Beisel Named SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as Gators Collect All-SEC Honors
Thursday, February 28, 2013 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Junior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.) was named SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year announced by the conference on Thursday. This is her first conference scholar athlete award of her career. Also announced were the yearly awards and All-SEC teams as Florida's swimming and diving teams collected 25 All-SEC honors for their performances at the 2013 SEC Championships.
Beisel garnered Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, becoming only the second female swimmer from Florida to win the award as Vipa Bernhardt earned it in 2005 and 2006. She is a two-time CSCAA Division I Scholar All-American and a two-time SEC Honor Roll recipient. Beisel was named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Women's At-Large First-Team and is the 2012 NCAA Champion in the 200 backstroke.
In addition to being named Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she was the high point award winner for the SEC Women's Championship. She earned 92 points during the five-day SEC meet to claim the Commissioner's Trophy. She is the second female swimmer in UF history to earn the Commissioner's Trophy twice, with Gemma Spofforth earning it in 2009 and 2010. Beisel won the 200 back (1:50.40) and 400 IM (3:59.53) for the third consecutive year and finished second in the 200 IM (1:54.59).
The Gators garnered two more league honors as Head Coach Gregg Troy was voted Men's Swimming Coach of the Year while freshman Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas) was named SEC Female Freshman of the Year.
This marks the fifth Men's Coach of the Year honor for Troy as Florida won its 34th Men's SEC Swimming and Diving Championship. The Gators broke Auburn's streak of 16-straight SEC Championships, the third longest streak for a single program in SEC sports history. They saw two school records broken and won four individual and one relay title during the meet.
Hinds is just the third swimmer in Florida history to take home the award, joining Beisel and Caroline Burckle. During the meet she won her first SEC title after finishing in the nation's top time in the 100 fly (51.70). Hinds added a third place finish in the 100 free (48.03) and took seventh in the 50 free (22.26).
The All-SEC teams and All-Freshman teams were also announced. The All-SEC first team consists of the winner of each event while the second team is comprised of second place finishers of each event. The All-Freshman teams consist of any redshirt or true freshman who finishes either in the top eight or is the highest scoring freshman of each event, excluding relay events.
Two members of the women's squad were selected to the First Team All-SEC as both Beisel and Hinds received the honors for their conference wins. The men's team had five First Team All-SEC selections as junior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) won the 100 and 200 fly, sophomore Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.) won the 200 breast and freshman Pawel Werner (Wroclaw, Poland) took first in the 200 free. Werner and Cieslak joined junior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) and sophomore Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez (Madrid, Spain) on the podium for their 800 free relay win.
Florida had five Second Team All-SEC women's selections in senior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.), junior Hilda Luthersdottir (Harfnarfjordur, Iceland), freshman Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario), freshman Jessica Thielmann (Newcastle, England) and junior Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne, Australia). On the men's side, junior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.), sophomore Matthew Curby (Oviedo, Fla.), freshman Corey Main (Auckland, New Zealand) and sophomore Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) all earned Second Team All-SEC honors.
The freshman had a strong showing as nine newcomers were also recognized for their performances. Hinds, Ashlee Linn (Southfield, Mich.), Lindsey McKnight (Coral Springs, Fla.), Russell, Thielmann and Kahlia Warner (Queensland, Australia) made the All-Freshman women's team and Arthur Frayler (Fort Washington, Pa.), Main and Werner were on the men's squad.
Broadcasts of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships will air on ESPNU. The women's event is slated for Monday, March 4 at 4 p.m. ET while the men's meet will air at 5:30 p.m. ET following the women's championships.
| SEC YEARLY AWARDS WON BY GATORS | |
| Award | Name |
| SEC Female Freshman of the Year | Natalie Hinds |
| SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Elizabeth Beisel |
| SEC Male Swimming Coach of the Year | Gregg Troy |
| Commissioner's Trophy – Female (92 pts) | Elizabeth Beisel |
UF Women All-SEC Selections
| First Team | Second Team | All-Freshman |
| Elizabeth Beisel | Jamie Bohunicky | Natalie Hinds |
| Natalie Hinds | Hilda Luthersdottir | Ashlee Linn |
| Sinead Russell | Lindsey McKnight | |
| Jessica Thielmann | Sinead Russell | |
| Ellese Zalewski | Jessica Thielmann | |
| Kahlia Warner |
UF Men All-SEC Selections
| First Team | Second Team | All-Freshman |
| Marcin Cieslak | Brad deBorde | Arthur Frayler |
| Matt Elliott | Matthew Curby | Corey Main |
| Sebastien Rousseau | Corey Main | Pawel Werner |
| Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez | Dan Wallace | |
| Pawel Werner |
