Southeastern Conference Announces Swimming and Diving Community Service Team

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, February 16. THE SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 20 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to his community in superior service efforts.

The 2010 Men's Swimming and Diving Community Service Team follows:

Daniel Armstrong, Junior, Individual Medley, Alabama
Daniel Armstrong's community service efforts have included participating in the Heart Walk (American Heart Association), Laps for CF (Cystic Fibrosis), Caps for the Cure (Breast Cancer Awareness) and the Elementary School Reading program. In addition, Armstrong has participated in the Halloween Extravaganza (community event), Canned Food Drive (West Alabama Food Bank), Project Angel Tree at the University of Alabama. The Madison, Ala. native was twice named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, made Dean's List (3.5 or better GPA) and President's List (4.0 GPA) and ranks 10th all-time for the Crimson Tide in the 100 breaststroke.

Tyler McGill, Senior, Fly/IM/Free, Auburn
Tyler McGill not only has been very active in the pool, but the senior captain has also been active in community service. In April of 2009, McGill, along with fellow teammates, participated in Laps for Cystic Fibrosis. The team hosted the event at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center and swam laps to raise money for reaching a cure for the disease. In June, he spoke and then swam in a pool at Camp Kaleidoscope, which is a City of Auburn summer day camp. In October, McGill attended the Auburn University Breast Cancer Awareness Illumination on campus. Most recently, he and his fellow teammates adopted three families through the Salvation Army for Christmas. The team collected donations and bought gifts for each family and helped provide the families with dinner for Christmas. McGill has also been involved with local food drives and toy drives through the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has also been a part of local school supply drives to aid local elementary schools. Other activities and awards for McGill include: Team Captain, 10-time All-American, two-time NCAA Champion, SEC champion, SEC Academic Honor Roll, Olympic Trial finalist, runner-up in the 100 fly at the 2009 US Championships and finished seventh in the event at the 2009 World Championships.

Grayson Patten, Junior, Diving, Florida
Grayson Patten spent four hours at UF's Climb for Cancer event where UF kids interact with children with cancer, he participated in the 2009 March of Dimes and distributed shoes to children in the Gainesville area as part of UF's Goodwill Gators Gator Tracks program. The West Palm Beach, Fla. native also logged five hours as a volunteer at the district diving meet and he was a volunteer at the regional diving meet.

Hunter Lainhart, Senior, Backstroke/Freestyle, Georgia
Hunter's community service efforts include serving second term as President of Georgia's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which coordinates community service projects for all of Georgia's sports teams, participating in Relay for Life – Palm Beach County & University of Georgia, SEC Together We CAN Drive, signing holiday cards for U.S. Troops and Meals on Wheels. The Jupiter, Fla. native also reads to students at Statham Elementary School and mentors at W.R. Coile Middle School. Other awards and honors for Lainhart include Dean's List: 2007-09, College Swim Coaches Association Academic All American, Athletic Director's Honor Roll: 2007-09 and a SEC Swimming Championships finalist: 2007-09. He is ranked top 100 in the world in the 100 & 200 long-course meter backstrokes for 2009 and is a recipient of the Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence. He is the Team Co-Captain and a member of Leadership UGA.

Justin Max, Senior, Breaststroke/Butterfly, Kentucky
Justin Max has participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the YMCA Splash Event, Special Olympics, UK Athleties Canned Food Drive and God's Pantry Food Drive. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native is an All-SEC Academic team member.

Clint Hallum, Junior, IM/Breaststroke/Freestyle, LSU
Clint Hallum is the LSU men's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which plans community service events for LSU student-athletes to attend. This year, Hallum visited several children's hospitals, going room-by-room to cheer up patients and hand them posters. He also took part in LSU's annual "Halloween BOOzar" where he helped set up the swimming activity station, played games with kids, handed out candy and signed autographs for local kids to have a safe Halloween event to attend. In addition, Hallum spearheaded the team's efforts at the "Christmas With the Tigers' event where they adopted an underprivileged child during a toy drive and raised money to provide gifts for the child. The Tigers' junior also participated in the "Sapphires ‘N Spurs" event where he played western-theme activities with local families and children and helped raise money and support for the Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge.

