The Florida State swimming and diving teams celebrated the 2016-17 season on Saturday with families and friends with an end of the year awards banquet.
Ten student-athletes were awarded six different honors with freshman Molly Carlson and sophomore Natalie Purnell winning multiple accolades.
“We had a great year,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “The banquet was a great event for families and athletes to celebrate and enjoy their hard work and achievements.”
Juniors Natalie Pierce and Chad Mylin were named Most Valuable.
Pierce finished fourth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships, setting a new school record with a time of 58.26. She helped the Seminoles set two new school records in the medley relays and added a fifth place showing in the 100 breast at the ACC Championships.
Mylin won bronze in the 50 free at the ACC Championships before helping the Seminoles win silver in the 200 free relay. It was the first individual medal for the Noles since the 2015 meet and first relay medal since 2014. In addition, Mylin went on the compete at the NCAA Championships where he led FSU to an All-America honorable mention in the 200 free relay after placing 11th.
Freshman Molly Carlson and senior Dylan Grisell were selected as the Divers of the Year.
Carlson, was selected as the ACC Diver of the Year following her ACC Diving Meet MVP performance where she won gold on platform, bronze on 1-meter in addition to taking fourth on 3-meter. She also took 13th on platform at the 2017 NCAA Championships, capturing All-America honorable mention accolades.
Carlson was also awarded the Rookie of the Year for the women’s team.
Grisell became the first diver in school history to capture back-to-back All-America honors on platform following his ninth place finish at the NCAA Championships. He capped off his career having competed in seven ACC finals, taking silver on platform in 2017.
Freshman Max Polianski was selected as the men’s Rookie of the Year. Polianksi scored points at the ACC Championships in the 400 IM and 200 fly, ranking within the FSU All-time top 10 in both events.
Purnell was tabbed as the Hardest Worker and Most Improved for the women, while senior Jemal LeGrand and junior Joseph Plechy won those honors respectively for the men.
Sophomore Jonathan Ratliff and junior Tayla Lovemore both earned the Coaches’ Award – an honor given to the student-athlete that consistently performs well.
In addition, Mylin, Plechy, Pierce and junior Blaire Mulka were selected as captains for the 2017-18 season.
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Awards List:
Hardest Worker – Jemal LeGrand; Natalie Purnell
Most Improved – Joseph Plechy; Natalie Purnell
Rookie of the Year – Max Polianski; Molly Carlson
MVP – Chad Mylin; Natalie Pierce
Diver of the Year – Dylan Grisell; Molly Carlson
Coaches Award – Jonathan Ratliff; Tayla Lovemore
2017-18 Captains:
Joseph Plechy, Chad Mylin, Blaire Mulka, Natalie Pierce
News courtesy of Florida State Athletics.