Springfield, Ohio – Wittenberg University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams recently earned recognition from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) as recipients of Scholar All-America Team awards for the spring 2015 semester.
The award honors teams that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.0 cumulative team grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. The Tiger women, who compiled a 3.11 GPA in the semester that concluded in May, have earned Scholar All-America status every year since Head Coach Natalie Koukis took the reins of the program in 2004. The Tiger men earned the status after posting a 3.12 cumulative GPA during the spring 2015 semester.
“It is very rewarding to coach a team filled with dedicated students who are also outstanding college athletes,” Koukis said. “It takes a great deal of hard work, dedication and self-sacrifice to achieve at high levels of both your major and your sport, but once again team members in the Wittenberg Swimming & Diving program have done that. That makes me a very proud and humbled coach.”
Both Tiger teams posted dual meet records of 6-3 in the 2014-15 season before finishing fifth in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship meet, which included four nationally ranked men’s teams and three nationally ranked women’s squads. Individual highlights included senior AJ Burt (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming), senior James Dumstorf (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) and junior Stephen Stuthers (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) earning NCAA Division III B cut times during the 2014-15 season, and freshman Kaitlyn Black (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) earned a pair of All-NCAC awards in the women’s diving events and qualified for the NCAA Division III Regional competition.
The 2015-16 season opens with the annual NCAC Relay Meet on Saturday, Oct. 17, hosted by Kenyon College. The dual meet campaign kicks off a week later with a home meet against the College of Wooster.
Written By: Ryan Maurer