Women's Swimming Honored for Academics by CSCAA

(NORFOLK, Va.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's swimming and diving team was honored by the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) with a Team Scholar All-America award as seven individuals were also named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.

The Team Scholar All-America award is presented to college and university swimming and diving teams who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The women's team earned a 3.48 for the spring semester and also earned the award following the fall semester in which they recorded a 3.53 team GPA.

Individuals who achieved a 3.50 or better for the year and either met a provisional time standard or competed at the NCAA Championships were honored.

All four women who competed at the NCAA Championships met the academic standard as senior Machika Kaku (Irvine, Calif./University), juniors Kim Hochstedler (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn) and Mary St. John (Bethesda, Md./Sidwell Friends School), and freshman Emma Nicklas-Morris (Winston-Salem, N.C./RJ Reynolds) were honored as Scholar All-Americans.

Kaku, who graduated in December with a degree in biological sciences, finished her final semester with a 4.0. She excelled in the pool by setting the 3-meter diving school record and achieved All-America Honorable Mention on the 1-meter board at the NCAA Championships with a 12th-place finish.

Hochstedler is enrolled in the scholars and humanities program at Carnegie Mellon and is majoring in statistics. She has a cumulative 4.0 and was also named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) this year. In the pool, Hochstedler set the school record in the 200-yard breaststroke on her way to competing at the NCAA Championships.

St. John made her second appearance at the NCAA Championships after qualifying for the national meet in the 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard IM. She earned All-America Honorable Mention in the 200-yard butterfly. The mathematical sciences major earned a 3.65 for the year and a 3.73 for the spring semester.

Nicklas-Morris became the first freshman since the 2008 season to earn All-America status in the pool when she earned two top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships. The first-year competitor also set four school records while recording championship qualifying times in five events. A psychology major, Nicklas-Morris achieved a 3.86 for the year including a 4.0 showing in the fall.

Senior Mallory Evanoff (Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy), junior Emma Shi (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) and freshman Victoria Feng (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) earned Scholar All-America Honorable Mention for meeting provisional time standards during the year.

Evanoff competed at the NCAA Region 4 Diving Championships on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards while maintaining a 4.0 for her academic career. She graduated in May with a degree in chemistry.

Shi earned a 3.58 while taking classes toward a decision science degree. She achieved time standards in the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard IM while leading the team in the 200-yard backstroke.

Feng maintained a 3.66 for the year with a 3.83 during the spring semester as a mechanical engineering major. In her first year in the pool for the Tartans, Feng recorded a provisional qualifying time in the 400-yard IM.