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Oakland women’s swimming and diving claims CSCAA Academic All-America honors

| July 27, 2011 | Comments (1)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Vanessza Balogh, Marcella Barretta and Chelsea Oates of the Oakland University women’s swimming and diving team each earned Honorable Mention Scholar All-America awards and the OU women’s team was named a Scholar All-America Team on Friday, announced by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The Golden Grizzlies posted a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.4 during the 2010-11 academics year.

Scholar All-America Team status is awarded to an NCAA swimming and diving squad that maintains a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The Golden Grizzlies greatly exceeded this standard and their 3.4 team GPA ranked 32nd among all Division I swim teams.

To be eligible for a CSCAA individual award an athlete must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher for the academic year and must achieve and NCAA ‘B cut. Balogh earned an NCAA ‘B cut in three separate events, while Barretta and Oates both qualified for the NCAA Diving Zones in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

Barretta, a junior, led the Oakland trio in the classroom with a 3.96 GPA for the year, while finishing 16th in the 3-meter and 23rd in the 1-meter diving events at the NCAA Diving Zones. Barretta had earlier set a pair of OU school records with scores of 310.05 and 332.95 in the 1 and 3-meter events respectively at the Kenyon Quad meet. Her Kenyon totals were also league-best scores and earned her qualification to the NCAA Diving Zones.

Balogh, a redshirt sophomore, posted a 3.75 GPA and earned an NCAA ‘B cut in the 400-yard individual medley, as well as the 500 and 1650 yard freestyle events. Balogh was named The Summit League Swimmer of the Year and garnered CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major All-American Honorable Mention honors. At The Summit League Championship, Balogh earned Newcomer of the Meet honors as she broke the meet records in the 500 and 1650 free and the 400 IM. She also set the OU school record in the 1000 free (9:57.87), the 1650 free (16:32.55) and the 400 IM (4:18.96).

Oates, a senior, finished the year with a 3.56 GPA and was The Summit League Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championships, winning The Summit League Diving Championship in both the 1- and 3-meter events. Oates also led The Summit League in the springboard events at the NCAA Diving Zones, where she finished 13th in the 1-meter event and was 15th in the 3-meter.

This season Oakland won its 12th consecutive Summit League Championship.

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Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University

About Dan Stickradt: DAN STICKRADT | SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com View author profile.

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