Liberty Swimming & Diving Earns CSCAA Scholar All-America Team Award

CSCAA Scholar All-America Team

CSCAA Individual Scholar All-Americans

The Liberty swimming & diving team continued to excel both in the pool and in academics during the spring of 2022, earning a 3.70 team GPA. Liberty was among teams on the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team list for the spring 2022 semester. Additionally, three Lady Flames have been named CSCAA Individual Scholar All-Americans.

Liberty’s 3.70 GPA this spring finished tied for 14th nationally and was also the second highest team GPA among all CCSA women’s swimming & diving programs. In the pool, Liberty has won each of the last four CCSA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships (2019-22).

Junior Maddie Freece, sophomore Abbie Shaw and freshman Sydney Stricklin were all named second team CSCAA Individual Scholar All-Americans. All three received Individual Scholar All-American honors for the first time.

The Individual Scholar All-America award is given to college swimmers and divers who have earned a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher, and have qualified for and competed at the national championship. Second team recognition is given to college swimmers and divers with a 3.5 GPA or higher who attained a "B" standard or Zone Diving score but were not invited to the national championship.

The CSCAA announced its Scholar All-America Team awards, which were received by 731 programs, spanning NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA. In order to qualify for the award, a team must have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the previous semester.

As a team, the Lady Flames earned a cumulative team GPA of 3.70 in the spring of 2022. During the fall of 2018, Liberty’s program-record 3.79 GPA led all collegiate teams, men’s or women’s.

Liberty has now earned CSCAA academic honors as a team a total of 21 semesters, dating back to the fall 2011 semester. Additionally, the Lady Flames have earned 42 CSCAA Individual Scholar All-American honors in program history.

A nursing major from Lansdale, Pa., Freece earned a 3.81 GPA during the spring of 2022. Freece has been named CCSA Women’s Diver of the Year twice already in her career. Freece was named the 2022 Co-Most Outstanding Diver of the CCSA Championship Meet, winning one-meter diving with a program-record score of 320.75 while finishing third in three-meter, scoring 305.90. Just two years into her career, she already has three conference individual titles and four CCSA podium finishes. The sophomore went on to compete at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, finishing 17th on three-meter and 25th on one-meter.

Shaw, an exercise science major from Niwot, Colo., holds a 3.63 GPA. The sophomore made an immediate impact on the Lady Flames’ roster after transferring from Kentucky. She won both the 100 backstroke (53.93) and 200 backstroke (1:55.13) at the CCSA Championships, earning NCAA B cut times in both events. Shaw led a 1-2-3 Liberty showing in the CCSA 200 backstroke, defeating her closest competitor by 3.23 seconds. She was named CCSA Swimmer of the Week on Jan. 11. Additionally, Shaw earned four regular-season victories in the 100 backstroke, highlighted by the TYR ’85 Invite.

Hailing from Clarkston, Mich., Stricklin holds a 3.93 GPA as an interdisciplinary studies major. Stricklin burst onto the scene as a freshman, earning Most Outstanding Female Newcomer honors at the CCSA Championships. She earned two podium finishes at the CCSA meet, highlighted by the 100 free, where she came from behind to beat defending champion Wiktoria Czarnecka on FGCU in NCAA B cut time of 49.48. Stricklin finished second in the CCSA 100 fly in lifetime-best 54.49. She enters her sophomore season ranked third in program history in 100 freestyle.