Swimming and Diving Announce Annual Awards

ORONO, Maine -- Head Coach Susan Lizzotte and the University of Maine Swimming and Diving program have announced their annual team awards, recognizing those student-athletes who achieved beyond expectations in the pool, classroom and the community.

This season, the Black Bears introduced a new award to its collection. The Erin Woolley Memorial Award will be awarded annually in memory of Erin Woolley (1984-2010), who was a member of the swimming and diving team from 2002-2006. Woolley never failed to brighten the day with her spirit, spunk and zest for life in and out of the pool. Her dedication led to inspiring performances, often as "lead dog" at America East. She left us far too soon, but her memory and character are forever in our hearts. The Erin Woolley Memorial Award will be awarded annually to an underclass member of the team that best embodies the contributions that Woolley made to the program. This year's winners of the Erin Woolley Memorial Award were Lauren Dwyer (Orono, Maine) and Spencer Warmuth (Brewer, Maine).

The Switzer Dedication award was awarded to Helaina Sacco (Rochester, Mass.) and Michael Capossela (Riverside, Conn.).

The Most Valuable Swimmers were Naja Harvey (Orono, Minn.), Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) and Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine).

The Most Improved awards went to Kayla Merchant (Sebec, Maine) and Isaac Walton (Glenburn, Maine).

The Chandler Comeback award was awarded to Carmen Linden (Ottawa, Ontario) and Ryan Fahey (Quincy, Mass.).

On the academic side, Dana Wright (Twin Falls, Idaho) and Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.) received the Palmer Plaque for Academic Excellence.

Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) received the Miller Diving Award while Linda Gaudreau (Marshfield, Mass.) took home the Senior Service Award.

-U-M-