Razorbacks Honored At Banquet
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas swimming and diving team held its annual banquet Saturday at Mermaids Seafood Restaurant in Fayetteville.
Ten seniors were honored and individual awards were given to team members for their contributions during the course of the 2015-16 season.
Senior swimmer Anna Mayfield and sophomore diver Nicole Gillis earned the Razorback 212 Award for scoring the most points throughout the course of the season.
Mayfield qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of her four seasons. The San Antonio, Texas, native leads Arkansas’ individual record holders with three program records, including the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, and 18 top five all-time performances. In addition, she is a member of three of four NCAA “A” cut relay times in program history.
At the 2016 NCAA Zone D Diving qualifier, Gillis posted a 12-dive total of 651.60 to take sixth overall in the 3-meter springboard event, earning her first NCAA bid. She also produced a top-10 finish in the 1m springboard event. In addition, Gillis, a native of Johannesburg, South Africa, placed fifth with a personal-best 310.00 points in the 1m springboard finals at the 2016 Southeastern Conference Championships.
The Scholar Athlete Award was given to freshman Annah Carney, junior Mary Margaret Soderberg, senior Rachel Stoehr, sophomore Chelsea Tatlow and sophomore Taylor Weiss for their work in the classroom, which helped the team post the highest Fall 2015 GPA among Arkansas women’s sports (3.56) and earn College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America honors.
Freshman Madison Strathman and junior Natalie Burnett received the Razorback Rookie 212 Award, given to the newcomers who made the biggest impact during the season. Strathman garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors four times, which equaled an SEC record. She is among four swimmers in league history to accomplish the feat. She is the only athlete in program history to win an SEC weekly individual honor four times in one season and is one of three athletes in program history to tally four SEC weekly individual honors in a career.
Burnett posted the team’s top time in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly this season. In addition, her times in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke secured a spot on the all-time top-five performers list. She also is a member of five top-five all-time relay teams.
The 2016 SEC Championship 400 free relay team of senior Maddie Monroe, Burnett, senior Nina Drolc and Tatlow earned the Razorback Impact Award, given to the student-athletes whose performance changed the outcome of an event. The quartet combined to swim 3 minutes, 18.09 seconds, finishing in eighth place and helping the Razorbacks total 491 points and secure ninth place overall at the meet.
Strathman and Marissa Green received the Most Improved Award for making significant improvements throughout the course of the season.
Senior Jordan Kimmey and junior Aiden Lister earned the Kristen Thibodeaux Award for best representing the Razorbacks in and out of the pool.
The full list of awards handed out:
Razorback 212 Award – Anna Mayfield and Nicole Gillis
Scholar Athlete – Annah Carney, Mary Margaret Soderberg, Rachel Stoehr, Chelsea Tatlow, Taylor Weiss
Razorback Rookie 212 Award – Madison Strathman and Natalie Burnett
Razorback Impact Award – Maddie Monroe, Natalie Burnett, Nina Drolc, Chelsea Tatlow
Kristen Thibodeaux – Jordan Kimmey and Aiden Lister
For more information on Arkansas swimming and diving, follow @RazorbackSD on Twitter.
