NORFOLK, Va. - The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has selected a record 1,069 swimmers and divers for its Scholar All-America team with 11 Carson-Newman swimmers collecting honors.
The award recognizes students that have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and competed at their respective NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The selections, drawn from 181 colleges and universities across all Divisions
In addition to the 1,069 first-team selections, 1,137 students were named as Honorable Mentioned selections. These students have similarly achieved a GPA of 3.50 and achieved a "B" time standard or competed at an NCAA Regional or Zone Diving qualifier. In total, 289 teams placed at least one individual on the First or Second teams.
Marcelo Figueiredo and Jon Lancaster are returners to the Scholar All-America teams after collecting the honor in 2017 with Figueiredo making the jump from honorable mention. Casey Charles and Chad Andoljsek joined the two cracking Honorable Mention for the first time in their careers.
Figueiredo held a 3.79 GPA which included a trip to the NCAA D2 National Championships as a member of the 800 freestyle team, which broke a school record in the event. The Poto Alegre, Brazil native also competed in the 500 yard freestyle for C-N at the NCAA Championships. Figueiredo's GPA was the highest among the four nominated for CSCAA Scholar All-America.
Lancaster, who was also a member of the 800 freestyle foursome, earned a 3.50 GPA as an Art & Design major. The native of Ringgold, Ga. also competed in the 400 yard individual medley at the D2 NCAA Championships, helping the Eagles come away with a program-best performance through the four days of events.
Casey Charles (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) holds a cumulative GPA of 3.58 as a sophomore in Financial Economics, while Chad Andoljsek was second out of the four in GPA at 3.75.
The C-N women's swim team tied a school record as seven swimmers earned the honor of CSCAA Scholar All-America, five of which earn the award for the second-straight year.
Elly Cup, CJ Jensen, Maggie Melhorn, Mary Northcutt, Lisa Postma, Laurel Sankowski (HM), and Margaret Stansberry were all named for C-N swim with Sankowski and Jensen becoming first-timers for the honor.
Northcutt (Huntsville, Ala.) was the only member of the group who received the Google Cloud Academic All-America award earlier this month from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The sophomore accumulated a 4.0 GPA which came in Exercise Science. The freestyle and backstroke swimmer was a member of the Eagles 200 freestyle relay team who went to the 2018 National Swim Championships. The group earned All-America honors in the event with a fifth-place collecting a new school record. Northcutt was also a member of the 200 freestyle relay team who gathered an All-BMC time during the conference championships.
Culp (West End, N.C.) was a two-time All-American in 2018 in both the 200 freestyle relay along with Northcutt, and the 200 medley relay. The junior was third on the team in GPA which sat at 3.91. Culp has earned the honor every single year at Carson-Newman.
Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) earned a trip to the D2 National Championships earning two honorable mention All-America swims with one coming in the 200 butterfly which set a new lifetime-low time, which went along with a first-place finish in the consolation final for the 400-yard individual medley that set a school record. The freshman held a 3.79 GPA in Psychology.
Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) earned three All-America swims at the NCAA D2 Championships in Greensboro, N.C. in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke and as a member of the 200-yard medley relay earning school records in multiple events. The senior graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.64. Melhorn added her third-straight Scholar All-America honor.
Postma (Leiden, Holland) returns as a CSCAA Scholar All-American for the third-straight year after tying the team lead with three All-America performances in Greensboro. The junior was a member of the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay foursomes, as well as an All-American in the 50 freestyle with a fifth-place finish. Postma was second on the team in GPA at 3.93 as an Exercise Science major. She earns the honor
Sankowski (Indian Trail, N.C.) earned honorable mention honors following her freshman season in which she also competed in the 2017 U.S. Speedo Winter Junior Championships. She holds a cumulative GPA of 3.88 as an Art major.
Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) wraps up the final C-N women's swimmer as she graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.57. The senior procured All-America swims at the D2 Championships in three different events: The 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, and 200 freestyle as an individual in which she claimed fourth. It's the third-straight year Stansberry collected Scholar All-America.
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