University of Tennessee Athletics
S&D Earns Recognition Outside the Pool
May 03, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
May 3, 2011
By Todd Mounce, Media Relations Graduate Assistant
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving had a wealth of success in the water over the course of the 2010-11 season and it carried over outside of the pool, as Orange and White swimmers and divers were dominant in the academic arena as well.
Tennessee was one of 87 Division I teams to be named a College Swimming Coaches Association Scholar All-America Team by having a team grade point average above 3.00. UT finished the 2010 fall semester with a GPA of 3.21.
Lady Vol swimmers and divers also accounted for 20 of the 47 UT student-athletes between the sports of basketball and swimming and diving to be named to the 2010-11 Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll.
Those who were eligible for the honor and had a GPA of over 3.00 were seniors Aleksa Akerfelds, Alex Barsanti, Morgan Farrell, Martina Moravcikova, Jill Pierce and Tricia Weaner, juniors Kirstyn Colonias, Jenny Connolly, Maddie Garrett, Samara Gelb, Caitlin Perks and Gabrielle Trudeau, sophomores Abbie Alton, Lindsey Brackens, Kelsey Floyd, Sloane Pitman, Kathryn Sampson, Skye Sanders and Brooke Watson and redshirt freshman Tori Lamp.
In addition, Pierce was one of just 26 UT recipients to receive the prestigious Extraordinary Academic Achievement award, which is given annually to undergraduates who exhibit extraordinary scholarship, at the Chancellor's Honors Banquet.
A native of Knoxville, Pierce has a GPA of 3.85 as a Chancellor's Scholarship recipient, in addition to competing on the diving team the past four seasons. She is a pre-med major and was named to the Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll the past three seasons.
This season, the Big Orange finished 12th at the 2011 NCAA Championships, its highest finish since 2008, and took fourth at the SEC Championships.