Trey Tharpe, Senior, Freestyle/Backstroke, South Carolina
Participated in Gamecocks Giving Back and coordinated South Carolina's effort in the SEC Food Drive. Tharpe also helped organize the Junior Gamecock Club Halloween Party and participated in Gamecocks' 10K for 10K cystic fibrosis research. The president of the USC SAAC, Tharpe also helped with the team's "Adopt-A-Highway" efforts with Columbia's Rosewood Drive. The Dalton, Ga. native is also a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, a seven-time President's List selection, a member of the 2009 SEC Community Service Team and a is a Cooper Scholarship recipient.

Chris Winchell, Junior, Freestyle, Tennessee
Chris Winchell is a member of the UT Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leadership team where he organizes and leads weekly meetings, he also planned an outreach event giving out hot chocolate and sandwiches on a busy Knoxville street and makes time weekly to meet with individuals from FCA. The Bothell, Wash. native also served as Tennessee swimming and diving team liaison to Montgomery Village's Teams for Toys event. He served as team organizer for raising funds; helped raise money to buy Christmas gifts for underprivileged Knoxville youth and served as a speaker at the Teams for Toys Christmas party. Winchell also participated in Saving Little Hearts Fundraiser where he played miniature golf with children to raise money for children with heart disease. He participated in student-athletes campus relations events and handed out popsicles and talked to UT students to improve relationships with students.

The 2010 Women's Community Service Team follows:

Elizabeth Hughes, Senior, Diving, Alabama
Elizabeth Hughes' community service efforts have included participating in the Heart Walk (American Heart Association), Laps for CF (Cystic Fibrosis), Caps for the Cure (Breast Cancer Awareness), Halloween Extravaganza (community event), Salvation Army, Arts N Autism and Project Angel Tree. She was also the 2009 SEC Platform Champion anda three-year SEC Finalist. In 2009 the Maryville, Tenn. native was named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV At-Large Team and was a two-time CSCAA Honorable Mention Scholar All-American. Hughes made Dean's List (3.5 or better GPA), President's List (4.0 GPA) and was the Debra Hobart Perseverance, Determination and Spirit Award winner.

Alex Roman, Sophomore, Diving, Arkansas
Before the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Roman was already involved with fund raising to buy supplies for Haiti. She has also been a volunteer counselor at a high school FCA Girls Retreat (2009) and worked as a camp counselor at Kanakuk (Christian sports camp) during the summer of 2009. She has also been a recruiting weekend volunteer and done mission work in Mexico. Roman was also involved with the record-breaking student participation in this year's Lift Up America campaign. The University of Arkansas Athletic Department, Tyson Foods, Inc. and Lift Up America teamed together to distribute more than 38,000 pounds of food to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. According to Lift Up America representatives, the Razorbacks set a record for the best participation by a single university at a Lift Up America event with 134 student-athletes donating time to load food on Saturday. She has worked at the Kuman Math & Reading Center where she tutored elementary school kids in math and reading comprehension and worked weekly as a volunteer for Campus Crusade for Christ.

Ava Ohlgren, Senior, Butterfly/IM, Auburn
Ava has put many hours of her time both in the pool and in the community. In April of 2009, Ava, along with fellow teammates, participated in Laps for Cystic Fibrosis. The team hosted the event at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center and swam laps to raise money for reaching a cure for the disease. She volunteered on three occasions to take pictures, sign autographs and give out candy at the City of Auburn Downtown Trick or Treat event. Most recently, she and her fellow teammates adopted three families through the Salvation Army for Christmas. The team collected donations and bought gifts for each family and helped provide the families with dinner for Christmas. Ava has also been involved with local food drives and toy drives through the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has also volunteered her time for a local kindergarten's family fun night. Ohlgren is also a Team Captain, 18-time All-American, two-time NCAA Champion, 13-time SEC Champion, 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Academic Honor Roll and a CSCAA Academic All-American.

Gemma Spofforth, Senior, Backstroke/IM/Freestyle, Florida
Gemma works at the Alachua County Crisis Center where she takes phone calls and counsels people in need. She is on the SAAC and spearheaded the Inaugural Golden Gators Awards, helps UF's Goodwill Gators where she delivered sneakers to local area kids in need and she also participated in UF's Climb for Cancer Sports Camp which allows children with cancer the chance to interact with UF student-athletes. The West Sussex, England native is the 2010 recipient of UF's Ben Hill Griffin Award, which recognizes athletic and community service/extra curricular efforts.

