EMU Men’s swimming & diving lands nine on Academic All-MAC team

The following is a press release courtesy of Eastern Michigan University:

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) — The Mid-American Conference announced Friday, April 17, that nine members of Eastern Michigan University’s men’s swimming and diving team have been named to the Academic All-MAC team.  The honor is the second academic award of the year to be bestowed upon the team, as the Green and White was also pegged as a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) 2014 Fall Scholar All-America team, Feb. 24.  Miami led the conference with 14 selections, followed by Missouri State (11), EMU, Southern Illinois (8), Ball State (6), and Buffalo (3).

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics.  To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.

The eight Eagles that earned the accolade included:  Erik BrinkhoffDylan CromptonKrzysztof GilskiErik GissenAndrew HenryChris HodgesBrian MooreKevin Moore, and Sage Stephens.

Brinkhoff competed in eight meets for the Eagles with top-five finishes in the 50 free in seven out of his eight appearances.  His highest finish included a pair of third-place performances against Miami, Jan. 31, in 21.45 seconds and at the OSU Winter Invitational, Feb. 14-15, in a personal record of 20.72 seconds.  Brinkhoff also swam the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay in seven meets, earning a runner-up finish against Miami in 1:34.01.  Brinkhoff holds a 3.80 GPA in supply chain management.

An international affairs major with a 3.69 GPA, Crompton saw action in five meets this year.  His best weekend came at the Michigan First Chance Meet, Feb. 21-22, where he set personal records in the 50 free (21.40), 100 free (46.30) and 200 free (1:42.06) to finish sixth in all three events against a field of Big Ten Conference competitors.  For his peformance, Crompton was named the MAC Swimmer of the Week, Feb. 23.

Gilski was a staple at the MAC Championships, competing in the championship final of the 200 fly and the consolation finals of the 100 fly and 500 free, March 4-7.  The junior electronic engineering technology major who maintains a 3.25 GPA swam in seven meets donning the Green and White, and specialized in butterfly throughout the 2014-15 campaign with a win in the 100 fly against B1G opponent Northwestern in 50.15 seconds, Oct. 16.

Gissen was honored as a Second Team All-MAC member for the second straight year after his help in earning EMU’s 32nd conference title in program history.  He competed in the championship finals of the 100 fly and 100 back as well as the consolation final of the 50 free at the MAC Championships.  His mark of 48.59 in the 100 fly was good for fifth in the conference and fourth on EMU’s all-time list, while he also touched in fifth in the 100 back in 49.00 seconds, good for fifth all-time in program laurels.  Gissen holds a 3.47 GPA in mechanical engineering technology.

A First Team All-MAC honoree, Henry had a stellar junior season as he broke the school record in the 200 free in 1:35.24 to finish second at the MAC Championships, and also had the fourth-best 100 free mark of 44.27 seconds to take third and the third-fastest 200 IM time in 1:46.70, also taking third at the conference meet.  The construction major with a 3.74 GPA swam legs of the runner-up 400 medley and EMU record-breaking 800 free relays as well as the fourth-place 200 and 400 free relays at the MAC Championships.  Throughout the regular season, Henry was dominant in the 200 free, going undefeated throughout seven meets, and also won the 100 free four times.  The junior was also honored twice by the MAC this season after being named the MAC Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 10 and the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week on Nov. 12.

Hodges is no stranger to being honored for his work in the pool and in the classroom, as he was previously named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week on Feb. 4after picking up his first career wins in the 100 and 200 breast against Miami.  The junior won the 100 breast in 56.70 seconds, while his time of 2:05.12 was good for the win in the 200  as well.  At the MAC Championships, Hodges took eighth in the 200 breast in 2:00.70, the fourth-fastest time in program history, and also recorded the fourth-fastest 100 breast after taking 11th in 55.33 seconds.  Throughout the season, he had solid swims as he finished in the top-three for both the 100 and 200 breast in five of his eight meets.  Hodges boasts a 3.84 GPA in accounting.

The elder of the Moore brothers, Brian was a First Team All-MAC honoree and competed in eight meets.  Moore made the switch to become the Eagles’ primary 50 free contender this year, and had a stellar outcome as he finished runner-up at the MAC Championships in 20.12 seconds after swimming the second-fastest time in EMU history of 20.04 seconds in the prelims.  Moore also finished second in the 100 free by a mere hundredth of a second, touching in at 43.74 seconds, but not before he broke the EMU and MAC record after swimming a 43.40 in the prelims.  Moore also swam the second-best 200 free time in program laurels after placing third at the conference meet in 1:35.72, as he and Henry are the only two EMU swimmers to ever dip below the 1:36.00 mark.  Additionally, Moore swam legs of the EMU record-breaking 200 medley and 800 free relays as well as the fourth-place 200 and 400 free relays at the MAC Championships.  In the regular season, Moore won the 50 free three times and the 100 free twice, placing in the top-three in both events in every appearance during his senior campaign.  Moore holds a 3.23 GPA in finance.

