Miami’s Reuben Ross Named ACC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete

GREENSBORO, North Carolina, June 10. UNIVERSITY of Miami diver Reuben Ross was named Wednesday as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as he helped headline the 2008-09 All-ACC Men's Swimming and Diving Academic Team. NC State's Kristin Davies was named the ACC Scholar-Athlete on the women's side.

Alongside Ross, two UM female divers and a swimmer earned All-ACC academic honors as senior swimmer Britta Boesing, senior diver Jenna Dreyer and junior diver Brittany Viola were honored to this year's team.

To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be in their third or fourth year of competition and have a 3.00 grade point average over their career and over the last two semesters. Nominees are then judged by a committee looking 60 percent at academic performance and 40 percent at athletic achievement.

Reuben Ross is a junior from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The ACC Men's Diver of the Year closed out his junior season with his seventh All-American finish. In 2008, Ross earned the NCAA 3-meter Diving Championship. The Civil Engineering major also represented Canada at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

During the 2008-09 competitive diving season, Ross became just the fifth male diver in school history to garner All-American awards in all three events at this year's NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas. Ross would lay claim to a third place finish on the 10-meter platform; seventh place in the 3-meter; and picked up seventh place in the 1-meter.

To be eligible for consideration on the All-ACC Academic Team, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his/her academic career.

Britta Boesing, a senior swimmer from Tuebingen, Germany, graduated from UM in May earning a degree in Sports Administration, and received this year's Weaver-James-Corrigan given annually to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate-level degree following graduation.

She holds two UM school records in the 100 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. Boesing is a part of three school-record relay times in the 800 freestyle relay, as well as the 200- and 400 medley relay. In 2007, she established a new school record in the 100 back, and throughout her career is a part of a school-record 37 top-10 times at UM in both individual and relay events.

Jenna Dreyer, a senior from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, finished the NCAA finals of the 1-meter springboard in eighth place, collecting her third All-America award at UM. She also received the award in 2005 and again in 2007 for the 1-meter event. She would finish as an honorable mention All-American on the 3-meter springboard in 2007 and again in 2009.

Brittany Viola, a junior from Orlando, was recently selected to the USA World Championship roster for the World Diving Championships in Rome on July 18-25. Viola was the ACC Champion in the 1-, 3- and 10-meter event in 2008, as well as the National Champion for the Hurricanes on the 10-meter platform in 2008. She was just the fourth women's national diving champion at Miami. She was also tabbed UM's 74th All-America selection in school history for swimming & diving alongside UM teammate Reuben Ross.

Virginia posted eight student-athletes on the Women's team to lead all schools. Duke, Florida State and Virginia Tech each tallied six honorees, followed by North Carolina with five. Miami, Maryland and Clemson had three selections followed by NC State and Georgia Tech with one. Nine student-athletes on the team won ACC Championships and 16 were All-ACC.

On the Men's team, Virginia led the way with eight honorees followed by Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech with six. NC State had five selections followed by Florida State and Maryland with three each. Clemson, Duke and Miami closed out the field with one member each. Seven members of the team earned ACC Individual Championships and 12 earned All-ACC accolades.

For more information on the All-ACC Swimming & Diving Academic Team, please visit www.theacc.com.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use