University of Tennessee Athletics
Pesek Earns GTE Academic All-America First Team Honors
April 23, 1999 | Women's Swimming & Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee Lady Vol senior diver Kathy Pesek (Houston, Texas) was selected to the 1998-99 CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-America Fall/Winter At-Large First Team. This marks the second year she has been named to the national team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and sponsored in part by GTE.
Pesek has registered a cumulative grade point average of 3.90 and will graduate in May with a degree speech pathology. The 10-time All-American concluded her Tennessee career in March when she competed at her fourth consecutive NCAA Championships, advancing to the finals on all three boards. She placed fourth on both the platform and 3m springboard, and finished seventh on the 1m springboard with a personal best score. She is now tied with former Lady Vol diver Tracy Bonner with the most All-America certificates in individual events.
Last week, Pesek won her fifth U.S. title with her performance at the 1999 U.S. Diving Summer National Championships. She claimed first place in the three-meter synchronized springboard event with former Lady Vol Tracy Bonner. Pesek also took home the silver medal on the platform, qualifying for the 1999 Pan American Games and 1999 World University Games, both taking place in July.
In February, she claimed her second consecutive Southeastern Conference title on the 10-meter platform, earning All-SEC first team honors. She also advanced to the finals on all three boards for the first time in her career. This season she recorded nine first-place finishes and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the third time.
Pesek currently holds the UT record for the platform and on the 3m board for six dives, and became the second Lady Vol diver to win a national title in 1998 by claiming first place on the platform. She returns to the Academic list after being named the 1997-98 CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-American of the Year for fall/winter sports.
