Northeast-10 Announces Swimming & Diving Post-Season Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
South Easton, Mass. – The College of Saint Rose sophomore Vadim Yafayev (Albany, N.Y.) and Southern Connecticut State University senior Cody Hall (Parker, Colo.) were named the 2009-2010 Northeast-10 Swimming & Diving 'Swimming Athletes of the Year' as voted by the conference's head coaches.
Also receiving post-season accolades are Bentley University junior Jon Andrews (Southbury, Conn.) and Southern Connecticut sophomore Amanda Burden (Orange, Conn.), who were selected as the Northeast-10 'Diving Athletes of the Year' for the second straight season. Pace University's Kevin Dickson (Coldingham, Scotland) and Southern Connecticut's Amanda Thomas (Oakville, Conn.) received Freshman of the Year honors.
Bentley head coach Mary Kay Samko was voted Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, while Southern Connecticut's Tim Quill was selected Women's Swimming Coach of the Year. Diving Coach of the Year accolades went to Bentley's Rick Danehy for the second straight year on the men's side, while Southern Connecticut's Jesse Cyr was honored seventh straight year as the Women's Diving Coach of the Year.
Yafayev had a record breaking year for the Golden Knights. The sophomore earned Swimmer of the Meet honors at the Northeast-10 Championships after recording first place finishes in the 200-yard and 400-yard IM. He also finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke. Yafayev qualified for the NCAA Championship in three events earning honorable mention All-America honors in the 400-yard IM with a ninth place finish in a time of 4:00.23. He also finished 18th in the 200-yard IM and 20th in the 100-yard backstroke.
Hall capped off her senior year in fine fashion as she recorded three individual All-America performances at the NCAA Championships. She finished second in the 500-yard freestyle event and took home third place in the 1,000-yard freestyle, while finishing fifth in the 400-yard IM. In addition, Hall was part of the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay teams that earned honorable mention All-America honors. At the Northeast-10 Championships she won three individual events and was part of four relay events.
Andrews picked up his second straight Diver of the Year honors. His top performances this year include, winning the one-meter and three-meter diving events at the Northeast-10 Championships to earn the championship's Diver of the Meet honors. He also earned gold in the one-meter diving event at the New England Championships.
Burden qualified for the NCAA Championships in the one-meter diving event and came away with a 16th place finish earning honorable mention All-America honors. The two-time NE-10 Diver of the Year won both diving events at this year's Northeast-10 Championships and earned Diver of the Meet honors in the process. She set a new meet record in the one-meter event with a score of 400.60.
In his first year of collegiate action, Dickson rewrote Pace's record books as he set a number of new standards. He set the school record in the 50-yard freestyle (21.79), the 100-yard freestyle (47.82) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.81). The freshman also holds the record in the 100-yard butterfly (52.73) and the 200-yard IM (2:04.58). Dickson finished second in the 50-yard freestyle, third in the 100-yard-freestyle and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the Northeast-10 Championships.
Thomas established herself as a two-time All-American in just her first year of collegiate competition. At the NCAA Championships she finished sixth in the 200-yard IM (2:05.27) and eighth in the 400-yard IM (4:30.21). Thomas also earned honorable mention honors after finishing 12th in the 200-yard backstroke and 15th in the 200-yard butterfly. She earned Swimmer of the Meet accolades at this year's Northeast-10 Championships and helped lead Southern Connecticut to its seventh straight title. Thomas won three individual events including the 200-yard IM (2:04.89), the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.12) and the 100-yard backstroke (57.29) at the Northeast-10 Championships.
With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.
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2009-2010 Northeast-10 Swimming & Diving Major Awards
Men's Swimmer of the Year: Vadim Yafayev – Saint Rose
Women's Swimmer of the Year: Cody Hall – Southern Connecticut
Men's Diver of the Year: Jon Andrews – Bentley
Women's Diver of the Year – Amanda Burden - Southern Connecticut
Men's Freshman of the Year – Kevin Dickson – Pace
Women's Freshman of the Year – Amanda Thomas – Southern Connecticut
Men's Swimming Coach of the Year – Mary Kay Samko – Bentley
Women's Swimming Coach of the Year – Tim Quill – Southern Connecticut
Men's Diving Coach of the Year – Rick Danehy – Bentley
Women's Diving Coach of the Year – Jesse Cyr – Southern Connecticut
