Women's Swimming | 6/30/2016 3:27:00 PM

Norfolk, Va.----Eighteen members of the Wingate University swimming program are Scholar All-Americans, as named by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). Earlier this month, both WU swimming squads were recognized as Scholar All-America teams by the same organization.
 
Eight Bulldog women were named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America team, led by Academic All-America® at-large first team member Vika Arkhipova (Seversk, Russia). The three-time CSCAA Scholar All-American is joined on the 2016 list by one graduate student, two seniors, three juniors and one freshman.
 
Graduate student Julie Wessler (Sprockhövel, Germany) is the elder stateswoman on the Wingate list, joined by seniors Armony Dumur (Amiens, France) and Rita Koryukova (Omsk, Russia) and redshirt junior Olga Kosheleva (Yekaterinburg, Russia). Juniors Caitlin Coughlin (Cochranville, Pa.) and Sofia Petrenko (Arkhangelsk, Russia) and freshman Maria Madsen (Dragoer, Denmark) complete Wingate's eight-person CSCAA Scholar All-America list.
 
Wessler, Dumur and Kosheleva are two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American team members. Junior Erika Kaspersson (Eslöv, Sweden) receives distinction as an honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team member for the third consecutive year. Bulldog sophomore Mariona Espinalt (Barcelona, Spain) completes Wingate's honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team duo.
 
The Wingate women's swimming team finished a school-record second in the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship meet at the IU Natatorium on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Wingate head coach Kirk Sanocki was named the NCAA Division II women's swimming Coach of the Year by his peers. The Bulldogs won six national championships at the 2016 season-ending NCAA meet.
 
Dumur played a role in four 2016 titles (one individual, three relay) to give her six national crowns for her WU career. Arkhipova, Koryukova and Petrenko earned two 2016 NCAA gold medals each, while Coughlin received an NCAA first-place trophy for her performance in the 200 Freestyle Relay at the 2016 championships. The Bulldogs rewrote multiple record books, setting three new NCAA Division II standards.
 
Four Bulldog men were named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America team, led by two-time Academic All-America® at-large team member and Bulldog junior Lucas Cuadros (Cali, Colombia). Cuadros was an honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team member as a freshman. The 2016 recognition marks his second year on the CSCAA Scholar All-American team. One senior, one junior and one sophomore join Cuadros on the CSCAA list.
 
Senior Ossian Arvidsson (Kungälv, Sweden) is a three-time CSCAA Scholar All-America team member, as is junior teammate Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany). WU sophomore Jerome Heidrich (Hamburg, Germany) rounds out the men's list. The aforementioned quartet helped the Bulldog men finish 16th at the 2016 NCAA championships, only 4.5 points behind number 15 Indianapolis (96 points). Wingate has finished in the NCAA top 16 for 11 years in a row.
 
Bulldog senior Roman Kanyuka (Moscow, Russia) is one of four WU student-athletes on the honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team. He made the CSCAA Scholar All-America team in 2015. Junior Øystein Fjeldberg (Oslo, Norway) is a two-time honorable mention choice (2014, 2016) after joining Kanyuka on the 2015 CSCAA Scholar All-America team.
 
Wingate junior Mehdi Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium) earns his second honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team recognition, while freshman Niklas Martin (Kempton, Germany) receives honorable mention CSCAA Scholar All-America team membership for the first time in his career.
 
To qualify for Scholar All-America recognition, the student-athlete must have a 3.500 or higher GPA (cumulative or spring semester) and have competed at the NCAA Division II championship meet. The CSCAA also recognizes an Honorable Mention squad for those not qualifying for the NCAAs.
 
Founded in 1922, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) - the oldest organization of college coaches in America - is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming and diving at the collegiate level.
 
WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top 10 "best value" in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,100 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 34 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, master's degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport management and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
 
With a 15 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past 10 years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 86 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate is number one in this millennium with 86 Academic All-America® honorees. Wingate is tops among all SAC schools with 95 lifetime Academic All-America® picks. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.

Wingate women's swimming
CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
Vika Arkhipova
Caitlin Coughlin
Armony Dumur
Mariona Espinalt (HM)
Erika Kaspersson (HM)
Rita Koryukova
Olga Kosheleva
Maria Madsen
Sofia Petrenko
Julie Ann Wessler

Wingate men's swimming
CSCAA Scholar All-Americans
Ossian Arvidsson
Lucas Cuadros
Øystein Fjeldberg (HM)
Jerome Heidrich
Roman Kanyuka (HM)
Leif-Henning Klüver
Niklas Martin (HM)
Mehdi Zeraidi (HM)