Class of 2019 graduate Francesca Stoppa leads the group with third consecutive Scholar All-America honor
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (July 3, 2019) – Rutgers swimming and diving placed a program-record six Scarlet Knights on the 2019 College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America individual awards list, highlighted by senior Francesca Stoppa's third consecutive Scholar All-America honor.
Joining Stoppa on the Scholar All-America honors are seniors Rachel Byrne and Vera Koprivova, while junior Federica Greco, sophomore Lauren Boone and freshman Jenna Douglasseach earned an honorable mention. Class of 2019 grad Vera Koprivova earned
her first CSCAA Scholar All-America Honor.
To earn Scholar All-America designation, a student-athlete must have participated in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and achieve a grade point average of 3.50 or higher, either cumulative or during the semester of the corresponding championships. Stoppa participated in the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in her career this past season after earned a bronze medal in the 200-yard butterfly at the Big Ten Championships. Koprivova made her second career appearance at the NCAA Championships, finishing 17th place nationally in the 200-yard backstroke and missing All-America status by a miniscule one-hundredth of a second. Byrne competed in her third consecutive NCAA Championships in diving last March.
Greco, Boone and Douglass each claimed their first CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mentions by meeting the GPA standard and posting an NCAA B cut or qualifying for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships during 2018-19 competition.
The CSCAA selected a record 1,221 swimmers and divers to this year's Scholar All-America team. In addition, 890 were named as honorable mention selections. In total, 282 teams placed at least one individual on the First or Second teams.
Rutgers swimming and diving earned an 11th straight CSCAA Scholar All-America Team Award in June with a team GPA of 3.53, and placed 12 on the Academic All-Big Ten list in May. During the 2018-19 season, Rutgers sent four student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, including three swimmers for the first time since 2007. Overall, three new program records were reset during the campaign and 21 new additions to the all-time Top 10 times and scores were cemented in addition to the program's first three Big Ten Championships medals in swimming events.