The second Moore to appear on the Academic All-MAC list, Kevin swam in five meets for the Green and White.  The accounting major with a 3.50 GPA finished fourth in the 50 free against Northwestern, Wayne State, and Miami, and set personal records of 21.03 seconds in the 50 free and 50.23 seconds in the 100 fly at the OSU Winter Invitational to finish ninth and third, respectively.  Moore also swam on the winning 200 medley relay against Miami alongside his brother on Senior Day, picking up the first relay win of his career in 1:32.41.

Stephens dove in six meets for the Eagles, and finished seventh in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the MAC Championships after amassing 307.20 and 297.25 points, respectively.  A criminal justice major with a 3.40 GPA, Stephens had his highest finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter against Cincinnati, Nov. 15, when he took third in both with scores of 305.85 points and 323.03 points.  The senior also finished runner-up in a rare showing of the platform dive with 224.85 points.  Stephens capped off his career at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, March 12-13, finishing 21st on the 1-meter springboard with 286.80 points and took 22nd in the 3-meter dive with 294.30 points.

2015 Men’s Swimming & Diving Academic All-MAC
Tanner Barton, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.0
Jacob Eckert, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.555
Neal Fennig, Ball State, Senior, 3.266
Andrew Lamb, Ball State, Senior, 3.266
Bradley Ridge, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.249
Conner Snare, Ball State, Senior, 3.916
Eric Forrester, Buffalo, Senior, 3.88
Callum Liddiard, Buffalo, Sophomore, 3.70
John Nord, Buffalo, Senior, 3.58
Erik Brinkhoff, Eastern Michigan, Sophomore, 3.80
Dylan Crompton, Eastern Michigan, Junior, 3.69
Krzysztof Gilski, Eastern Michigan, Junior, 3.25
Erik Gissen, Eastern Michigan, Junior, 3.47
Andrew Henry, Eastern Michigan, Junior, 3.74
Chris Hodges, Eastern Michigan, Junior, 3.84
Brian Moore, Eastern Michigan, Senior, 3.23
Kevin Moore, Eastern Michigan, Sophomore, 3.50
Sage Stephens, Eastern Michigan, Senior, 3.40

Evan Bader, Miami, Junior, 3.99
Connor Cashman, Miami, Sophomore, 3.39
Samauel Crockett, Miami, Senior, 3.42
Sean DeMuro, Miami, Junior, 3.21
Christopher Dieter, Miami, Junior, 3.55
Brian Donohue, Miami, Sophomore, 3.85
Cole Fryman, Miami, Junior, 3.58
Maximilian Jelen, Miami, Sophomore, 3.27
Jacob Prodoehl, Miami, Junior, 3.89
Sean Sargent, Miami, Sophomore, 3.93
Grant Stafford, Miami, Sophomore, 3.2
Davis Staley, Miami, Junior, 3.36
Jack Strauss, Miami, Sophomore, 3.36
Heshan Unamboowe, Miami, Junior, 3.51
Miguel Davila, Missouri State, Junior, 3.78
Aaron Dennis, Missouri State, Senior, 3.66
Uvis Kalnins, Missouri State, Junior, 3.69
Isaac McKnight, Missouri State, Senior, 3.67
Garrett Nevels, Missouri State, Senior, 3.27
Max Pratt, Missouri State, Senior, 3.78
Preston Selby, Missouri State, Sophomore, 3.27
Jack Snow, Missouri State, Junior, 3.92
Isaac Springer, Missouri State, Junior, 3.55
Brandon Weissman, Missouri State, Sophomore, 4.00
Matthew Wilson, Missouri State, Senior, 3.65
Caleb Coots, Southern Illinois, Senior, 3.695
Calvin Kolar, Southern Illinois, Senior, 3.835
Till Pallmann, Southern Illinois, Junior, 3.43
Andy Ross, Southern Illinois, Sophomore, 3.682
Bobby Wood, Southern Illinois, Sophomore, 3.921
Andres Saavedra, Southern Illinois, Junior, 3.712
Shaun Wolfe, Southern Illinois, Senior, 3.822
Dusan Vukobrat, Southern Illinois, Sophomore, 3.805

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About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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