|
Swimming and Diving Hands Out Hardware at Annual Banquet
April 13, 2009
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University swimming and diving team held its annual end-of-the-year awards banquet Saturday, April 11 at the Ohio University Inn to celebrate and a reflect on another great Bobcat swimming and diving season. Senior Ashley Marion (London, Ont.) earned the Ed Wright Award, given to the team's most valuable player. Marion, a co-captain in 2009, was named the Mid-American Conference's Most Outstanding Swimmer and the Senior Swimmer of the Year at the MAC Championships in February. The 2009 First-Team All-MAC selection won four MAC individual or relay titles this season, while setting or helping set eight school records that still stand. Marion also broke five MAC records at the Championships and still holds four of them. Junior Chelsey Bower (Bethel Park, Pa.) took home the Scott Hammond Award for the team's most outstanding performance, which she received for her performance in the 50 free at the MAC Championships. The First-Team All-MAC and Academic All-MAC honoree won the 50 free MAC crown in a league and school-record time, which also qualified her for the NCAA Championships, where she became the first Bobcat to compete at the National Championships since 2001. Junior Ashley Poitinger (Akron, Ohio) garnered the Fletcher Gilders Award, which is handed to the most improved member of the team. Poitinger set lifetime bests in all three events she swam this season, shaving at least a second off her time in all of them (50 free, 100 free and 100 fly). Redshirt sophomore Lindsay Hamilton (White City, Sask.) received the Tad Potter Award, which is bestowed upon a team member who displays conduct, character, leadership, citizenship and courage. Hamilton overcame a season-ending injury last year to place third in one-meter diving at the MAC Championships in 2009 and also qualified for the NCAA Zone C Championships on both springboards, where she put in a pair of 12th-place finishes. Joining Marion and Bower on the 2009 All-MAC First Team from Ohio were sophomores Amanda Cecere (Chelmsford, Mass.), Rachel Heim (San Diego, Calif.) and Stacey Huber (Gainesville, Fla.), while fellow sophomore Amanda Traylor (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and freshman Sarah Owen (Portsmouth, England) received Second-Team All-MAC accolades. The Bobcats also placed a MAC-best five swimmers on the Academic All-MAC squad, as Bower, Heim, Huber, Traylor and senior Carine Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) were recognized for their work in the pool and the classroom. Other award winners during the season included Marion, who was named a MAC co-Swimmer of the Week Nov. 11, and Heim, who was twice tabbed the MAC's Female Scholar Athlete of the Week. All 26 Bobcats were awarded their letters for the 08-09 season at the banquet, while junior Caitlin Drozin (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) and Hamilton were named captains for the 2009-10 campaign. Ohio finished its 2008-09 season with a 9-3 dual-meet mark overall and a 4-3 record in MAC duals, while concluding the year with a second-place finish at the MAC Championships. The Bobcats claimed eight MAC titles at the Championships: two relays (200 and 400 free), the 400 IM and 200 back (Marion), the 100 fly and 100 back (Heim), the 50 free (Bower) and the 1650 free (Huber), all of which were won in league-record times except the 1650 free. Ohio set 21 school records in 15 events (setting some twice) at the 2009 MAC Championships, en route to rewriting the school's record book. 2008-09 Letterwinners |
