SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have been named College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America teams for the spring semester, while nine Bears student-student athletes were selected as Scholar All-Americans by the organization on Tuesday, June 30.
Both Bears programs are part of a record group of 406 men’s and women’s teams honored at all divisions of collegiate swimming, with 91 in Division I men’s and 171 in women’s swimming and diving making the academic list.
The men’s team finished with a 2015 spring grade-point average of 3.44, sixth overall in Division I as Yale and Harvard both led the nation with a 3.57 team GPA. The women’s team finished the semester with a 3.29 GPA.
“I am very proud of both the men’s and women’s programs for their academic success this year,” Bears head coach Dave Collins said. “We pride ourselves on excelling as student-athletes and they have done a great job representing our university.”
The CSCAA Team Scholar All-American Award is presented to college and university swimming & diving teams, which have achieved a team grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The award is presented twice annually, once in the fall semester and again in the spring to recognize teams achieving a 3.0 in the semester coinciding with the NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA/CCCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.
MSU’s Garrett Nevels and rising senior Uvis Kalnins were selected as CSCAA Scholar All-Americans by the organization. Seven others – Vitalii Baryshok, Kacper Cwiek, Miguel Davila, Aaron Dennis, Isaac McKnight, Isaac Springer and Uldis Tazans – were recognized as honorable mention selections.
To be selected to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team, swimmers and divers must have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and have participated in their respective NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Honorable Mention selections have similarly achieved a GPA of 3.50 and achieved a “B” time standard or competed at their respective qualifying meets.
Both Nevels and Kalnins advanced to the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships this March. Nevels became the first Bears diver to qualify for the NCAA’s in 25 years, while Kalnins made his second trip and also was selected as a Scholar All-American for a second time.
Davila, Dennis and Springer made their second appearances on the Scholar All-America list as honorable mentions. Baryshok, Cwiek, McKnight and Tazans made their first appearances on the list, with all seven recording “B” standards during the 2014-15 season.
“To have nine men on the Scholar Academic team out of a roster of 23 speaks to the level of commitment this group has to excellence in the pool and the classroom,” Collins said. “Some of these men made this team in their last semester as a student-athlete and that is special.”
Founded in 1922, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) – the oldest organization of college coaches in America – is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming & diving at the collegiate level.
The Missouri State women’s swimming and diving team finished the 2014-15 season as the Missouri Valley Conference champions for the eighth consecutive season and taking the MVC title for the 12th time in the previous 13 years. The Bears’ men’s swimming and diving team finished as runner-up at the Mid-American Conference Championship by 20 points during the 2014-15 season, but qualified a school-record three student-athletes for the NCAA Championships.
Swimming news courtesy of Missouri State Swimming & Diving.