University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Swimming & Diving Held Annual Awards Banquet
May 04, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
May 4, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. - The men's and women's swimming and diving teams held their annual end of the season awards banquet over the weekend where each team awarded it's top performers and men's head coach Russ Yarworth was honored for his 30 years of outstanding coaching at UMass.
The Minutewomen awarded six athletes at their annual year-end banquet, issuing five awards. Sophomore Jennifer Corriveau was named Most Improved after showing great progress through out the year. Corriveau now sits third all-time in the 50 free and 100 back in UMass history and earned many top points for the Minutewomen throughout the season. Senior Jackie Porter earned the Minuteman Award, while Elizabeth Walsh was given the team's Spike Award for both of their hard work and top performances through the season. Freshman Chelsea Downing was named the team's Rookie of the Year after an outstanding first season at UMass which included numerous top finishes throughout the season which helped land her the all-time school record in the 400 IM and the second-best time in the 1650 free. The Minutewomen named co-MVPs as Christa Narus and Karen Upperco were both honored with the award. Narus had a spectacular senior season as she broke two school records in one meet, 100 fly and 200 free, and she was the top finisher for the Minutewomen in the lanes at the A-10 Championships. Upperco also ended her collegiate career on a high note as she holds both diving records at the A-10 Championships and was named A-10 Most Outstanding Diver for the third time in her career. Upperco was also honored for her academic performance as she was named A-10 Scholar-Althete of the Year as well as UMass/Dinn Bros. Winter Scholar-Athlete.
The Minutemen handed out eight awards, honoring nine athletes at the banquet. Junior Andrew Willbrant was named the team's MVP after an outstanding third-year at UMass. Willbrant finished his season as the A-10 individual champion in the 100 back for the third year in a row while also posting top times and earning top points for the Minutemen all season long. Freshman Kyle Jennings received the Minuteman Award after is hard work and commitment all season. Newcomer Dan Backler was named Most Improved as he had an impressive finish to his first season at UMass after transferring from Rhode Island. Backler now ranks third all-time in UMass history in the 200 breast and notched a third-place finish at the Championships in the same event. The Rookie of the Year award went to both Jason Cook and Joey Sbordon. Cook became the first diver in UMass history to compete at NCAAs while he also now holds both diving records at the Atlantic 10 Championships and was named A-10 Most Outstanding Diver. Sbordon also had a stellar freshman season as he finished the year with 17 first-place finishes and a second-place finish in the 1650 free at the A-10 Championships, which also placed him second all-time in school history. Each freshman was honored a second time at the banquet as Cook was the recipient of the Diver Dude Award, and Sbordon received the S.T.U.D. Award. The team's Iron Lung Award went to sophomore Max Butler while the Coaches' Award was given to sophomore Chris Howard.
In addition to the banquet, a roast of men's head coach Russ Yarworth was also held over the weekend to honor his 30 years of coaching at the UMass. Yarworth won his 11th Atlantic 10 Championship this season and was also named A-10 Coach of the Year for the 10th time in his career.