April 10, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA announced its 2008 swimming and diving specialty award winners today, as selected by the conference's head coaches. Student-athletes from Houston, Marshall and SMU claimed the five awards. The Mustangs' Jennifer Blackman is this year's Swimmer of the Year, while Sascha Van den Branden of SMU claimed the Freshman Swimmer of the Year honor. UH's Ginni van Katwijk was voted Diver of the Year, while teammate Lacey Truelove was named Freshman Diver of the Year. Marshall's Jenny Johnson claimed the Newcomer of the Year award. The Mustangs recently placed 11th as a team at the 2007 NCAA Championship, while the Cougars scored 29 points to finish in 28th in the team standings.

Conference USA announced its 2008 swimming and diving specialty award winners today, as selected by the conference's head coaches. Student-athletes from Houston, Marshall and SMU claimed the five awards. The Mustangs' Jennifer Blackman is this year's Swimmer of the Year, while Sascha Van den Branden of SMU claimed the Freshman Swimmer of the Year honor. UH's Ginni van Katwijk was voted Diver of the Year, while teammate Lacey Truelove was named Freshman Diver of the Year. Marshall's Jenny Johnson claimed the Newcomer of the Year award. The Mustangs recently placed 11th as a team at the 2007 NCAA Championship, while the Cougars scored 29 points to finish in 28th in the team standings.

Blackman, a senior, also claimed Swimmer of the Meet honors at the 2008 C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships. Blackman's efforts at the league championship helped SMU break 11 meet and pool records to set the new team scoring mark at 926 points. In the NCAA Championships, Blackman achieved All-American status in four events. She finished 10th in the 200 free and was a part of three Mustang relays. The 200 free relay team finished 12th, the 800 free relay took 6th and the 400 free relay also finished in 6th. Blackman holds top three team times in three individual events, including a team-best 4:47.12 in the 500 free.

A senior from the Netherlands, van Katwijk earned All-America status in the platform diving completion for the second consecutive year at the NCAA Championship. She also finished 10th on the 3-meter board to claim All-America honors and took the 1-meter title at this year's C-USA Championship. The transfer from Wyoming was named the league's Newcomer of the Year in 2007.

Van den Branden also helped SMU claim its 12th consecutive league title and earned All-America honors in three relays with the Mustangs at the NCAA Championships. The freshman helped her team to a 12th place finish in the 200 free relay and helped both the 400 and 800 free relays to 6th place finishes.

Truelove, competing in her first NCAA Championship last month, earned the best finish by any Cougar at the 2008 meet, by finishing sixth in the platform competition with 272.35 points during the finals. It was the first All-America honor for the London, Ontario, native. The freshman took third in the 1-meter competition at the C-USA Championships and won the platform event at the NCAA Zone meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

A transfer from Ashland (Ohio) University, Johnson claimed Marshall's first postseason swimming award since joining the league in 2005. She competed in IM events throughout the year and has participated in the Swedish Junior Nationals. Prior to Marshall, Johnson was named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007 and Female Swimmer of the Year for Ashland in 2007.