Virginia Dominates Annual ACC Swimming Awards
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March 30, 2005
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its annual year-end swimming awards Wednesday (March 30) with the University of Virginia winning four of the eight awards. Virginia swept the ACC Swimmer of the Year awards as second-year Vanja Rogulj (Zagreb, Croatia/Split) was named the ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year and third-year Brielle White (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside School) was chosen as the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year. First-year Pat Mellors (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) was named the 2005 Men’s ACC Freshman of the Year. Head coach Mark Bernardino was selected as the 2005 ACC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year, marking the seventh consecutive year he has garnered the award.
Rogulj, who was also named the ACC Men’s Rookie of the Year in 2004, becomes the ninth UVa men’s swimmer to earn ACC Swimmer of the Year honor. It is also the sixth straight year a Cavalier has been selected for the award. Rogulj was a two-time first-team All-American at the 2005 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He was fifth in the 200 breaststroke (1:56.17) and sixth in the 100 breast (53.52). Rogulj, a two-time Olympian for Croatia, was also an honorable mention All-American has a member of UVa’s 15th-place 200 freestyle relay (1:21.03). At the ACC Championships, Rogulj swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke titles, winning the 200 breast for the second consecutive year. He also swam the breaststroke leg on Virginia’s winning 400 medley relay at the ACC Championships.
White becomes the fifth Cavalier to be selected as the Women’s ACC Swimmer of the Year and the first since Mirjana Bosevska captured the honor in 2002. White garnered first-team All-America honors in the 100 backstroke at the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year. She finished fourth at NCAAs this year with a time of 53.59. White also set the ACC and school records while capturing honorable mention All-America honors in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:56.54. She was 12th in the event at NCAAs. For the second consecutive season, White swept the 100 and 200 backstroke titles at the ACC Championships. Her win in the 100 back marked her third consecutive ACC title in that event.
Mellors was selected as the ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year, which marks the fifth consecutive year a Virginia swimmer has earned the award. Mellors capped off a tremendous year by earning first-team All-America honors in the 400 individual medley at the NCAA Championships. He was fifth in the 400 I.M. with a time of 3:45.57, while his time of 1:46.34 in the 200 I.M. was good for 10th place and honorable mention All-America accolades. Mellors swept the individual medley events at the ACC Championships with times of 1:46.70 and 3:46.93, respectively.
Virginia Tech’s Jessica Botzom was selected as the ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year, while Maryland head coach Jim Wenold was named the ACC Women’s Coach of the Year. Miami’s Jenna Dreyer was named the ACC Women’s Diver of the Year, and Miami diver Miguel Velazquez was named the ACC Men’s Diver of the Year.