Missouri State Men’s Swimming & Diving Places 11 on Academic All-MAC List

The following is a press release courtesy of Missouri State University:

SPRINGFIELD – Eleven members of the Missouri State men’s swimming & diving team have been named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, the league announced Friday, April 17.

 

Bears selected to the Academic All-MAC Team include seniors Aaron Dennis, Isaac McKnight, Garrett Nevels, Max Pratt and Matthew Wilson; juniors Miguel Davila, Uvis Kalnins, Jack Snow and Isaac Springer; and sophomores Preston Selby and Brandon Weissman.

 

Missouri State had the second most amount of student-athletes represented on the MAC list among the seven men’s swimming and diving members, with 51 student-athletes total earning academic all-conference honors.

 

Dennis, an accounting major with a 3.66 GPA, earned his third academic honor from the MAC, previously being named an honorable mention as a sophomore and first-team academic selection as a junior. The senior finished his career at the MAC Championships by advancing to the B-finals in two events for the Bears, while also placing seventh overall in the 100-yard breaststroke.

 

McKnight was selected to the Academic All-MAC list for the second time of his career, previously honored as a first-team member his sophomore season. A finance major with a 3.67 GPA, the senior wrapped up his Bears swimming career by earning gold medals in the 800-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays at the MAC Championships. He also made podium appearances at the MAC meet in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle.

 

Nevels picked up Academic All-MAC honors for the second straight year after wrapping up his diving career at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The senior advanced to NCAA’s by qualifying at the Zone D meet with an eighth-place finish in 1-meter diving. He was the first Bears diver to do so in the previous 25 years. Named the MAC Outstanding diver as a junior, Nevels finished second on 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter board at the MAC Championships this season. A marketing management major with a 3.27 GPA, Nevels holds school and pool records in both events.

 

Pratt, a digital film production major with a 3.78 GPA, was previously an honorable mention All-MAC selection last season. The senior earned season-best runner up honors with a time of 1:40.84 in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:31.30 at the Shamrock Invitational. He also set a lifetime best in the 1650-yard freestyle (16:06.66) for sixth place.

 

Wilson joins the Academic All-MAC Team for the third straight season. An accounting major with a 3.66 GPA, Wilson was an All-MAC Second Team selection at the MAC championships after placing fourth in the 200-yard butterfly, while also getting seventh in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. The senior finished the season with the second fastest times in three events for the Bears.

 

Davila, studying international business with a 3.78 GPA, was an All-MAC First Team honoree at the conference championship after breaking three school records. Davila set school records in the 500-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle at the MAC meet, winning gold in the 1650 free and silver in the 500 free and 400-yard IM. The junior was previously honored as an Academic All-MAC selection last season.

 

Kalnins, an international business student with a 3.69 GPA, earned Academic-All MAC honors for the second-consecutive season. Kalnins several gold medals at this season’s MAC Championships, doing so individually by breaking school records in the 200-yard IM and 400-yard IM. A three-time First Team All-MAC selection, Kalnins competed at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships for the second year in a row. The junior had a personal-best 21st-place finish in the 400 IM, placed 23rd in the 200 IM and got 41st in the 100-yard freestyle.

 

Snow boasts a 3.92 GPA in biology and is an Academic All-MAC selection for the second season. The junior made three B-finals appearances for the Bears at the MAC Championships. Snow raced in the A-finals for the Bears’ 200-yard freestyle squad that placed fifth. Individually, Snow placed 11th overall in the 50-yard freestyle, 12th in the 200-yard backstroke and 14th overall in the 100-yard backstroke.

 

Springer, a cell and molecular biology major with a 3.55 GPA, earned All-MAC First Team honors at the MAC championships. The junior picks up his second Academic All-MAC honors after finishing the MAC Championships with a gold medal in the 100-yard breaststroke in a ‘B’ consideration time of 53.85. Springer also placed fifth individually in the 200-yard breaststroke, while also winning gold medals as part of school- and conference-record squads in the 200-yard medley and 400-yard medley relays.

 

Selby had two lifetime bests in his appearance at the MAC Championships. The sophomore earned his first conference academic honors after placing first in the B-finals at the MAC meet in the 100-yard butterfly. Currently undeclared and holding a 3.27 GPA, Selby also made B-finals appearances in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly by finishing 11th and 13th overall, respectively.

 

Weissman makes his debut on the Academic All-MAC list after finishing with all-conference second-team honors at this season’s MAC Championships. Majoring in accounting with a 4.00 GPA, the sophomore had three lifetime bests and made two podium appearances for the Bears at the MAC meet. Weissman finished seventh in both the 400-yard IM and the 200-yard backstroke, while also finishing first in the B-finals of the 1650-yard freestyle.

 

The Academic All-MAC honor is for student-athletes who have 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 their particular sports. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.

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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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