Kelly McNichols, Senior, Breaststroke/Freestyle/IM, Georgia
Kelly McNichols serves on Georgia's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which coordinates community service projects for all of Georgia's sports teams. She has also participated in Relay for Life, SEC Together We CAN Drive, which collected 3,100 pounds of food, Holiday Card Signing for U.S. Troops, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and helped as student-athletes collected $460.55 to purchase Thanksgiving meal vouchers for less fortunate families at Barrow Elementary School. McNichols also participated in a clothing drive in which the gently used items were donated to the Project Safe Thrift Store, signed holiday cards for 48th Infantry Brigade stationed in Afghanistan, signed autographs and posed for photos at UGA Fans Picture Day. The Naperville, Ill. native was named a 2009 Coca Cola Community Service All-American, was nominated for the 2009 NCAA Leadership Conference and the 2009 Lewis Leadership Award at UGA.

Chatham Penrod, Junior, Backstroke, Kentucky
Chatham Penrod's community service efforts include volunteering for the Susan G. Komen Race for Cure, Walk a Child to School Day, Special Olympics, UK Athletes Canned Food Drive, God's Pantry Food Drive, Jesus Prom, Bingo Volunteer and Dance Blue.

Shanna Spears, Junior, Freestyle, LSU
Shanna Spears was the Tigers' rep on SAAC which coordinates community service events for LSU student-athletes to attend. This season, Spears mentored three middle school students, alternating once a week to encourage them to succeed in schools and set goals for themselves. She also visited children's hospitals to cheer up patients and give them posters and she helped set up the swimming activity station at the annual LSU "BOOzar" where she played games with kids, handed out candy and signed autographs. Furthermore, she took part in LSU's annual "Christmas With the Tigers" event, where the team adopted an underprivileged child, raised money and bought the child gifts for the holidays.

Bryttany Curran, Senior, Breaststroke, Tennessee
Curran's community service efforts include visiting the elderly weekly through Kay Senior Care, leading team visits to the UT Medical Center, helping feed the homeless with Lost Sheep Ministries and participating in Teams for Toys, where she wrapped and gave Christmas presents to kids in need. The Cary, N.C., native has also participated in the Race for the Cure, Popsicles on the Pedestrian, Holiday Dinner for the Homeless and Habitat for Humanity, where she spoke at the dedication. Additionally, Curran has been involved with the Masquerade Ball for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Career Fair set-up, Adopt a Soldier and the Curran Family Foundation, which presents grants to organizations. She was the 2009 UT female winner of the community service award, the VOLSCARS Community Service Award honoree the same year and is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Team United/FCA Leadership team, Campus Crusade for Christ and the SEC Academic Honor Roll. One of the top-10 performers in Lady Vol history in both breaststroke events, she also attended the NCAA leadership conference a year ago.

Stephanie Hellenga, Junior, Freestyle, South Carolina
Hellenga participates in Gamecocks Giving Back, a project of the USC SAAC where each team takes a day in the fall and another in the spring to do a different all-day service project. She coordinates all community service efforts through the SAAC and she also assisted with the Columbia JDRF Palmetto Walk to Cure Diabetes. The LaPorte, Ind. native coordinated the swim team's efforts to donate to the Columbia Hannah House at Christmas, providing gifts and clothing for children of single mothers. Hellenga is the treasurer of USC's SAAC, is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and participated in the swim team's 10K for 10K for cystic fibrosis research.

Jess Cohen, Senior, Breaststroke, Vanderbilt
Cohen has served as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has coordinated student-athlete community service efforts during her four-years on Vanderbilt. Cohen has become very involved in a program called Well Worth It, an organization that came together to help build a viable water source in a local village near Emori Joi, Kenya. Two summers ago, Cohen traveled to Emori Joi, for a month with an organization called Free the Children, which focuses on improving the lives of children in impoverished areas across the country. Cohen and her group found out through research that it would be roughly $70,000 to build one well in the village of Emori Joi. The "Well Worth It" group hopes to accomplish its two-year goal of raising funds for a clean water source by May, 26, 2010. Cohen was named to the 2009 SEC Community Service team and has been recognized by the Commodore Nation Magazine for her efforts in the community. The Charlotte, N.C., native is also involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

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.

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