BATON ROUGE — The LSU swimming and diving teams held its annual team awards banquet honoring the 2002-03 squad last week, handing out 11 individual awards to team members.
All-American Stephanie Smith received the Most Valuable Female award, while six-time All-American Evan Martinec was named the Most Valuable swimmer on the men’s team. Smith broke three schol records this season in the freestyle (500, 1000, 1650), and swam in the NCAA Championship for the second year in a row.
Martinec was an All-American in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200 and 400-yard medley relay. Martinec combined with three others to break the school record in the 200 at the 2003 NCAA Championship in March. He was named team MVP for the second-straight season. Martinec earned All-American distinction for the third-consecutive season and placed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA’s.
Sophomore diver Jessica Wantz was given the “Clutch” award on the women’s team, while junior Matthew Rucker won the award on the men’s side. Wantz, a native of Houston, Texas, finished fourth in the 3-meter diving competition at the NCAA Championship, earning First Team All-America honors in her first-career appearance at the NCAA’s. Wantz also competed in the 1-meter competition at the NCAA’s after finishing second in the competition at the NCAA Zone B Regional on March 15. Rucker made his debut at the NCAA’s as well and was named an All-American in the 200 medley relay.
Sophomore Margaret Beadle received the “Most Improved” award for the women and Matt Coenen was honored with the same award for the men. Seniors Julie Johnson and Kyle Van Arsdall were given the “Coaches” award for their hard work and dedication throughout the season.
Sophomore Margaret Anne Moore, Beadle, and sophomore Timothy Dallinger were each honored with the teams’ “Academic” award for having the highest grade point averages on the team. Moore and Beadle each had perfect 4.0 gpa’s this year and Dallinger earned a 3.5 gpa.
“I am very proud of our entire team this season and very happy for all these athletes who received individual awards,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “We had a good season and it is because we have so many hard-working, dedicated athletes at LSU.”
The men’s team finished 18th at the NCAA Championship, the team’s eighth top-25 NCAA finish in the last nine seasons. The women finished 32nd at the NCAA’s.