The following is a portion of a press release from the America East Conference:
The award winner for the championship’s Most Outstanding Swimmer went to UMBC Sophomore Emily Escobedo. The back-to-back award winner won three individual events throughout the championship: the 200-yard IM, 100-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard breaststroke. Escobedo set new conference championship records in all her individual events in addition to placing first.
Maggie Preston of the University of Vermont was named the Most Outstanding Diver. The Catamount junior finished fourth in the one-meter dive with a tally of 236.65, and took first place in the three-meter scoring a 260.15.
The championship’s Most Outstanding Rookie award went to Elizaveta Baykova of UNH. The Moscow, Russia native had successful championship; a member of the winning 800-yard, 200-yard freestyle, and 400-yard medley relay teams; finished second in the 50-yard freestyle, and first in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle.
Mann was the recipient of the David Alexander coach’s award, which is given to the senior student-athlete who has accumulated the most points during her four-year career at the conference championship. Mann finished her career with 213 points while competing at the America East Championship.
In addition to the David Alexander award, Mann also earned the Elite 18 Award, which is given to a student exemplifying excellence, both in their sport, and in the classroom. As an English major with a cumulative GPA of 3.89, Mann proved she is a force to be reckoned with both in the classroom and pool.
UMBC Head Coach Chad Cradock, along with assistants Chris Gibeau, Rob Bellamy, Brandt Nigro, and Petar Trifonov were honored with the Coaching Staff of the Year award.