Pac 10 Announces Annual Awards

WALNUT CREEK, California, April 10. THE Pacific-10 Conference announced the Diver, Swimmer, Newcomer and Coach of the Year for the 2006-07 season, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today. Stanford received five of the top awards, while Arizona and Arizona State garnered three each and California taking one. The honors are determined by a coaches vote.

2007 PAC-10 DIVERS OF THE YEAR
Micky Benedetti, RsFr., Arizona State
Benedetti, from Rome, Italy, took home the title in both 3-meter and platform competitions at the Pac-10 Championships in Federal Way, Wash. The two-time Pac-10 Diver of the Month went on to win the title at the NCAA Zone-E Championship, where he also finished second in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter, before finishing runner-up with a 412.10 on the platform at the NCAA Championships. Recently, Benedetti placed sixth in synchronized platform diving while representing Italy at the 2007 FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Cassidy Krug, Sr., Stanford
Krug, a senior from Coraopolis, Pa., rounded out her collegiate career by sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter titles at the 2007 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships after doing the same at the NCAA Zone E Meet and the Pac-10 Championships. Her sweep of the two events in each of the three competitions accounted for her unbeaten run during the 2007 postseason. Krug's outstanding season left a mark on the Stanford record books as she became the first Cardinal diver to ever win an NCAA 1-meter title and the first since Erin Sones captured the platform in 2001 to capture any NCAA diving event. In addition, she is only the second Stanford women's diver to win NCAA Diver of the Year honors and capture more than one NCAA title in her career and is the first to be named a nominee for the 2006-07 Swimming and Diving Honda Sports Award. Krug completed her collegiate career with seven All-American honors. while becoming just the second women's diver in Stanford history to win at least one All-American honor in each of her four seasons.

2007 PAC-10 SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR
Lacey Nymeyer, Jr., Arizona
Nymeyer, a junior from Tucson, Ariz., swam the second leg of the first-place 200 free relay that defended its national title for the second straight year, while setting a new American and NCAA record with a time of 1:27.23 at the NCAA Championships. Nymeyer also anchored the second-place 400 medley relay that crushed the previous school record with a time of 3:30.89. In addition to her success in the relay, she captured the fourth title for her team in the 200 free, taking her first individual NCAA crown of her collegiate career after shattering the school record with a time of 1:43.49. She then went on to finish second in the 100 free to break the school record she set during the morning prelims with a time of 47.34.

Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Sr., Stanford
Wildman-Tobriner, a senior from San Francisco, Calif., had an amazing NCAA meet with six All-American honors, finishing second as a member of the 200 free relay team, second in the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free, as well as fourth in the 400 free relay team. His performance was a record-breaking event as he set the American record in the 50 free while setting school records in the 100 fly and 100 free as well. In addition to his success at the NCAA's, he garnered three individual titles and four relay titles at the Pac-10 Swimming Championships where he was named Pac-10 Swimmer of the Meet. Just recently, Wildman-Tobriner won a gold medal at the FINA World Championships as a member of the 400 free relay team as well as winning a gold in the 50 free. In his four years at Stanford, he was earned 20 All-American honors and recorded 12 Pac-10 Championships.

2007 PAC-10 DIVING NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR
Micky Benedetti, RsFr., Arizona State

Samantha Young, Fr., California
Young, a freshman from Shoreline, Wash., took fifth place on the 1-meter springboard and sixth place on the platform at the 2007 Pac-10 Diving Championships, which was the first time in several years a Bear had finished in the top 10 in any event at the Conference meet. Her performance qualified her for the NCAA Zone E Regionals where she finished sixth in the platform, 14th in the 1-meter and 19th in the 3-meter final. Before the Pac-10 Championships, Young led the Golden Bears on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards and on the platform.

2007 PAC-10 SWIMMING NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR
Jean Basson, Fr., Arizona
Basson, a freshman from Johannesburg, South Africa, placed third in the 500 free, fourth in the 200 free, and fifth in the 1650 at the NCAA Championships after swimming All-American times. In addition to his individual performances, Basson swam the second leg of the 800 free relay that took first place with an NCAA record time of 6:14.14.

Julia Smit, Fr., Stanford
Smit, a freshman from Mt. Sinai, N.Y., had an excellent NCAA meet with six All-American honors, finishing second in the 200 back, third in both the 200 and 400 IM, third as a member of the 400 medley relay team, fifth on the 200 free relay squad and seventh on the 800 free relay. Prior to her stellar performance at the NCAA Championships, Smit won three Pac-10 individual titles in the 200 back, 200 and 400 IM, while breaking school records in the 200 IM and as a member of the 200 free relay. Despite being a freshman, Smit is already among the school's all-time top eight in six events.

2007 PAC-10 COACHES OF THE YEAR
Mark Bradshaw, Arizona State – Men's Diving
In his 10th year at Arizona State, Bradshaw helped the Sun Devil swimming and diving team to a fifth place finish at the Pac-10 Championships and a 22nd place finish at the NCAA Championships. Bradshaw, who has earned two NCAA Diving Coach of the Year awards, has been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year the past five seasons.

Frank Busch, Arizona – Women's Swimming
Busch led the Wildcats to a second place finish at the NCAA Championships for the third straight year. The Wildcats finished the meet with 477 points, the most ever accumulated at the meet in school history, while winning two individual and two relay events. Busch coached his Arizona team to the school's third Pac-10 championship in school history. The women's swimming Coach of the Year award is the seventh of Busch's career.

Skip Kenney, Stanford – Men's Swimming
Kenney led the Cardinal to their 26th consecutive Pacific-10 Championship. At the Conference
Championships, he coached his swimmers to six individual and four relay titles. Kenney coached Stanford to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., giving the Cardinal an overall record of 203-37 under coach Kenney. He has been named NCAA Coach of the Year six times after coaching his swimmers to seven NCAA titles and 102 All-Americans, including 65 NCAA Champions. In his 28 year tenure at Stanford, Kenney has coached 58 Pac-10 Individual Champions to 150 titles. The men's swimming Coach of the Year award is the 19th of Kenney's career.

Rick Schavone, Stanford – Women's Diving
In his 29th year at Stanford, Schavone helped lead the Cardinal to a combined 35 men's and women's Pac-10 diving titles. During that time he has coached his men's and women's divers to a combined 10 NCAA titles and 79 All-American honors. With Krug being the latest addition, Schavone has had at least one All-American on the women's side for 13 straight seasons and 25 of his last 26. The Women's Diving Coach of the Year award is Schavone's fifth time receiving the honor and he also garnered the Pac-10 Men's Diving Coach of the Year during the 1994-95 campaign. The Cardinal finished the year with a fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships while taking second in the Conference.

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