Courtesy: Big 12 Sports
The Conference announced the Big 12 Swimming and Diving yearly awards recipients on Wednesday. The recipients hail from Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Houston, Kansas and Utah. The Sun Devils led the way with five award winners.
The All-Big 12 First and Second teams were also announced based on the results from the 2025 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship. The top four individuals in each event earned All-Big 12 first team honors, while fifth through eighth-place finishers were named to the second team.
Ilya Kharun was named the Men’s Swimmer of the Year after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 men’s title in their first year. The sophomore finished with five individual titles at the Big 12 Championship as well as a runner-up finish in the 50-meter freestyle. At the NCAA Championship, the Las Vegas native earned six first-team All-American honors including third-place finishes in the 100 (43.43) and 200-meter butterfly.
BYU’s Mackenzie Miller Lung received the Women’s Swimmer of the Year after finishing as the national runner-up in the 200 breaststroke. The junior earned All-American status in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke to become the first two-time All-American for the Cougars since 1990 while she also competed in the 200 IM. The three-time All-Big 12 first team member ended the season with 17 race wins and 10 school-record performances.
Elias Petersen became the first Ute to garner a Conference yearly award after recording the only First Team All-American performance at the 2025 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship for the Big 12. He finished with a score of 389.25 on the 1-meter dive to finish fourth. Earlier in the season, the junior broke the program record in the 1-meter with a score of 411.45 against BYU.
Shiyun Lai became the first Jayhawk to be named Women’s Diver of the Year in program history. The sophomore won the 1-meter title at the Big 12 Championship and added a second-place finish in the 3-meter event and fifth place in the platform dive. She finished sixth in the 1-meter and seventh in the 3-meter at the NCAA Championship, earning two First Team All-American honors. Her performance marked the highest placement by a Jayhawk since Michelle Rojohn won the 3-meter event at the 1996 NCAA Championship.
Tomas Lukminas collected the Men’s Freshman of the Year award to mark the Wildcats’ first yearly distinction. The All-Big 12 First Team member set the Arizona record in the 100 freestyle at the Big 12 Championship with a time of 41.56 seconds. He finished with Conference honors in three events as he finished in the top eight in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle. The freshman also collected top two finishes in the 400 freestyle relay (gold), 800 freestyle relay (silver) and 400 medley relay (silver).
Arizona State’s Julia Ullmann was tabbed the Women’s Freshman of the Year after placing in the top three in each of her individual events at the Big 12 Championship. She was named Women’s Freshman Swimmer of the Meet after highlighting the Conference Championship with a school record of 51.40 in the 100 butterfly. She added First Team All-American honors as a member of the Sun Devils’ 200 medley relay that finished eighth at the NCAA Championship.
Arizona State’s Herbie Behm was named the Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and Women’s Swimming Co-Coach of the Year. The first-year head coach guided the Sun Devils to their third straight conference championship and first Big 12 Championship on the men’s side. Under his tutelage, 11 male swimmers earned All-American honors as ASU finished sixth at the NCAA Championship. On the women’s side, he guided the Sun Devil women to their first Conference title in program history and best finish at the NCAA Championship since 2012 (19th). Another five Sun Devil women earned All-American recognition, the most for ASU since 2020.
BYU’s Tamber McAllister collected the Women’s Swimming Co-Coach of the Year after 10 swimmers broke school records this season. McAllister coached Miller Lung to the program’s first two All-
American finishes since 1991 and first-ever Big 12 individual title. The 29 points by Miller Lung at the NCAA Championship were the highest for the program since 1991.
Richard Marschner was selected as the Men’s Diving Coach of the Year after coaching the Utes to the most All-Big 12 diving members at the Big 12 Championship. He coached Elias Petersen to the only First Team All-American finish for the Big 12 at the NCAA Championship and guided Jesco Helling to the Platform Dive title at the Conference Championship. The Utah men finished the national meet with the highest diving score of all Big 12 teams (ninth in the country).
