By: Jake Krier, UWEC Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) - Last weekend, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's and women's swimming and diving teams came together for their year-end banquet to honor their award winners of the 2017-18 season. A number of awards were handed out, including Most Valuable Freshman, Most Improved, Most Inspirational, Hardest Worker, Most Valuable Diver, and Most Valuable Swimmer. The captains for next season were also named, as was the recipient of the Blugold Award.
Beginning with the men's squad, the Most Valuable Swimmer was awarded to Collin Miller (So.-Rochester, MN/Schaeffer Academy). Miller led the pace of the entire program this season, taking home All-American honors with his fourth place finish in the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships.
The other Blugold to compete at the NCAA Championships this season was Dylan Glumac-Berberich (So.-Fridley, MN). The sophomore was named the team's Most Valuable Diver. He finished with a 9th place finish in the 1-meter dive and in 17th place in the 3-meter dive at the Championships.
The remainder of the awards went as follows: Most Valuable Freshman to Greg Pehl (Fr.-New Brighton, MN/Irondale), Most Improved to Noah Draxler (Sr.-Kiel, WI), Most Inspirational to Caleb Odmark (Jr.-White Bear Lake, MN), and Hardest Worker to Konrad Plomedahl (Jr.-Madison, WI/Sun Prairie).
For the women, being named the Most Valuable Swimmer this season was Jessica Short (Jr.-Grafton, WI). The junior won the conference title in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Bailei Hughes (Sr.-Winona, MN) was named the Most Valuable Diver for the second straight season.
Rounding out the awards for the women's team, Kate Stensberg (Fr.-Antigo, WI) was named the Most Valuable Freshman, Breanna Kimmes (So.-Hastings, MN) was named Most Improved, Brittany Farr (Jr.-Madison, WI/James Madison Memorial) was named Most Inspirational, and Anna Pagel (Fr.-Hillsboro, OR/Oregon) was named Hardest Worker.
The final award given out was to assistant coach Nick Hora. He was given the Blugold Award for the second consecutive year. This award is given to someone who demonstrates what it means to be a Blugold in and out of the pool.
The captains for next year will be Farr, Short, and Anna Theisen (So.-Glenbeulah, WI/Plymouth) for the women and Odmark, Andrew Shane (So.-Kenosha, WI/Badger), and Andrew Strauch (Jr.-Lakeville, MN/Lakeville North) for the men.
Follow the action all season long on Blugold Game Day.
