Penn State Swimming and Diving announced their team awards, which were given out at the annual team banquet in April, on Tuesday. Among the award winners was Irish Olympian Shane Ryan, a senior on the team.
McKayla Mawn, Mackenzie Hornibrook, and Nathaniel Bledsoe were awarded the Ellen Perry and Robert Krimmel Academic Achievement Awards for the highest academic performance. Mawn and Hornibrook won the Perry Award for the women and Bledsoe the Krimmel Award for the men.
The Nittany Lion Award was presented to one male and one female swimmer who both displayed perseverance and effort throughout the year. Freshman and Big Ten consolation finalist Kaelan Freund won for the men. Freund finished 13th in the 200 breaststroke at Big Tens in a time of 1:57.60 and 11th in the 100 at 53.59.
The women’s recipient was Philadelphia native Ally McHugh, who broke two school records en route to a strong showing at NCAAs and a silver medal in the 400 IM at Women’s Big Tens. McHugh was also awarded the Elizabeth McCoy Award for consistent outstanding performance throughout the year. The male recipient of the L.D. MacNeill award for outstanding performance was Shane Ryan, who represented Penn State at NCAAs and took home 6th in the 100 backstroke. Throughout this year, Ryan broke three school records and became a three-time All-American following his Olympic appearance last summer.
The 1855 award, “is presented to the student-athletes whose improvement, transformation and personal growth mirrors that of Penn State since its founding.” Two seniors, Casey Francis and Mike Kwasnik, won this award in April. Francis finished 24th in the 1650 at NCAAs. Francis, along with Mackenzie Hornibrook were also given the Women’s Captain Award. Kwasnik will finish his career as the 3rd fastest 200 breaststroke performer in Nittany Lion history.
The Robert E. Galbraith Award, given to the teams best diver, was given to Hector Garcia-Boissier. Garcia-Boissier represented the Nittany Lions at NCAAs this year and set school records in the 1- and 3 – meter events.
The final award is the Jerome Weinstein award for 100% effort in all aspects of Penn State Swimming and Diving. Freshman Hannah Blaser won the award for the first time this year, after competing every freestyle distance throughout the season. Matt Stasiunas won the award for the men’s team for the second year in a row. A senior Captain, Stasiunas was also given the Captain’s Award along with Bob Bantley.
The 2017 Penn State Nittany Lions finished 7th out of 10 teams at the 2017 Men’s Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships. The Women finished 8th of 12 at Big Tens in February.
