EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's and women's swimming & diving teams have announced the team award winners for the 2013-14 season.
Most Valuable Performer honors went to swimmers Alex Card (Sr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) and Maggie Reilly (Sr.-Saint Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) along with diver Sara Axness (So.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial).
Card ended his career as a six-time All-American, three of which were first team honors. This season he earned All-American recognition in two events at nationals. Card won three WIAC titles this year, bringing his career total to nine. He holds four schools and was named the WIAC Swimmer of the Meet twice. It was the third year in a row Card received MVP honors while he also won Rookie of the Year recognition in 2011.
Reilly won the WIAC title in the 200-yard butterfly this season and finished in the top five in four events at the conference championship. In 2012, she earned the team's Most Improved award.
Axness won the WIAC title in the three-meter dive, becoming the first Blugold to win the event since 2000. She was named the WIAC Championship Women's Diver of the Meet, the first Blugold in history to earn the honor after also taking second in the one-meter dive. Axness set a school record in the one-meter dive (11 dives) at the NCAA Diving Regional on March 1 and earned two All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Championship. She was the first Blugold women's diver to compete at nationals since the 2001-02 season.
Jeff Schweitzer (So.-Cedarburg, Wis.) and Rachel Treadway (So.-Cottage Grove, Minn./East Ridge) earned Most Improved recognition.
Schweitzer's top finish at the WIAC Championship this season was in the 1,650-yard freestyle, taking 13th place. He was also 15th in the 500-yard freestyle.
Treadway's top finish at the WIAC Championship this year came in the 400-yard individual medley as she took third place. She was also 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.
Courtney Miller (Fr.-Richfield, Minn.), Sophie Tallard-Sklare (Fr.-Middleton, Wis.) and Ryan Young (Fr.-Lakeville, Minn./North) were named Rookies of the Year.
Miller dove in 11 events this season, ending the year at the NCAA Diving Regional, where she took 11th in the one-meter dive and 14th in the three-meter dive. Miller took fifth place in the one-meter dive at the WIAC Championship and seventh in the three-meter dive.
Tallard-Sklare's best finish at the WIAC Championship this year came in the 200-yard butterfly as she took third place. She was also ninth in the 100-yard butterfly and 11th in the 50-yard freestyle.
Young's top finish at the WIAC Championship this year was third place in the 200-yard butterfly. He was also part of two relay teams that took third place, including the 400-yard medley relay team that broke a school record.
Most Inspirational honors went to Mariah Ring (Sr.-Hastings, Minn.) and Adam Rose (Sr.-Brookfield, Wis./Central).
Ring's top finish at the WIAC Championship this year came in the 200-yard backstroke, where she took seventh place. She was also 10th in the 100-yard backstroke and 15th in the 500-yard freestyle. The last two seasons, Ring received Most Improved honors.
Rose was presented with Most Inspirational honors for the third year in a row.
Co-Head Coach Alyssa Trainor was presented with the Blugold Honor Award.
Selected as team captains for the 2014-15 season were Lisa Reed (Jr.-Duluth, Minn./East), Maddie Gray (So.-Roseville, Minn.), Shawn Westphal (So.-Eau Claire, Wis./North), Kyle Kackman (So.-Otsego, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and Sam Doocy (Jr.-Georgetown, Texas).
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