AURORA | The University of California women’s swim team had the best 800 yard freestyle in Division I women’s swimming in the 2013-14 season and also had likely had one of the smartest relay teams in the land as well.
The College Swimming Coaches Association (CSCAA) released its Individual Scholar All-America Award list and two former swimmers from Aurora high schools — Regis Jesuit graduate Missy Franklin and Smoky Hill grad Caroline Piehl — made the DI list of honorees, as did championship teammates Rachael Acker and Elizabeth Pelton.
To achieve the All-America award, swimmers must have achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher for the academic term and also qualified for and competed at their the NCAA Championship meet, which both Franklin and Piehl did in March in Minneapolis.
Franklin — a four-time gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics — also won an individual national championship as a freshman, setting an NCAA record with her performance in the 200 yard freestyle. She swam the anchor leg on the 800 freestyle relay and pulled the team from behind to victory. After the season, Franklin also won the prestigious Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award for 2014.
Piehl, also Franklin’s former club teammate with the Colorado Stars, helped the Bears to a third-place finish in the NCAA standings a season after they won the national title. The senior-to-be is a business administration major.
In all, California had 10 members of its women’s team land on the All-American Award list, second only to 11 for Georgia, which finished in front of the Bears in the NCAA team standings. Stanford finished second. Ten of Cal’s 16 swimmers on the roster finished with a 3.5 GPA or higher.
Grandview High School graduate Cayla Wood of the Colorado School of Mines earned honorable mention Division II Scholar All-American list. Wood was also an honorable mention CSCAA scholar as a freshman in 2010-11 and made RMAC All-Academic first team as a sophomore, junior and senior.
Wood — who holds seven School of Mines records — carried a 3.692 cumulative GPA in Engineering Physics.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
