EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A great week at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship was capped off by an announcement on Tuesday that saw the Purple Aces women's swimming and diving team rank fourth in the nation in GPA while the men also garnered CSCAA All-America Team honors.
 
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America announced it's Scholar All-America Teams and the University of Evansville women checked in at #4 on the list with a 3.55 GPA.  Clemson, Eastern Illinois and Ball State were the top three.  It also marked the top effort in the Valley.
 
Not only were the women honored, but the men did a solid job on their own, posting a 3.03 cumulative team GPA to also garner the accolade.
 
"I am very excited about the ranking for both the men and women. As a program we want to represent UE in the highest of lights," said 2015 MVC Coach of the Year Rickey Perkins.  "To show that we have true student-athletes who strive to be competitive in classroom just as much in athletic competition. It is truly an honor to be surrounded by such a remarkable group of student-athletes." 
 
An unbelievable 12 student-athletes on the women's side finished with GPA's above 3.50.  Leading the way for the ladies were Kasey Rein, who has a 3.936 GPA while Abby Smith is at 3.9.  Samantha Montgomery is just behind with a 3.888.  Evansville's women have won the award each semester since the spring of 2009.
 
For the men, they are back on the list after missing the rankings last spring.  Five Purple Aces finished the fall with a GPA of 3.50 or above with Everett Plocek leading the way.  He stands at a perfect 4.0.  His efforts helped Evansville land back on the list with a cumulative GPA of 3.03.
 
The Team Scholar All American Award is presented to college and university swimming and diving teams, who have achieved a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The award is presented twice annually, once in the fall semester and again in the spring to recognize teams achieving a 3.0 in the semester coinciding with the NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA/CCCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
 
This completes a stellar week for the program as the women took fourth place at the MVC Championship while breaking eight school records.  Rickey Perkins garnered his fourth MVC Coach of the Year award.  It is an impressive feat for the leader of the program, who has taken it to heights not seen before in the Division I era of UE athletics.
 
On Wednesday, Evansville's group of Michaela Kent, Mackenzie Powell, Danielle Freeman and Abby Smith set the school mark in the 200 medley relay to open the tournament in Wednesday's final.  The quartet swam a time of 1:43.50 to finish in second place while posting the best time in school history.  The second school record of the opening day for UE came in the 800 free relay.  Freeman was part of the record-breakers once again, joining Michelle Tipton, Maja Magnusson and Jessi Hildebrand as the group registered a 7:35.42.
 
Thursday saw Smith, Montgomery, Freeman and Tipton set another mark in the 200 free relay.  They posted a time of 1:33.06, which is also the best-ever MVC time.
 
On Friday, three more school records went by the wayside today including the 200 free as Tipton posted a 1:48.35.  Freeman earned the new school mark in the 100 fly with her time of 55.63.  In the 400 medley relay, Kent, Powell, Montgomery and Tipton registered a time of 3:47.87.  On Saturday, two more school records fell. 
 
Tipton set the 100 free time with a 50.00 while taking second in the event.  Tipton was at it once again as she was one of four to break the 400 free relay mark.  Joining her was Montgomery, Smith and Freeman as they swam a 3:23.95.
 
Next week, the men take their turn as they compete in the Mid-American Conference Championship.  Set for March 4-7, the event will take place in Geneva, Ohio.