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Conference USA Releases Yearly Awards

FIU swept top honors in the 2014 the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Specialty Awards as seniors Sonia Perez Arau and Sabrina Beaupre were named Swimmer of the Year and Diver of the Year, respectively. WKU also nabbed a pair of awards as Amy Crayne was tabbed Freshman Diver of the Year and Nadine Laemmler was selected Newcomer of the Year. Tulane's Ellie Sills was voted the league's Freshman Swimmer of the Year.

Swimmer of the Year: Sonia Perez Arau, FIU, Sr., Barcelona, Spain
Diver of the Year: Sabrina Beaupre, FIU, Sr., Longueuil, Quebec
Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Ellie Sills, Tulane, Fr., Suwanee, Ga. 
Freshman Diver of the Year Amy Crayne, WKU, Fr., Rio Linda, Calif. 
Newcomer of the Year: Nadine Laemmler, WKU, So., Wackersdorf, Germany

Swimmer of the Year: Sonia Perez Arau, FIU, Sr., Barcelona, Spain - Backstroke/Freestyle/IM

Perez Arau became FIU's first swimmer to receive All-America distinction when she finished 13th in the 400 IM at the 2014 NCAA Championships. In the finals, the senior touched the wall with a time of 4:10.17, the second-fastest mark in school history. Perez Arau was the lone C-USA swimmer to score at the NCAA Championships, earning four points for the Panthers. She also competed in the 200 backstroke and 200 IM at the championship.

The Conference USA champion in the 400 IM, Perez Arau set a new meet record of 4:12.11 at the Conference USA Championship in February. Prior to the NCAA Championships, Perez Arau was undefeated in the event.

The Barcelona native finishes her FIU career with school records in the 500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle, 1650 freestyle and 400 IM. Perez Arau earned two C-USA Swimmer of the Week awards during the season (Oct. 22, 2013, Dec. 18, 2013).

Diver of the Year: Sabrina Beaupre, FIU, Sr., Longueuil, Quebec

Beaupre earned both the Swimmer of the Year and the C-USA Championship Diver of the Meet honors in 2014. The senior claimed the conference title in the the one-meter and platform diving events, winning by 32.95 points and 69.85 points, respectively. Beaupre took runner-up honors in the three-meter event, missing out on first place by six-tenths of a point. 
 
The Longueuil, Quebec, native completed her FIU career with a strong showing at NCAA Zone B diving, missing out on the NCAA Championships by one spot in the platform dive. Beaupre also made it to the zone finals in the one- and three-meter diving competitions.
A three-time C-USA Diver of the Week selection this year (Nov. 5, 2013, Jan. 7, 2014, Jan. 14, 2014), Beaupre holds the school record in all three diving events.

Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Ellie Sills, Tulane, Fr., Suwanee, Ga. - Butterfly/Freestyle/IM

Sills capped off a strong freshman season by establishing a new school record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.18 at the Conference USA Championship.

The butterfly specialist also recorded top times of 55.58 in the 100 butterfly (C-USA Championship prelims), 2:01.18 in the 200 butterfly (C-USA Championship) and 2:07.31 in the 200 IM (Phill Hansel Invitational on Nov. 21) this year. Sills' marks in the 100 and 200 butterfly were top marks for all freshmen during the C-USA Championship.

A native of Suwanee, Ga., Sills tallied top-three individual performances on 14 occasions, including winning the 100 butterfly vs UALR (Oct. 12), the 200 butterfly versus UALR, at LSU (Oct. 25) and at North Texas (Jan. 18), and the 200 freestyle against UALR. She was also a key member of the Green Wave's 200 medley relay, 400 and 800 freestyle relay units throughout the season.

Freshman Diver of the Year: Amy Crayne, WKU, Fr., Rio Linda, Calif.

Crayne earns Freshman Diver of the Year honors after setting numerous diving records and competing at the NCAA Zone Diving Championship.

She took bronze medalist honors in the one-meter dive at C-USA Championship, setting a new school record with 297.60 points. Crayne won the event in first four meets of season and holds the Bill Powell Natatorium record. The Rio Linda, Calif., native placed fifth in the platform dive at the C-USA Championship with a school-record 200.70 points. In three-meter diving, Crayne earned top honors at the first four meets of season and set the Bill Powell Natatorium Record.

Crayne is a four-time C-USA Diver of the Week honoree. (Nov. 11, 2013, Nov. 26, 2013, Dec. 10, 2013, Jan. 21, 2014)

Newcomer of the Year: Nadine Laemmler, WKU, So., Wackersdorf, Germany - Backstroke/IM

Laemmler was the highest individual scorer for the Hilltoppers at the Conference USA Championship is February. The sophomore won the 100 backstroke and set a new school record with a 53.13 performance.

The native of Wackersdorf, Germany, also claimed a pair of third-place finishes at the C-USA Championship, swimming the 200 backstroke in 1:57.04 and the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.92. Both marks earned NCAA B consideration and were school record times.

Laemmler was named CSCAA Collegiate Classic D1 National Invite Female Swimmer of the Meet last month, winning three individual events.

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