Galyer Repeats as SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year to Highlight Kentucky’s All-SEC Selections
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced its annual awards for the 2015-16 swimming & diving season, with five members of the Kentucky program earning distinction. Junior Danielle Galyer repeated as the Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and was also named to the Second Team. Geena Freriks, Rebecca Hamperian and Seb Masterton also earned second-team honors, while Freriks and Masterton were name to the All-Freshman along with Courtney Clark.
Galyer made Kentucky history this season when she became the first swimmer from UK to earn a national title. The Greenville, S.C., native became one of just 10 women to break the 1:50.00 barrier in the 200 back when she won the event at the NCAA Championships in a school-record time of 1:49.71 for the sixth-fastest swim in American swimming history. Galyer narrowly missed out on repeating as the SEC champion in the 200 back, finishing runner-up, and also earned her first medal in the 100 back with a bronze finish in 51.77 seconds. Additionally, she earned All-America honorable mention in both the 100 back and the 800 free relay, the latter of which broke the Kentucky record on the national stage in 7:04.75. Galyer also received praise for her work in the pool and in the classroom this year, as she was named the recipient of the Elite 90 award, given to the student-athlete at the championship level with the highest cumulative GPA. The psychology and political science double major currently maintains a flawless 4.00 grade point average.
Freriks swam alongside Galyer on UK’s record-breaking and All-American 800 free relay, but had tremendous success as an individual with Kentucky’s highest-yielding freshman swimming campaigns. The Norwalk, Ohio, native became the first freshman swimming medalist at the SEC Championships for UK and was the first UK swimmer of any year to make the A final of the 200 free since 1999. Freriks locked down the bronze medal with a new UK record in 1:44.98, clinching a spot at the NCAA Championships. She also competed in the 100 free on the national stage, with the second-fastest swim in school history in 49.24 seconds, and holds the third-fastest 500 free time in program history in 4:43.46.
Hamperian was a two-time All-America honorable mention, placing 11th in the 1-meter dive and 12th in the 3-meter dive. She also reprised her runner-up finish on the 1-meter springboard at the SEC Championships, wit the second-highest score in school history at 333.75 points. The Lexington, Ky., native also advanced to the championship final of the platform dive, placing sixth overall. Hamperian was joined by Clark in her first A final appearance at the SEC level after scoring 265.65 points in the prelims to rank seventh in UK laurels. Clark was Kentucky’s second diver at the national championships, earning qualification scores in both the platform and 1-meter dives.
Masterton was the lone Wildcat to score at the NCAA Men’s Championships, finishing 11th in the platform dive to garner the first All-America honorable mention of his career. The British product had one of the most successful freshman diving campaigns in program history, taking the Southeastern Conference silver medal in both the 3-meter and platform dives at the conference meet. Additionally, he posted the second-highest score in school history and broke the freshman record in the 3-meter dive with 408.10 points, while his career bests of 378.10 in the 3-meter and 389.70 on tower both rank fourth in UK laurels.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at ukathletics.com.
