Spartans Place Two on All-SSC Men’s Swimming Team
MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Sunshine State Conference announced the 2015 All-SSC Men's Swimming Team. Nova Southeastern boasts Thiago Sickert as SSC Swimmer of the Year and Anton Lobanov as Freshman of the Year. Duncan Sherrard of Florida Southern College is Coach of the Year.
Voting for the SSC Swimmer, Freshman and Coach of the Year awards were conducted among the league's swimming coaches. Individual points accumulated at the 2015 SSC Swimming Championships, which took place on Feb. 19-22 at the Orlando YMCA Aquatic Center, determined the All-SSC Men's Swimming Team. The top eight swimmers, based on points, were named All-SSC First Team, and the next eight swimmers were named All-SSC Second Team.
Runar Borgen and Jeremy Parker were both on the second team for UT. Borgen dominated at the NCAA Championships, becoming an All-American in the 50 Free, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay and 800 Free Relay. Parker was second at the SSC Championships in the 100 Free and 200 Free. He was also an All-American in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay.
Following the SSC Championship, Sickert held two individual and one-relay conference records. He was part of five SSC Meet record-breaking performances. At Nationals, Sickert won the 100 & 200 Freestyle national championships.
Lobanov followed his 100 Free and 200 Breaststroke conference championship swims with national championships. In earning the 200 Breaststroke, Lobanov broke his own NCAA D-II record. He originally broke the record at the SSC Championships (1:53.49) and then again at the NCAA D-II Championship (1:51.71).
With Lobanov and Sickert, NSU finished second at the SSC Championships and seventh at the NCAA D-II Championships.
Sherrard is awarded his fourth consecutive SSC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year accolade. He led the Moccasins to their third consecutive Sunshine State Conference men's championship in February. FSC finished fifth among 32 scoring teams at the national championship. It is the fourth consecutive Top-5 finish for the Moccasins.
Marco Aldabe (Florida Southern), Raul Garrastazu (Florida Southern), and Luis Rojas (Florida Southern) repeat as first team members from last year. Rojas also earned first team accolades in 2013.
2015 All-SSC Men's Swimming Team
First Team:
Daniel Bis (Fr.), Saint Leo
Pawel Trenda (Jr.), Saint Leo
Marco Palacios (So.), Florida Southern
Raul Garrastazu (Jr.), Florida Southern
Marco Aldabe (So.), Nova Southeastern
Luis Rojas (Sr.), Florida Southern
Evan Jacob (Jr.), Saint Leo
*Blake Woodrow (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
*Jesus Marin (So.), Florida Southern
Swimmer of the Year: Thiago Sickert, Nova Southeastern
Freshman of the Year: Anton Lobanov, Nova Southeastern
Coach of the Year: Duncan Sherrard, Florida Southern
Second Team:
Yagoh Kubagawa (Fr.), Florida Tech
Thiago Sickert (So.), Nova Southeastern
Runar Borgen (So.), Tampa
Jan Urbaniak (Fr.), Saint Leo
Matheus Assis (Jr.), Saint Leo
Anton Lobanov (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
Jeremy Parker (Jr.), Tampa
Juan Tolosa (Jr.), Florida Southern
*Due to a tie in accumulated individual point totals for 8th place, there are nine swimmers on the all-conference first team.