Six Earn Scholar All-America Distinction for CMS Men's Swimming and Diving

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Six members of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team earned Scholar All-America honors from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, the organization announced today.

Junior Kendall Hollimon (CMC, government and philosophy) and sophomore Marco Conati (HMC, engineering) each earned first-team Scholar All-America honors after qualifying for nationals and earning All-America distinction at the NCAA Division III Championships. Senior Aaron Lutzker (HMC, engineering), junior Ben Culberson (CMC, legal studies), sophomore Sean Hoerger (HMC, computer science) and sophomore Abel Sapirstein (HMC, mathematical and computational biology) received Scholar All-America honorable mention distinciton. 

First-team Scholar All-America honors are given to student-athletes who achieve a 3.5 grade point average or higher (either cumulative or during the spring semester) and compete at the NCAA Championships. Honorable mention distinction is given to student-athletes who achieve the minimum GPA and also achieve an NCAA "B" cut or compete at an NCAA Regional qualifier in diving. 

Hollimon (third place, 3-meter) and Conati (fourth place, 100 fly) both qualified for the NCAA Championships after earning two SCIAC titles apiece and ended with top five finishes to earn All-America honors. Hollimon finished with 574.85 points in the three-meter dive, just five points away from finishing in first place, earning All-America honors for the fourth time in his career. Conati, meanwhile, swam a 48.10 in the 100 fly to come in fourth to earn All-America honors for the first time.

Lutzker capped off a stellar CMS career this winter which saw him win two individual SCIAC titles and earn All-SCIAC distinction nine times. Culberson earned All-America honors as a freshman as part of the Stags' 800-yard freestyle relay team and has won All-SCIAC honors six times, including an individual championship in the 500 in 2017. Hoerger qualified for the finals in three different individual events at this year's SCIAC Championships, with a top finish of fifth in the 400 IM. Sapirstein has had two top 10 finishes in the distance events at SCIAC Championships in his first two seasons.

CMS had a strong season in the pool as well this year, ending the regular season ranked No. 14 in the nation in Division III. Behind the high finishes from Hollimon and Conati, the Stags earned a 22nd-place finish at nationals.