C-USA SWIMMING AND DIVING NOTEBOOK

IRVING, TEXAS (October 21, 2008) Conference USA women’s swimming teams are excelling both in the water and in the classroom. According to CollegeSwimming.com, the nation produced 91 women who received individual Academic All-American honors by achieving a GPA of 3.500 or higher and qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Twenty-four women scored a perfect 4.000 grade point average. Texas A&M had three 4.0’s while George Mason, Minnesota and SMU had two each. The Rice women ranked 27th among the nation’s top 100 team GPA’s possessing a 3.360. Following behind the Owl’s are in-state rival SMU at No. 32 with a 3.320 GPA. Combined with their men’s team, SMU has the 10th highest GPA among combined programs with a 3.290.

In the latest CollegeSwimming.com Top 25 polls, SMU women rank No. 12. SMU women’s swimming and diving will meet head to head with five of the Top 25 ranked teams in No. 2 Georgia, No. 7 Texas, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 19 Penn State and No. 20 Arizona State throughout the season.

East Carolina senior Amanda Duncan and Marshall freshman Liz Greenway share this week’s Conference USA Swimmer of the Week honor for the period ending Oct. 20. Duncan helped lead the Pirates to a 176-113 win over Davidson to improve to 4-0 in dual meets this season. Greenway had top times in three events to lead Marshall to a 185-79 victory over Radford in her second collegiate meet. Marshall senior Siobhan Schuurman is the Diver of the Week. Schuurman set a new personal collegiate best in the three-meter event and has swept both diving events in each of the Herd’s meets this season.

CO-SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (10/21)
AMANDA DUNCAN – EAST CAROLINA
Sr., Wake Forest, N.C. (Wake Forest-Rolesville)

For the second straight meet, Duncan had top finishes in the 100 and 200-butterfly for the Pirates, helping them to a 4-0 record in dual meets this season. Against Davidson, Duncan earned a pair of first-place finishes after clocking a time of 56.00 in the 100-butterfly and 2:04.31 in the 200-butterfly. This is Duncan’s second career weekly C-USA swimming honor and first of the season.

LIZ GREENWAY – MARSHALL
Fr., Greer, S.C. (Riverside HS)
In her second collegiate meet, Greenway won the 100, 500, and 1000-yard freestyle events to help lead Marshall to a 185-79 victory over Radford. The freshman swimmer clocked times of in 55.65 in the 100, 5:17.49 in the 500 and 10:43.91 in the 1000-yard freestyle. In addition to her first place honors, Greenway helped the 200 freestyle relay team to a second place finish. This is Greenway’s first weekly honor.

DIVER OF THE WEEK (10/21)
SIOBHAN SCHUURMAN – MARSHALL
Sr., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (Ross Sheppard HS)
Schuurman won both the one-meter and three-meter events with scores of 248.18 in both events, respectively. The senior diver set a new collegiate-best in the three-meter event, bettering her previous mark of 246.45. Schuurman holds the school record in the one-meter and platform dives at Marshall and has swept every diving event of the season she has competed in. This is Schuurman’s second career weekly C-USA diving honor and first of the season.