Lehigh totaled 24 student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Rolls for men’s and women’s swimming and diving announced by the league on Tuesday. Freshman Paola Simon topped the Mountain Hawks with a 3.95 grade point average in the College of Business and Economics. To be eligible for the honor roll, a student-athlete must obtain at least a 3.2 GPA and earn a varsity letter in his or her sport.

The first of two weeks of Lehigh swim camp began on Saturday inside Lehigh’s Jacobs and Morrrissey Pools. On Monday, campers were treated to an appearance by former Olympic Champion Rowdy Gaines, who made his annual trek to Lehigh’s camp. Gaines captured three gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and has been instructing young swimmers at Lehigh’s swim camps for the last 13 years.

The Lehigh swimming and diving program is coming off a season that culminated in the setting of 13 new school records at the league championship meet. Despite the team’s middle-of-the pack results, individual times continued to drop and personal best times were achieved up and down the Mountain Hawks roster. One of the main reasons for Lehigh’s improvements in the water is the revolutionary training program that Lehigh has been using. The Mountain Hawks are at the forefront of a movement that combines the increasingly popular CrossFit training program with the team’s regular in-pool workouts, and the results speak for themselves.

Seven Lehigh student-athletes were recently recognized as recipients of the 2009 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar Award.  The seven winners included Anne Rodriguez (women’s swimming), Marquis Hall (men’s basketball), Jillian Randolph (women’s track and field), Quadir Carter (football), Evans Kosgei (men’s track and field), Roxy Jahangeri (women’s soccer) and Shannon Alejandro (women’s track and field).  Hall, Rodriguez and Randolph were First-Team selections, while Carter and Kosgei earned Second-Team recognition, Jahangeri earned a spot on the Third-Team, and Alejandro was an Honorable Mention selection.  The seven selections are the most Lehigh has ever had.

The Lehigh swimming and diving program held its year end banquet on Sunday, March 29 at University Center. The afternoon’s festivities included lunch, remarks from head coach Rob Herb and student athletes and the presentation of both team and departmental awards as the Mountain Hawks looked back on a season that saw the men finish fourth in the Patriot League, while the women swam to a sixth place finish.