Women’s Swimming & Diving Award Winners of the Year Announced

Women’s Swimming & Diving Award Winners of the Year Announced

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Risucci, Fackler, Boeckel, Heinbach and Thornton Recognized

ROCHESTER, NY - The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Swimmer, Diver Rookie and Coach of the Year awards for the 2012-13 women’s swimming and diving season. The conference coaches vote on the awards.
 
Nazareth senior Carissa Risucci has been bestowed the Swimmer of the year. Risucci qualified for Division III National Meet for the fourth time and earned two All-America honors, bringing her career total to nine. She swam the best race of her life in the 200-yard breaststroke at nationals resulting in a second place finish. Risucci broke her own school record with a time of 2:14.90, less than .20 of a second behind the winner. She placed eighth in the 100 breast (1:04.02) and 32nd in the 200 individual medley. A month earlier, she was named the Female Swimmer of the Meet at the Upper New York State/Empire 8 Championships as she led the Golden Flyers to a fourth-place team finish. Risucci won the 200 breaststroke with a championship record time of 2:16.20, automatically qualifying her for the NCAAs.  She also successfully defended her title in the 100 breaststroke as she broke her own school record in the finals with a winning B-cut time of 1:03.93.
 
Ithaca junior Korie Fackler and senior Kloe Boeckel have been voted co-Divers of the Year.
 
Fackler earned Female Diver of the Meet at the Upper New York State/Empire 8 Championships. She scored 494.50 on the 3-meter diving board, which was a record in the UNYSCSA, the Empire 8 meet, and in the A&E Center Aquatics Pavilion. Fackler added to her 3-meter title with a first-place finish on the 1-meter board. She scored 475.35 in the finals, more than 40 points better than the runner-up as her score set a UNYSCSA and a school record. Fackler was one of five conference female divers to qualify for the NCAA regional.
 
Boeckel qualified for her first NCAA championship after switching from the gymnastic arena to the diving well 16 months ago. At the Empire 8 Championships, she placed second on the 3-meter and fifth on the 1-meter board. She qualified for the NCAA regional round and scored a school record 497.10 in the 3-meter to rank fourth overall and earn a trip to the national meet. She placed ninth at regionals on the 1-meter board (457.85). At nationals, Boeckel placed 19th on the 3-meter and 24th on the one-meter.
 
Stevens Institute of Technology freshman Elizabeth Heinbach was a clear favorite for Rookie of the Year. She was one of two freshmen in the conference to qualify for the NCAA meet and competed in three individual events. Heinbach earned honorable mention All-American distinction in two events with a 14th place finish in the 400 individual medley (4:30.37) and a 15th place swim in the 1650 freestyle as she clocked an E8 record time of 17:11.13. She also took 24th in the 500 freestyle.  At the UNYSCSA/Empire 8 Championships she took first in the 500 and 1650 free, and third in the 400 IM.
 
Stevens Brad Thornton has been named the Women’s Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year. Thornton guided the Ducks to three Championship Team titles in 2012-13. Stevens claimed its second straight Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference title at the beginning of December. In late February the Ducks won the Empire 8 and the UNYSCSA title for the first time in program history. And last weekend, Stevens finished amongst the nations best programs, placing seventh at the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships. Stevens was consistently ranked throughout the season and has now finished in the top-10 at nationals the past three years.