🏊♀️ Kansas Receives Academic Awards from CSCAA
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas swim and dive program tied for the seventh-best GPA of all Division I programs in the nation and had five student-athletes earn College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American Second Team distinctions.
This spring, the swimming and diving team earned a 3.76 GPA, tying for the seventh-best GPA in the nation. Last semester, the team earned a 3.75 team GPA, the sixth-best in the nation.
Diver Lauren Gryboski earned CSCAA Scholar-All American Second Team honors after posting a GPA above a 3.50. Gryboski also earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors this season. The human biology and anthropology major also earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors last season (2022) and Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team honors following her freshman season (2021). This year, Gryboski posted a personal best 206.45 in the platform dive at the Big 12 Championships, placing 12th.
Swimmer Autumn Looney has earned a plethora of academic awards throughout her four-year career at Kansas. Along with the Scholar All-American Second Team honor, Looney earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Looney also earned the distinguished Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Award, the Big 12 Conference’s highest academic achievement. Her best finish this season came at the Sunflower Showdown, placing first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.01 seconds. Looney also claimed a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, finishing the 100-yard butterfly race in 53.55 seconds.
Diver Gabriela San Juan Carmona earns her first academic achievement as a part of the Kansas program following her freshman year. The exercise science major earned one podium finish this season after she placed third in the one-meter dive at the double dual against Lindenwood and South Dakota. Carmona also placed ninth in the one-meter dive at the Big 12 Championships.
Swimmer Lezli Sisung built off of her stellar freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign. Along with this honor, Sisung was named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team this season as well as Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team last season. The environmental science major earned Big 12 Swimmer of the Week (Jan. 26) following her performance at the dual against Arkansas, where she saw two second-place finishes. Sisung also earned a second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, racing to a time of 54.23 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke.
Diver Lize van Leeuwen is the final of five student-athletes that earned the distinction. The philosophy major opened her Kansas career on an excellent note. She achieved two first-place finishes, one in the one-meter dive and the other in the three-meter dive. Her best performance came at the Big 12 Championships, where she was able to set a new program record with 252.20 points in the platform dive. That was enough for her to earn a fourth-place finish.
To be named to the First-Team Scholar All-America, student-athletes must achieve a minimum GPA of 3.50 and participate in their respective national championship. Second-Team selections also earned a GPA of 3.50 or higher and met the “B” time standard for the national championship or participated in a diving zone qualification meet. All criteria can be found on the CSCAA website.