Allen Feng became the first ever Big 12 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year in Kansas history. Feng helped Lai qualify nationally for both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives as the Jayhawk earned All-American recognition in both events. The Jayhawks finished 25th at the national meet, their best performance since finishing 22nd in 1996. Feng also guided junior Lize van Leeuwen to her third-consecutive NCAA Zone Diving appearance, as well as two top-10 finishes at the Big 12 Championship.
Patrick Sammon was named the Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior from Arizona State is a Real Estate Development major with a 4.00 GPA. He competed in all regular season meets for the Sun Devils. Sammon finished with three Big 12 titles in the 400 and 800 freestyle relays and the 200 freestyle. His 200 freestyle time of 1:31.57 at the Big 12 Championship was a career best.
Hedda Grelz was tagged as the Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The graduate student from Houston is earning her masters in mechanical engineering with a 4.00 GPA. She competed in all of Houston’s meets this season and finished with season bests of 314.70 in the 1-meter dive, 346.80 in the 3-meter dive and 242.30 in the platform dive.
2024-25 Big 12 Swimming and Diving of the Year Award Winners
Men’s Swimmer of the Year – Ilya Kharun, Arizona State
Women’s Swimmer of the Year – Mackenzie Miller Lung, BYU
Men’s Diver of the Year – Elias Petersen, Utah
Women’s Diver of the Year – Shiyun Lai, Kansas
Men’s Freshman of the Year – Tomas Lukminas, Arizona
Women’s Freshman of the Year – Julia Ullmann, Arizona State
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year – Herbie Behm, Arizona State
Women’s Swimming Co-Coaches of the Year – Herbie Behm, Arizona State and Tamber McAllister, BYU
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year – Richard Marschner, Utah
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – Allen Feng, Kansas
Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year – Patrick Sammon, Arizona State
Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year – Hedda Grelz, Houston
Men’s All-Big 12 First Team
Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri, Arizona
Gage Dubois, Arizona
Ryan Hardy, Arizona
Tomas Lukminas, Arizona
Will Meyers, Arizona
Joel Nace, Arizona
Haakon Naughton, Arizona
Tavner Wisdom, Arizona
Oscar Bilbao, Arizona State
Andy Dobrzanski, Arizona State
Dylan Gravely, Arizona State
Michael Hochwalt, Arizona State
Ilya Kharun, Arizona State
Jonny Kulow, Arizona State
Cale Martter, Arizona State
Daniel Matheson, Arizona State
Tommy Palmer, Arizona State
Jacob Pins, Arizona State
Patrick Sammon, Arizona State
Filip Senc-Samardzic, Arizona State
Lane Stallworth, Arizona State
Lucien Vergnes, Arizona State
Jack Wadsworth, Arizona State
Chase Hindmarsh, BYU
Tanner Nelson, BYU
Kyle Bumgardner, Cincinnati
Will Claus, Cincinnati
Hunter Gubeno, Cincinnati
Ramez Sobhy, Cincinnati
Elliott Dillon, TCU
David Ekdahl, TCU
Filip Suchanski, TCU
Jadon Wuilliez, TCU
Nick Chirafisi, Utah
Jesco Helling, Utah
Jones Lambert, Utah
Durgan McKean, Utah
Elias Petersen, Utah
Danny Berlitz, West Virginia
Justin Heimes, West Virginia
Men’s All-Big 12 Second Team
Colin Agor, Arizona
Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri, Arizona
