Swim & Dive hands out awards, names captains
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After completing another historic season in the pool, the Bryant University swimming and diving teams handed out its team awards and named the 2014 captains at its annual end of the year banquet.
The Bulldog women swam to a second-place finish at the Northeast Conference championships, while the men earned their best finish in program history, finishing fourth at the MAAC championships.
Head coach Katie Cameron was proud to announce that rising seniors Graham Beck (Danvers, Mass.) and Michael Doran (Westborough, Mass.) and rising junior Joshua Bjornberg (Wallingford, Conn.) were named captains for the men's team. It will be the second-straight season that Beck will serve as a captain. On the women's side, the Bulldogs decided on a leadership council of their seven-member senior class.
The Bulldogs also handed out their year-end awards with Kaitlin Buckley (Duxbury, Mass.) and Bjornberg winning the Bulldog Award, the highest honor in the program.
Erin Daly (Reading, Mass.), Pierre Le Guyader (East Islip, N.Y.) and Damian Parzych (Farmington, Conn.) earned Rookie of the Year honors on their respective teams. Daly enjoyed a fantastic rookie campaign, earned a bronze medal in the 1650 free and setting a school record in 1000 with her split time. She was also a member of two all-conference relay teams. Le Guyader put together an outstanding performance at the MAACs, finishing fourth in the 50 free and helped the 200 and 400 free relay teams take home third-place finishes. Parzych also enjoyed a fine season, swimming in six different events for the Black and Gold.
The Bulldogs also handed out most improved honors, high point honors and teammates of the year honors. The most improved award went to Nathan Hirshbein (Weston, Fla.) and Samathan Hilton (Fairfield, Conn.), two swimmers that saw great improvements in their times. Lauren Doerrman (Oley, Pa.) and Beck earned the high point awards given to the two swimmers that score the most point throughout the season. Mara Valenzuela (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Kevin Hong (Bridgewater, N.J.) were named Teammates of the Year for their unwavering dedication to the Bryant swim program.