WESTON, Mass. -- The Simmons College women's swimming & diving team saw 22 student-athletes named to the 2018 All New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Academic Team, it was announced by NEISDA.
The All-Academic Team is comprised of swimmers and divers from 21 member teams, who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or better in the respective semester, regardless of school year, and be a team member in good standing for the complete season.
Since the All NEISDA Academic Team's inception in 2016, the Sharks' total of honorees has been the highest of any member institution in each of the last three years. Simmons Swimming & Diving also boasted four student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The following competitors were named to the squad from Simmons. Seniors Abigail Gonzalez (Kennesaw, Ga.) and Lindsay Nichols (Kennebunk, Maine) were both selected for the third straight year, while seniors Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) and Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) in addition to juniors Charlotte Rivard (Norwood, Mass.), Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.) and Cassie Vietas (Tampa, Fla.) all earn the honor for the second year in a row. Seniors Elena Cerjanec (Falmouth, Maine) and Erin Lilienthal (Niantic, Conn.) along with juniors Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) and Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.), sophomores Alex Berg-Pappert (Geneva, N.Y.), Fiona Harms (Kennebunkport, Maine), Haley McCurdy (Framingham, Mass.), Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Devon Tice (Framingham, Mass.) and first years Elizabeth Bartlett (Richmond, Mass.), Hannah Bryan-Nelson (Ludlow, Mass.), Anna Leedham (Lowell, Mass.), Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.), Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) and Olivia Walz (Natick, Mass.) were all tapped for the first time.
Simmons enjoyed, perhaps, the greatest season in school history, finishing 26th at the NCAA Championship, while owning a dual meet season record of 11-2 to register double-digit wins for the fifth straight season. In addition, the Sharks won their first-ever NEISDA Championship in February and its 14th straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference title in December. Head Coach Mindy Williams was named the Coach of the Year by both NEISDA and GNAC, while Scholand was named the GNAC Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year as well as the Swimmer of the Meet following the NEISDA Championship and Soraghan was tabbed the GNAC Rookie of the Year.