Gage Dubois, Arizona
Hunter Ingram, Arizona
Lars Kuljus, Arizona
Tomas Lukminas, Arizona
Will Meyers, Arizona
Joel Nace, Arizona
Mason Nyboer, Arizona
Daniel Young, Arizona
Jono Adam, Arizona State
Tiago Behar, Arizona State
Reece Grady, Arizona State
Cale Martter, Arizona State
Jake Mason, Arizona State
Quin Seider, Arizona State
Filip Senc-Samardzic, Arizona State
Lane Stallworth, Arizona State
Lucien Vergnes, Arizona State
Jack Wadsworth, Arizona State
Tolu Young, Arizona State
Emerson Edwards, BYU
Peter Etzold, BYU
Chase Hindmarsh, BYU
Marti Llop, BYU
Tanner Nelson, BYU
Luigi Riva, BYU
Jordan Tiffany, BYU
Kyle Bumgardner, Cincinnati
Owen Chiles, Cincinnati
Hunter Gubeno, Cincinnati
Joe Swain, Cincinnati
Ollie Cazaly, TCU
Edgar Cicanci, TCU
Geremia Freri, TCU
Felipe Goncalves, TCU
Bryn James, TCU
Filip Suchanski, TCU
Nikola Koltin, TCU
Aaron Wilmes, TCU
Jesco Helling, Utah
Jones Lambert, Utah
Strahinja Maslo, Utah
Brandon Miller, Utah
Elias Petersen, Utah
Evan VanBrocklin, Utah
Jakub Walter, Utah
Danny Berlitz, West Virginia
Women’s All-Big 12 First Team
Paige Armstrong, Arizona
Zara Ayazi, Arizona
Riley Botton, Arizona
Lexi Duchsherer, Arizona
Brooke Earley, Arizona
Eleni Gewalt, Arizona
Kayman Neal, Arizona
Malia Rausch, Arizona
Julia Wozniak, Arizona
Caroline Bentz, Arizona State
Charli Brown, Arizona State
Deniz Ertan, Arizona State
Kayden Hayes, Arizona State
Grace Lindberg, Arizona State
Erin Milligan, Arizona State
Alexa Reyna, Arizona State
Elli Straume, Arizona State
Zoe Summar, Arizona State
Julia Ullmann, Arizona State
Sonia Vaishnani, Arizona State
Alexia Jackson Hansen, BYU
Mackenzie Miller Lung, BYU
Lucy Warnick, BYU
Libby Michel, Cincinnati
Joleigh Crye, Cincinnati
Lottie Cullen, Houston
Henrietta Fangli, Houston
Elizabeth Jimenez, Houston
Michelle McLeod, Houston
Adelaide Meuter, Houston
Sydney Nethercutt, Houston
Flo Peter, Houston
Shiyun Lai, Kansas
Jeanne Dahmen, TCU
Anna Kwong, TCU
Nina Vadovicova, TCU
Callie Eaglestone, Utah
Norah Hay, Utah
Erin Palmer, Utah
Women’s All-Big 12 Second Team
Paige Armstrong, Arizona
Zara Ayazi, Arizona
Riley Botton, Arizona
Lexi Duchsherer, Arizona
Eleni Gewalt, Arizona
Kayman Neal, Arizona
Malia Rausch, Arizona
Alyssa Schwengel, Arizona
Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh, Arizona
Ava Sutphin, Arizona
Iza Adame, Arizona State
Charli Brown, Arizona State
Lia Csulak, Arizona State
Hana Edwards, Arizona State
Emma Gehlert, Arizona State
Jordan Greber, Arizona State
Ella Guilfoil, Arizona State
Erin Milligan, Arizona State
Katherine Randall, Arizona State
Alexa Reyna, Arizona State
Miriam Sheehan, Arizona State
Elli Straume, Arizona State
Zoe Summar, Arizona State
Sonia Vaishnani, Arizona State
Alexia Jackson Hansen, BYU
Addison Richards, BYU
Victoria Schreiber, BYU
Halli Williams, BYU
Jessica Davis, Cincinnati
Kate Mardis, Cincinnati
Libby Michel, Cincinnati
Lindi Worrell, Cincinnati
Abbie Alvarez, Houston
Noor El Gendy, Houston
Evelyn Entrekin, Houston
Liya Goupil, Houston
Hedda Grelz, Houston
Landry Hadder, Houston
Michelle McLeod, Houston
Lydia Lafferty, Kansas
Shiyun Lai, Kansas
Claire Chahbandour, TCU
Jordan Edwards, TCU
Morgan Gore, TCU
Anna Kwong, TCU
Alexia Duncan, Utah
Callie Eaglestone, Utah
Kathryn Grant, Utah
Norah Hay, Utah
Holly Waxman, Utah
Miranda Kirtley, West Virginia
