Five Spartan Men Named to CSCAA Scholar All-American Team; Squad Also Honored
CHICAGO, Ill. – Five student-athletes from Case Western Reserve University men's swimming & diving have been named to the 2012 College Swimming Coaches Association of America Honorable Mention Scholar All-American Team. In addition, the Spartans garnered CSCAA Team Scholar All-American honors for the spring semester.
The CSCAA presents the honorable mention award to swimmers and divers who achieved a semester grade point average of 3.5 or higher in addition to a "B-Cut" standard, but did not qualify for their respective national championship.
The Team Scholar All American 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 award is presented to teams achieving this standard in the fall semester and in the semester of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships (Winter/Spring).
As a team, the Spartans (3.24 GPA) were one of five University Athletic Association men's squads to collect the team award during the championship semester.
All five Spartan individual selections were underclassmen honorees with a quartet of rising juniors in Gus Bailey (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City), Nick Clyde (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor), Heath Hudgins (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) and Scott McHenry (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) along with a rising sophomore in Eric Haufler (Westminster, Md./Francis Scott Key).
An aerospace/mechanical engineering major with a 3.66 GPA during the spring semester, Bailey turned in a sophomore season that included two school records and All-University Athletic Association honors in four events. Also a UAA All-Academic honoree, Bailey hit an NCAA "B-Cut" in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.90 seconds during the prelims of the conference championship meet on February 16 – the same event he would eventually finish runner-up. Bailey also placed third in the UAA with a school-record time of 46.35 in the 100 free and swam a leg for the 400 free relay team that broke the program mark with a time of 3:06.41 on February 18. Bailey is a repeat selection, having earned the honorable mention award as a freshman as well.
Clyde, a physics and mathematics double-major with a 3.6 GPA last semester, set a school record as a sophomore and earned All-UAA finishes in two events. Also a UAA All-Academic honoree, Clyde achieved his NCAA "B-Cut" with a third-place time of 2:05.31 in the 200 breaststroke at the UAA Championship on February 18. Clyde set the school record in the 200 individual medley with a mark of 1:53.88 during the UAA prelims on February 16, and he swam for the third-place 200 free relay team later that evening.
An engineering major with a 3.64 GPA for the semester, Hudgins was a member of three school-record setting relays and hit personal records in three of his four individual events. A UAA All-Academic honoree, Hudgins reached NCAA "B-Cuts" with the 200 free (1:24.68) and 800 free (6:49.88) relay teams that broke school records at the Midwest Invitational on February 25. Hudgins also swam with the record-breaking 400 free relay (3:06.41) at the UAA Championship on February 18.
McHenry, a chemical engineering major with a 3.8 GPA during the semester, swam for two school-record relay quartets as a sophomore. A UAA All-Academic honoree, McHenry joined Hudgins on the 200 free and 800 free relay teams that broke school records at the final meet of the season.
A biomedical engineering/management double-major with a 3.75 GPA during the spring semester, Haufler set one individual school record and swam for three school-record relays en route to earning the team's Rookie of the Year award. Haufler joined Hudgins and McHenry on the record-breaking 200 free and 800 free relay teams. Haufler also set a school record of his own in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.10 on February 25.
In 2011-12, the Spartan men jumped as high as No. 12 in the national polls, eventually finishing the season at No. 14. Led by the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year in Head Coach Doug Milliken and assistant Emily Wylam, the Spartans also matched the best conference finish in school history with a third-place showing at the UAA Championship.
