Trinity's Kohl and Partalas Repeat as SCAC Male Swimmer and Diver of the Year

Trinity's Kohl and Partalas Repeat as SCAC Male Swimmer and Diver of the Year

SUWANEE, Ga. – Trinity University teammates Michael Kohl and Konstantine Partalas were named the league’s male Swimmer and Diver of the Year, respectively, based on exclusive voting by the head coaches and sports information directors of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. 2024 All-SCAC Team

Kohl, a senior from Missouri City, Texas, is the first athlete in SCAC swimming history to be selected conference Swimmer-of-the-Year for four consecutive years. Kohl won all three of his events at the 2024 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships and earned Swimmer-of-the-Meet honors, also for the fourth consecutive year. He hit the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle (20.22 – 2nd fastest in SCAC Meet history), 100-yard butterfly (48.15 – 3rd fastest in SCAC Meet history) and the 100-yard freestyle (44.35 – fastest in SCAC Meet history).

Following the SCAC Championships, Kohl represented Trinity at the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive year, highlighted by an All-American performance in the 100-yard fly, finishing seventh in the country. It marked his highest individual finish at the NCAA Championships in Kohl’s career and the first top eight performance from an SCAC male swimmer since 2015. He also earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 100-yard freestyle finishing 16th.

Historically, Kohl became the first men’s swimmer since 2015 to earn multiple individual All-American honors at the same NCAA Championship since former Tiger Stephen Culberson in 2015. He closes out his historic career with four individual All-American honors, tied for fourth most in SCAC history. DePauw’s John Cook leads all SCAC make swimmers with eight career individual All-American swims. At the SCAC Championships, Kohl finishes his career as the most decorated athlete in Men’s Championship history. His 12 individual SCAC titles during his four years are the most in league history and he finishes his conference swimming career with nine top-five times all-time at the SCAC Championships including the fastest in both the 100-fly (47.61 – 2022) and 100-freestyle (44.35 – 2024). He also holds SCAC open records in both the 100-fly (47.56 – 2022) and the 100-backstroke (49.41 – 2022).

Kohl is the 11th-straight Trinity student-athlete to win the award and 16th overall since the league reintroduced swimming as an officially sponsored conference sport in 1998-99.

Partalas, a senior from San Antonio, Texas, claimed gold in the 3-meter board and finished runner-up in the 1-meter at the SCAC Championships, earning SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet honors for the third consecutive year in the process. The victory on the high board represented his third consecutive win in the event at the championships, making him just the second diver in league history to win the event three-straight years.

Partalas was also a top SCAC finisher at the NCAA Diving III Regionals, finishing 11th on the 1-meter board (406.35) and 14th on the 3-meter (406.10). Historically, Partalas closes his career with six individual SCAC titles, tied for 18th most in championships history and tied for the second most all-time among divers. His win on the 1-meter board at the 2023 SCAC Championships still stands as the second-highest score in conference history with a mark of 540.00. This year marks the third consecutive year Partalas has secured SCAC Diver-of-the-Year accolades, making him just the third athlete in league history to accomplish that feat. He joins Nate Moch of former member DePauw (2000-2003) and Austin Howlett of Colorado College (2012-2015) to be named Diver-of-the-Year for three straight years.

Additionally, in an announcement that was made at the close of the championship meet, the Colorado College staff - led by 18th-year head coach Anne Goodman James, along with assistant coach Jen Buffin, assistant coach Adric Arndt, and diving coach Ellen Walker - earned SCAC Men's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors. It marks the fourth Men's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honor for Goodman James and marks the program's fourth overall all-time award.

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