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Capital Athletic Conference Releases 25th Anniversary Women's Team

The University of Mary Washington student-athletes grabbed 16 positions while St. Mary’s College of Maryland earned five berths on the Capital Athletic Conference’s Silver Anniversary Women’s Swimming Team. UMW All-American Amber Kerico and St. Mary’s standout Kelly Heyde distinguished themselves as leaders of the elite squad.
 
Entering its 25th year of varsity competition, the CAC selected a Silver Anniversary Team in 19 championship sports, primarily based on season-ending conference awards as voted by the conference coaches. Each Silver Anniversary Team will feature 25 former or current standouts. Men’s and women’s indoor track & field, which became a CAC championship sport in 2012, was combined with men’s and women’s outdoor track & field. The Silver Anniversary Golf Team has just eight members because the sport was added to the CAC championships list just seven years ago.
 
The teams will be announced early in the regular-season for its respective sport. Each Silver Anniversary Team honoree will receive a commemorative gift from the conference, and many will be recognized by their institution/alma mater at some time during the academic year.
 
The University of Mary Washington, a charter member of the CAC, led the conference with 153 current and former student-athletes on the Silver Anniversary Teams, including 40 in men’s and women’s tennis combined. Salisbury University, which joined the CAC in the 1994-95 athletic season, was second with 121 Silver Anniversary Team honorees. CAC charter members York College of Pa. (59) and St. Mary’s College of Md. (35) were next in line for most Silver Anniversary Team honorees.
 
The CAC was organized as a six-team affiliation in 1989 and began championship competition with the winter sports during the 1990-91 season. Membership changes in the last decade ultimately created a 10-team conference that has become one of the strongest in NCAA Division III.
 
CAC teams have won 18 national team championships, and dozens of other teams have finished in among the top four in NCAA Division III competition.
 
In 2013-14, the CAC advanced more than 25 teams to post-season competition. Four CAC athletic programs finished among the Top 60 in the final Learfield Cup – the only conference in the Middle Atlantic Region to accomplish that feat. One team won a national championship (Salisbury University women’s lacrosse) and three others played in the national championship game. Nineteen CAC teams won at least one game in NCAA Tournament competition and 10 advanced to at least the NCAA Sweet 16.
 
In the last two years, CAC student-athletes have combined to win six individual national championships at NCAA swimming or track & field competitions. The CAC student-athletes collected a record 11 Capital One Academic All-America awards in 2013-14 as well as an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship and the Josten’s Award, recognizing a Division III women’s basketball player for her achievements on the court, in the classroom and contributions to the community.
 
In the classroom, the CAC boasts 81 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including one Academic All-American of the Year award winner, 12 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners, five NCAA Elite 89 award winners, two Honda year-end award winners and a Josten’s Award winner in women’s basketball. The CAC also features an annual Academic Honor Roll that recently honored nearly 1,200 students for their academic achievements. Thousands of other student-athletes have received Player of the Year, All-America or All-Region recognition in their respective sports.
 
Kerico is one of eight women’s swimmers to win the CAC Athlete of the Year award twice during their career. The Eagle All-American joins former UMW standout Mariah Butler and Goucher College’s Stephanie LaGue as the only three to win the CAC Rookie of the Year award along with two Athlete of the Year awards.
 
Other two-time CAC Women’s Swimming Athlete of the Year award winners include Mary Washington’s Megan Reese, Kim Myers and Maureen Greenlee along with Brie McDowell of St. Mary’s and Anna Macedonia of Marymount University.

Heyde is the only women’s swimmer in conference history to sweep gold medals in all 12 individual events at CAC championship meets during her career. Butler and UMW’s Sarah Crockett were 10-time individual gold medalists at CAC championship meets while Mary Washington’s Megan DeSmit and Myers were nine-time individual champions during their four-year careers.
 
 
CAC Women’s Swimming Silver Anniversary Team Honorees
 Name, Final Year of Competition, Institution
Elizabeth Barcus, 1996, University of Mary Washington
Mariah Butler, 2000, University of Mary Washington
Amy Carlson, 2007, University of Mary Washington
Alison Cerul, 1994, University of Mary Washington
Amanda Clair, 1993, University of Mary Washington
Kim Crance, 1998, St. Mary’s College of Md.
Sarah Crockett, 2011, University of Mary Washington
Stephanie Danner, 2004, Gallaudet University
Megan DeSmit, 2012, University of Mary Washington
Paula Goodwin, 1996, St. Mary’s College of Md.
Maureen Greenlee, 2008, University of Mary Washington
Kelly Heyde, 2013, St. Mary’s College of Md.
Rachel Hotchko, 2010, St. Mary’s College of Md.
Gretchen Hurley, 1996, University of Mary Washington
Kathy Jenko, 2005, Catholic University of America
Amber Kerico, 2014, University of Mary Washington
Sarah King, 1996, University of Mary Washington
Abby Koch, 2008, University of Mary Washington
Stephanie LaGue, 2005, Goucher College
Anna Macedonia, 2012, Marymount University, Va.
Brie McDowell, 2009, St. Mary’s College of Md.
Kim Myers, 2000, University of Mary Washington
Megan Reese, 1998, University of Mary Washington
Karen Riesenfeld, 2003, University of Mary Washington
Jessica Singer, 2014, University of Mary Washington

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