SUWANEE, Ga. - Based on exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Jordan DeGayner of Colorado College and Clark Weber of Centre College were named the league's male and female Swimmers-of-the-Year, while Austin Howlett of Colorado College and Ruth Hahn of Trinity University were selected as the SCAC male and female Divers-of-the-Year.
Colorado's DeGeyner, a senior from Nokesville, Va., set two SCAC championship meet records, tallied NCAA "A" cuts in both the 100 and 200 free and helped anchor the Tigers' championship 400 and 800-free relay teams. He now owns SCAC Championship records in the 100-yard fly, 100 and 200-yard free, and as a member of the 800-free relay team. DeGayner was also named the 2012 SCAC Male Swimmer-of-the-Meet, the second straight year he has earned the honor.
At the 2012 NCAA Championships, DeGayner became just the second individual in league history to win an individual NCAA swimming title – claiming the 200-yard free in a time of 1:37.51, a new SCAC open record. He also earned Honorable Mention all-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle and a 12th-place finish in the 800-free relay. DeGayner closes out his collegiate career with seven individual SCAC Championships, back-to-back SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Meet and SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Year honors, and a National Championship along with three SCAC records and seven Colorado College school records.
Centre's Weber, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., earned three NCAA "B" cuts in winning the 200 free, 500 free and 1650 free – setting records in all three events at the SCAC Championships. She also helped anchor the Colonels’ SCAC Championship relay teams in the 200 and 800-yard free. The 800-yard free relay team earned an NCAA "B" cut time and qualified for the National Championships. Weber was also named SCAC Swimmer of the Meet for the second straight year.
At the NCAA Championships, Weber earned all-America honors with her sixth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:07.2, the highest individual finish of any SCAC female swimmer at nationals. She also received Honorable Mention all-America honors as a member of the 800-free relay team as the Colonels placed 16th (7:44.37) at the 2012 national meet and earned the program just its second all-American honor in a relay.
Colorado College's Howlett, a freshman from Makawako, Hawaii, won the 3-meter board and nearly upset two-time defending SCAC champion Kevin Martin in the 1-meter board – losing by just over 15 points. Howlett also earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet honors, the first Colorado College male diver to earn that distinction.
Trinity's Hahn, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn., won her first career SCAC championship on the 3-meter board and finished in second in the 1-meter. Hahn was named SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet for the second straight year and it represented the seventh straight year a TU Tiger has earned the honor.
At the 2012 NCAA championships, Hahn stood in fourth-place after Saturday afternoon's preliminaries of the 3-meter competition, but scored 481.00 in the finals to win Trinity's third NCAA title in the sport of diving. Hahn also earned all-American honors in the 1-meter board – posting a 425.35 to finish fifth in the country.
In exclusive voting of the league’s head coaches that took place at the 2012 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships, Centre College – led by head coach Dean Brownley – was selected the SCAC Women's Staff-of-the-Year while on the men's side, Colorado College – led by Anne Goodman James – received Staff-of-the-Year honors.
