Swimming and Diving Announces Team Awards At Annual Banquet
4/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
April 13, 2008
PITTSBURGH-Pitt's men's and women's swimming and diving teams announced their team award winners for the 2007-08 season at its annual postseason banquet Sunday morning at Alumni Hall.
The banquet began honoring all of the returning alumni for the event and featured the announcement of the team's postseason awards, including the Panther Triad Award, Most Valuable Diver, Most Valuable Swimmer, Most Improved Diver and an academic award.
First to be honored were sophomores Geoff Morgan (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall Central) and Beth Newell (Butler, Pa./Home Schooled), who were named the Panther Triad Award winners. Voted on by their peers, the Panther Triad is awarded to the swimmer or diver who best represents commitment, teamwork and pride.
Morgan aided in the 400 medley relay crown at the ECAC Championships and placed fourth in the 100 fly at the same meet. Newell was selected Panther performer of the meet in January when she swam career bests in the 100 and 200 backstroke events against Maryland, Villanova and Penn State.
The Panthers' Most Improved Divers were freshmen Collin Forner (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and Morgan Speece (Reading, Pa./Wilson). In their first Big East Championship appearances, Forner finished in the top 15 of the 1M diving event, while Speece placed fourth in the 3M board.
Pitt also announced its Most Improved Swimmers as junior B.J. Conklyn (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) and freshman Cookie McIntyre (York, Pa./West York Area). Conklyn was a part of the men's successful 400 medley and 200 free relay teams this season. On the women's side, McIntyre made an impression in her debut season with a fourth-place performance at the Big East Championships in the 200 fly, and set a freshman record in the 100 breast with a NCAA provisional mark of 1:03.07.
The Most Valuable Diver honor was awarded to junior Alex Volovetski (Brandon, Fla./Armwood) of the men's team, while sophomore Margo Ekstrom (Erie, Pa./McDowell) was chosen as the women's top diver for the second-consecutive year.
Volovetski garnered his first All-America honors for the 1M diving event and earned the Big East Most Outstanding Diver Award this season after he swept on the 1M and 3M boards. Ekstrom, on her second trip to the Big East Championships, advanced to the finals of the 1M diving event, and provided a crucial first-place finish in the Panthers thrilling win over then-No. 23 Notre Dame in November.
The men's Most Valuable Swimmer award went to senior Warren Barnes (Pickerington, Ontario, Canada/Dunbarton), who finished third in the 200 breast at the Big East Championships and registered an NCAA provisional mark of 1:58.46.
On the women's side, junior Agnes Mago (Kecskernet, Hungary/Radford) garnered the Most Valuable Swimmer accolade after placing second at the Big East Championships in the 200 fly with a school record time of 2:00.16. She also holds the school record for the 400 IM at 4:18.70.
The final team award of the day honored one male and one female on the team with the highest grade-point average. Earning the highest GPA for the men was Conklyn, while the women's award went to freshman Sarah Looney (Sugar Hill, Ga./North Gwinnett). Conklyn carried a 3.84 GPA in Pharmacy this past season, while Looney is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences with a perfect 4.0.
Pitt finished the season at the Big East Championships, where 21 Panthers earned All-Conference nods.