ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's swimming program has gained another academic honor for the 2014-15 season as it was named as one of 35 NCAA Division II teams as recipients of the Scholar All-America award for the 2015 spring semester by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.
In addition, four members of the Miners landed individual honors as members of the CSCAA's Scholar All-America team, which is awarded to individuals who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher and made at least a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships.
Keith Sponsler (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East), who was named last week to his second Capital One Academic All-America team, was joined on the CSCAA's Scholar All-America team by
Jon Glaser (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette),
Miguel Chavez (Chihuahua, Mexico/Colegio de Bachilleres) and
Ryan Layne (Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek).
Sponsler – also named last week as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men's swimming & diving – earned numerous honors during the 2014-15 season, including All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and being named as the GLVC's "Swimmer of the Year" after winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events in school record fashion and being part of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team.
Glaser and Chavez also captured All-America honors as well as conference championships in the past year. Glaser repeated as the GLVC's 1,000-yard freestyle champion and joined Sponsler on the 800-yard freestyle relay team. He added a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and a fourth in the 200-freestyle prior to earning two All-America awards at the national meet.
Chavez won his conference title in the 200-yard breaststroke, then recorded the Miners' highest individual finish at the national meet by placing fifth in that same event. In July, Chavez will compete for his home nation of Mexico in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
Layne was the GLVC runner-up in the 400-yard individual medley and made the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard in the event in the process, while also finishing fifth in the 200-yard individual medley. He was also part of the Miners' two medley relay teams that had top-five finishes at the GLVC Championships.
Catawba College finished with the highest grade point average among the xx NCAA Division II schools at 3.68 for the past semester. The team awards are given to all programs with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better for the semester.
Missouri S&T finished second at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in 2015 and followed that with a 16
th-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships.
CSCAA Scholar All-America Team ReleaseCSCAA Scholar All-America Individual Release
