Boesing, Viola Named To All-ACC Women's Academic Team
May 8, 2008
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Junior swimmer Britta Boesing and sophomore diver Brittany Viola have been named to the 2008 All-ACC Women’s Academic Swimming & Diving Team, as announced Thursday by Commissioner John D. Swofford. The recognition marks the second consecutive year that Boesing – a Sport Administration major – and Viola – a Broadcasting major – were named to the league’s all-academic squad.
In addition to their success in the pool during their time at UM, both Boesing and Viola have excelled in the classroom. Boesing and Viola have each made the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (3.2 GPA) each of the last three semesters while Boesing has been named to the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA) all three semesters and Viola two of the last three semesters.
A native of Orlando, Fla., Viola became just the third women’s diver in UM history to win an NCAA Championship when she was victorious in the platform event at the 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship in Columbus, Ohio on March 22. Viola joined Jenny Keim, who owns UM’s two most recent titles with wins in the 10-meter platform in 2000 and the three-meter springboard in 1999, and Wendy Williams, who won the program’s first championship in the 1999 platform, as the only Hurricanes to have won an NCAA women’s diving title. Viola was eventually named 2008 NCAA Tri-Diver of the Year and 2008 ACC Diver of the Year.
Boesing, a native of Tuebingen, Germany, swam the fastest time in school history in the 100-yard backstroke in the preliminary round at the ACC Championships in Atlanta, Ga. Feb. 22, coming in at 56.37. She was also a part of the 200-yard medley relay team with Magdalena Waszkiewicz, Katie Eason and Kirsten Pomerleau that established a new school record with a time of 1:43.11 on the first day of the championship.
To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during her academic career.
Each of the league’s 11 schools that sponsor swimming and diving were represented on the team, as Clemson tied a league-high seven selections to lead all ACC schools. Florida State and Virginia Tech each received six picks, while Virginia collected five, North Carolina notched four and Georgia Tech had three. With two nods apiece were Miami, Boston College, Duke and Maryland. NC State rounded out the academic squad with one representative.
This year’s team boasts 21 All-ACC performers with 12 crowned ACC champions and 16 returning academic honorees. In addition, seven student-athletes earned NCAA All-America Honorable Mention and two were honored with the league’s Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship (Florida State’s Abbie King and Virginia Tech’s Botzum).
