SCAC Swimmers and Divers Continue to Claim All-America Honors at NCAA Championships

SCAC Swimmers and Divers Continue to Claim All-America Honors at NCAA Championships

(Portions of this story were taken from the Centre College, DePauw University and Trinity University websites)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
- The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference had five student-athletes earn all-America honors after the third day of competition at the 2011 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships at the Jones Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee. Official Men's Site | Official Women's Site Live Results

Trinity University senior Hayley Emerick placed second in the 1-meter diving competition to earn her second all-America honor of the championships. Emerick scored 458.50 points in the 1-meter finals and was also runner-up in Wednesday's 3-meter competition. The winner of both events was Danica Roskos of The College of New Jersey, who registered 515.90 on the 1-meter board. (Interview)
 
Earning honorable mention all-America honors was Trinity sophomore Ruth Hahn, diving in her hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., who placed 12th in the 1-meter championships, scoring 389.65. Hahn, a graduate of Bearden High School, finished third behind Emerick on the 3-meter board on Wednesday.

DePauw University sophomore Matt Kukurugya earned all-America honors Friday evening with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.66 seconds. In today's prelims, Kukurugya broke his own school record after finishing seventh in 56.29 seconds. He entered the Championships with the ninth fastest time. (Interview)

Kukurugya will also compete in the 200 breast on Saturday where he has the 14th best time and the Tigers will swim the 400 free relay where they are 23rd.

DePauw junior Catie Baker also earned all-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Baker finished eighth in 1:04.96 for her second career all-America honor. She also is a two-time career honorable mention all-America awardee. Baker was eighth in the prelims after entering the Championships with the 11th fastest time. (Interview)

She'll also compete in Saturday's 200 breast competition with the sixth-fastest time. On Wednesday, Baker finished 23rd in the 200 individual medley in 2:07.84.

Southwestern University junior Sarah Ayers, after swimming the fifth-fastest time in the morning prelims (56.42), claimed seventh place in Friday night's 100 backstroke finals, finishing with a time of 56.51 and earning all-America honors in the process - the first all-America performance in the history of Southwestern swimming. (Interview)

Ayers, who finished 48th in the 50 freestyle (24.42) on Wednesday, will compete in the 100 freestyle on Saturday.

Also competing in Friday's 100 backstroke alongside Ayers, Colleen Maggard of Centre took 25th with a time of 57.76.

On the final day of the Championships, Maggard will compete in the 200 backstroke. During the SCAC Championships Maggard won the event with a time of 2:03.54 to put her 14th in the nation. Maggard set a new SCAC open and meet record in the race, which was previously held at 2:05.36.

She earned honorable mention all-America honors in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.98 on Wednesday.

After a 51st-place finish in the 200 IM on Wednesday, Sewanee-The University of the South's Phillip Link bounced back on Friday with a strong 20th place showing in the 100 breaststroke - finishing in a time of 57.49. Swimming in his first NCAA Championship meet, the sophomore will compete in his third event - the 200 breaststroke - on Saturday.

DePauw's 800 freestyle men's relay of John Montgomery, Joe Hessburg, Jack Burgeson and Josh Baugh finished 20th in 6:54.26 on Friday.

Russell Kramer, SCAC Director of Communications and New Media, is on site covering all the action at the 2011 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming Championships. He caught up with several of Friday's participants from the SCAC, as well as some of the conference's coaches, to get their thoughts following the events. Those interviews are listed below:

Catie Baker, DePauw (Listen)
Matt Kukurugya, DePauw (Listen)
Sarah Ayers, Southwestern (Listen)
Hayley Emerick, Trinity (Listen)
Mary Bretscher, DePauw women's head coach (Listen)
Dan Carrington, Southwestern men's and women's head coach (Listen)
Stan Randall, Trinity men's and women's head diving coach (Listen)