Scholar-Athlete All-American Team - A First for UNO Women's Swimming and Diving

CHICAGO - The University of New Orleans women's swimming and diving program was named a Scholar-Athlete All-American team for the first time in school history, in an announcement made Friday morning by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

The accolade is awarded at the conclusion of each semester to swimming and diving teams that have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. During the 2009 fall semester, the UNO women posted a 3.02 GPA.

The Privateer women's team coached by Randy Horner is comprised of 13 student athletes, 12 of which are underclassmen. UNO was one of four Sun Belt teams to earn the recognition, joining Denver, Florida International and North Texas.

"The top priority in the recruiting philosophy of my coaching staff is find perspective student-athletes who have displayed commitment and dedication to their work in the classroom," said Horner. "With the rigorous schedule that we have, it is important for them to find the right balance, so they succeed at high levels both in the classroom and in the pool."

This is the third such honor for the UNO swimming and diving program as the men earned the recognition twice during the 2008-09 academic year.

The Privateer men posted a 3.24 GPA in fall 2008 which ranked eighth in the country amongst Division I programs, before following suit in the 2009 spring semester with a 3.15 GPA. This past semester, the UNO men narrowly missed joining their female counterparts by posting a 2.99 GPA.

"We want to complete the spring semester on a high note," said Horner. "We want our student-athletes to perform at a high level at the conference meet in two weeks, but more importantly in the classroom, so both of our teams can receive this distinction in the summer."

Currently, both Privateer teams are preparing for the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships which gets underway Feb. 17 in Nashville, Tenn.