GPA. To qualify for the First Team, the student-athlete must qualify for and participate in the NCAA D-III Swimming and Diving Championships. To qualify for Honorable Mention Scholar All-American, the student-athlete must have achieved an NCAA "B" (provisional) cut during the season and meet the GPA requirement.
First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American
LillyBelle Deer, Kayla Flaten, Annika Jessen, Helen Liu, Erin MacLean, Kelly Ngo, Patrick Shultz, James Stevick, Cameron Whiting and Matt Williams
Honorable Mention CSCAA Scholar All-American
Louisa Dunwiddie, Cory Johnson, Mackenzie Leake, Alex Mendoza and Tim Storer
Beyond the CSCAA SAA accolades, CMS swimming and diving earned several other post-season academic honors.
The SCIAC Conference recognized 10 Athenas and 10 Stags on the SCIAC All-Academic Team for posting a greater than 3.40 GPA, completing more than two full semesters at CMC, HMC or Scripps College and competing in the 2014 SCIAC Championships.
Athenas: Sloan Caldwell, Louisa Dunwiddie, Rachelle Holmgren, Laura Jeddeloh, Annika Jessen, Makenzie Leake, Helen Liu, Nicole Lotte, Kaela Nurmi, Dana Shaker
Stags: Ben Baker, Brett Berger, Brian Key, Joey Klonowski, Quinn Markwith, Martin Sartorius, Patrick Shultz, James Stevick, Matt Valentine, Cameron Whiting
Three CMS swimmers etched their names on the CMS "Wall of Fame" for earning individual First Team All-SCIAC honors during their careers and graduating with a better than 3.0 GPA: Annika Jessen, Michele Kee, and Helen Liu.
Additionally, Dana Shaker won the CMS Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
The academic honors help celebrate an excellent year for the CMS Stags and Athenas. Both squads earned SCIAC Championships with matching 8-0 conference dual meet records and SCIAC championship meet titles. After the championship meet, junior James Stevick was named the 2014 SCIAC Men's Swim/Dive Athlete of the Year and Matt Williams won the SCIAC Men's Swim/Dive Newcomer of the Year award. The conference meet wins helped CMS earn the 2013-14 SCIAC men's, women's and combined All-Sports trophies.
At the national level, the Stags placed 7th at the 2014 NCAA D-III Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis and the Athenas placed 13th at the meet. Nineteen CMS swimmers and divers qualified for Nationals. The swim/dive teams' national points helped the CMS Athletic program place 13th in the Division III Learfield Director's Cup standings, the highest among schools in the West Region.
All told, CMS set varsity records 27 times during the 2013-14 season. Head Coach Charlie Griffiths was awarded the American Swimming Coaches Association "Certificate of Excellence" for the 12th time in his 13 years at the helm of the CMS program.
At the CMS swimming and diving team's awards banquet, the following student-athletes were honored:
Stags
Outstanding Swimmer—Alex Poltash and Matt Williams
Outstanding Diver—James Stevick
Rookie of the Year—Matt Williams
Quantum Leap—Brian Key
Shoenfeld (Most Inspirational)—Marc Blumberg
Athenas
Outstanding Swimmer—Michele Kee
Outstanding Diver—Carli Lessard
Rookie of the Year—Kelly Ngo
Quantum Leap—Emily McKinnon
Critchell (Most Inspirational)—Annika Jessen