February 12, 2012
2012 Swimming and Diving Award Winners
State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Commissioner Dr. Patrick Damore announced the major awards at the conclusion of the championship meet Saturday night. New Paltz and Fredonia picked up two awards while Cortland, Geneseo, Oneonta and Potsdam all earned one. All eight awards are voted on by the conference coaches.
Fredonia’s Ryan Fuller, earned Outstanding Male Diver as he won both diving events with NCAA qualifying standards. He won both boards by a margin of 18 points becoming the first Blue Devil to sweep the diving competition since 2004. Fuller posted a 488.75 on the one-meter board and a score of 512.65 on the three-meter board.
Fredonia sophomore Sarah Ficarro earned the Female Diver of the Meet honor for the third consecutive year and it’s the seventh straight year a Blue Devil has earned the award. Ficarro successfully defended her SUNYAC 3-meter diving title with a NCAA qualifying score of 471.30 points outscoring 16 other women entered in the conference championships. She finished second on the 1-meter board for the second straight year with a qualifying score of 474.85 points, just 3.3 points behind first place.
Alexander Taylor, a junior from Potsdam, was named the Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Meet after winning two events and finishing fourth in another. Taylor won the 100-breaststroke in a NCAA “B” cut time of 57.67. He won his second individual title of the meet with a time of 2:06.61 in the 200 breaststroke. Taylor’s time slipped under the NCAA “B” cut and set a new meet record. He took fourth in the 200 IM in 1:56.83, four-tenths out of third place. Taylor becomes the first Potsdam swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events since 1991 and is the first Bear to earn Outstanding Swimming Honors since 2000.
New Paltz junior Yuka Suzuka was named the Outstanding Female Swimmer as she led the Hawks to a fourth-place team finish. Suzuka won three individual events, hit two NCAA automatic-qualifying cuts and set two conference overall records during the three-day meet. She clocked a 2:08.62 time in the 200 individual medley on day one, which met NCAA provisional qualification. Suzuka followed that swim up on the meet's second day, as she charted an impressive 55.53 in the 100 backstroke. Her 100 backstroke time not only met NCAA automatic qualification, but it also set the conference meet and conference overall records. Finally, her time of 2:01.60 in the 200 backstroke on Saturday met the NCAA automatic standard and erased the conference meet and conference overall records. Suzuka is the third New Paltz swimmer to earn the conference's top honor for female swimmers. Joanna Masterson (2005, 06) and Michelle Coombs (2007, 08) each were two-time winners of the award.
New Paltz senior Christine Rieth became the program's third-ever Grace Mowatt Award recipient while Geneseo’s Ken Pink was voted the James Fulton recipient. The Grace Mowatt and James Fulton awards are given annually to a senior male and female swimmer/diver based on the following criteria: All-America honors, All-SUNYAC honors, improvement throughout collegiate career and academic achievement.
Rieth has attended the NCAA Championships three times, and she is the only New Paltz female swimmer to own that distinction. She is a two-time SUNYAC Champion in the 50-freestyle and has been on several championship winning relay teams. Past New Paltz recipients of the Grace Mowatt Award were Jessica DiFabio (1998) and Masterson (2006).
Pink becomes the tenth Blue Wave swimmer to earn the Fulton award and joins a distinguished list of former athletes. Pink is a three-time SUNYAC champion in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM as well as a two-time champion in the 100 breaststroke.
Brian Tobin was named the 2012 SUNYAC Women’s Coach of the Year as a result of the Red Dragon’s outstanding three-day showing. Cortland finished with 633 points as Tobin’s team won four individual events and two relay titles. The Cortland women posted six NCAA provisional times in the pool and one qualifying standing on the diving board. The Red Dragons tied the conference and meet record in the 200 freestyle relay to kick of the three-day meet. This is Tobin’s second Women’s Coach of the Year honor, previously being recognized in 2010.
Head coach Chris Schuler-Ghiorse was named the 2011 Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Oneonta men to an impressive third place finish, improving from seventh place a year ago. Oneonta won three individual events, two relays, hit a “B” cut time and set a new meet and conference record in the 100 backstroke. Schuler-Ghiorse is the first Oneonta swimming and diving coach to earn the men’s honor since it was first awarded in 1975. She previously won the women’s coaching honor in 2000.
Brian Tobin was named the 2012 SUNYAC Women’s Coach of the Year as a result of the Red Dragon’s outstanding three-day showing. Cortland finished with 633 points as Tobin’s team won four individual events and two relay titles. The Cortland women posted six NCAA provisional times in the pool and one qualifying standing on the diving board. The Red Dragons tied the conference and meet record in the 200 freestyle relay to kick of the three-day meet. This is Tobin’s second Women’s Coach of the Year honor, previously being recognized in 2010.
Head coach Chris Schuler-Ghiorse was named the 2011 Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Oneonta men to an impressive third place finish, improving from seventh place a year ago. Oneonta won three individual events, two relays, hit a “B” cut time and set a new meet and conference record in the 100 backstroke. Schuler-Ghiorse is the first Oneonta swimming and diving coach to earn the men’s honor since it was first awarded in 1975. She previously won the women’s coaching honor in 2000.
