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Towson's Rowland Named CAA Scholar-Athlete Award Winner

For the second consecutive year, Towson University senior swimmer Melanie Rowland was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Scholar-Athlete Award winner for women's swimming, it was announced by the league on Friday.

The conference honors one scholar-athlete in each of its 21 championship sports. Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25.

Rowland is a double major in family science and psychology. She was a Capital One first-team Academic all-district selection in 2013 and received honorable mention Scholar All-America accolades from the CSCAA in addition to earning the CAA award last season.

"I'm so proud of Melanie for earning this award," Towson Head Coach Pat Mead said. "I can't think of a higher award to earn. Melanie exemplifies all that our program strives to be. She set some very high goals for herself this year, and she overachieved in every aspect to reach her goals. Her leadership in the classroom and on the pool deck will be missed tremendously. I am proud to have had the opportunity to be her coach the past four years and am confident she will accomplish great things in the next chapter of her life."

As a senior, Rowland was the CAA champion in the 200-yard butterfly and set a meet record with a time of 1:56.36 while leading the Tigers to the 2014 CAA team championship.

She also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle, fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and was a member of the Tigers’ CAA Champion 800 freestyle relay team, leading Towson to its sixth CAA championship in the past seven years.

Rowland qualified for the NCAA Championship, where she swam the second-fastest time in school history in the 100-yard butterfly (53.77). She also placed 22nd overall in the 200-yard butterfly (1:56.76).

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