Bowling Green State University Athletics
Four Falcons Continue Earning Honors
March 19, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 19, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Although the swimming and diving season has come to a close, four Falcons continue to earn awards post-season. Yesterday (March 18), the Mid-American Conference office announced the swimming and diving recipients of the Academic All-MAC awards. Sophomore Sarah Burston was the sole Falcon to receive the top honor of Academic-All-MAC First Team while teammates Liz Harper, Chelsea Kazmierski and Meg Richardson were named Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention.
This honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport. First year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments from the current season only will be considered.
Sarah Burston, a native of Sydney, Australia, is a communiacations major and maintains a 3.20 cumulative GPA. As a sophomore, this is Burston's first Academic All-MAC First Team award. At the 2009 MAC Championships, Burston earned a bronze medal in the 200-yard butterfly while also breaking the record in the 100-yard butterfly (54.67) with a sixth place finish. She also finished 12th in the 200-yard IM. She holds the second fastest times in BGSU history in the 200-yard butterfly event and the third fastest time in the 200-yard IM. Burston also assisted the Orange and Brown to a fifth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay and a sixth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. At the Ohio State Invitational held in December 2008, Burston took eighth in the 100 butterfly and 12th in the 200 butterfly.
Fellow sophomore, Liz Harper of Columbia, Missouri, earned the Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention in her first year of eligibility. Harper is a health science major and holds the highest GPA of 3.67 of the four Falcon award winners. At the 2009 MAC Championships, Harper took 14th place in both the 100-and 200-yard butterfly events. She holds the fourth fastest time in BGSU history in the 100 butterfly and the sixth fastest time in the 200 butterfly. At the OSU Invitational, Harper assisted the Falcons in an 11th place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay and a 14th place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Individually, Harper swam to 20th and 23rd in the 200 and 100 butterfly events, respectively.
Sophomore Chelsea Kazmierski, a native of Toledo, Ohio, also earned the Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention award in her first year of eligibility. Kazmierski is an adolescent/young adult/secondary education major and maintains a 3.24 GPA. At the MAC Championships, Kazmierski swam to a 28th place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle and a 30th place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. At the OSU Invitational, she took 21st in the 400-yard IM and 19th in the 1650 freestyle.
The final Falcon Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention recipient is junior co-captain Meg Richardson of Springfield, Ohio. Richardson has a GPA of 3.37 in her adolescent/young adult/secondary education major. This season, Richardson broke the BGSU 50-yard freestyle record twice. She first broke the record at the OSU Invitational swimming the sprint in 23.70 then broke the record again at the MAC Championships, setting the new fastest time at 23.43. Richardson also broke the 100-yard freestyle record at the MAC Championships, swimming the race in 50.80 and took 16th in the 100-yard breaststroke. She was also apart of four record-breaking relays at the championships: the 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay.
The complete list of the Academic All-MAC First Team is:
Katie Carter-Akron-Senior-3.678-Graphic Design Stephanie Zielinski-Akron-Junior-3.563-Nursing Meghan Patterson-Ball State-Senior-3.95-Marketing Sarah Burston-Bowling Green-Sophomore-3.20-Communications Jessica Ballard-University at Buffalo-Junior-3.437-Fine Arts Meili Carpenter-University at Buffalo-Junior-3.772-Chemistry 
 Sam Eckert-University at Buffalo-Junior-3.711-Social Health Sciences 
 Sam Palma-University at Buffalo-Junior-3.921-History Rachel Sorg-University at Buffalo-Senior-3.337-Exercise Science Hannah Burandt-Eastern Michigan-Senior-3.89-Math/Secondary Education Stephanie Cholyk-Eastern Michigan-Junior-3.64-Biology Ashley Durand-Eastern Michigan-Senior-3.57-Biology Alissa Ricard-Eastern Michigan-Senior-3.51-Exercise Science Megan Brunn-Miami University-Junior-3.83-Marketing Margaret French-Miami University-Senior-3.50-Biochemistry Melissa Roemmele-Miami University-Senior-3.51-Psychology & Linguistics Allison Stevens-Miami University-Senior-3.77-Journalism & Marketing Chelsey Bower-Ohio-Junior-3.83-Finance Rachel Heim-Ohio-Sophomore-3.97-Biochemistry Stacey Huber-Ohio-Sophomore-3.41-Fine arts Carine Souza-Ohio-Senior-3.21-Dietetics Amanda Traylor-Ohio-Sophomore-3.58-Exercise physiology Amanda Breen-Toledo-Senior-3.683-Special Education Amanda Thompson-Toledo-Sophomore-3.580-Major: Speech Pathology
