Feb. 22, 2012

WEST POINT, N.Y. - After turning in a myriad of spectacular performances at last weekend's Patriot League Championships, six members of the Army swimming and diving teams earned all-league accolades, it was announced by conference officials on Wednesday.

Four men and two women earned all-league status with three Army athletes on the first team and three Black Knights on the second unit.

Junior Chris Nguyen, who was tabbed the Patriot League Diver of the Meet for the second straight season, was placed on the all-conference first team for the second year in a row. The Cheshire, Conn., native won the one-meter event on Friday evening with a score of 371.05 markers. His point total was nearly 40 points higher than that of the runner-up finisher. Nguyen capped his stellar weekend on Saturday night as the third-year standout won the individual title off the three-meter board with a score of 372.55 points. Nguyen, who broke the Academy record in the preliminaries (393.15), topped the field by more than 31 points.

Junior Ayman Andrews was placed on the All-Patriot League first team for the second straight year after piling up 42 points at the conference championships. The native of Sussex, N.J., began his productive weekend by placing eighth in the 200-yard individual medley with a clocking of 1 minute, 52.15 seconds. He recorded a personal-best time in the preliminaries of that event, touching the wall in the third-fastest time in Academy history (1:51.88).

Andrews continued his strong showing at the conference meet on Friday, finishing third in the 100-yard butterfly (48.08). His time of 47.82 in the preliminaries of that event broke the 13-year-old Academy record and met the NCAA "B" cut. He capped his weekend by placing fourth in the 200 fly, touching the wall in 1:49.55. Andrews was also a member of Army's 200- and 400-yard medley relay teams that finished third.

Freshmen Zachary Woods and Will Viana were both named to the All-Patriot League second team for their efforts at the conference championships.

Woods, who emerged this season as one of the top divers in the conference, earned his spot on the second unit following his runner-up finish off the one-meter board. The Collierville, Tenn., product racked up 331.75 markers to edge Navy's Ben Freedman for the runner-up position. Woods followed that up with a fifth-place showing off the three-meter board, posting a score of 293.50 points.

Viana, who earned Patriot League Male Rookie of the Meet accolades, was named to the all-conference second team after accumulating 40 points over the course of the three-day meet. Viana began the weekend by placing sixth in the 500-yard freestyle with a personal-best time of 4:32.22. The clocking ranks as the eighth-fastest time in Academy history. The Stuttgart, Germany, native then finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall with the fifth-best time in Army annals (1:39.20).

Viana, who also swam the lead leg on Army's 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays teams, finished the meet by taking sixth in the 200-yard backstroke. He tied his own Academy record with a clocking of 1:49.83 in the finals.

Junior Paige Brink, who had a hand in six Academy-record performances at the Patriot League Championships, was named to the all-league first team for the second time in her career. The team captain racked up 51 points in helping the Army women achieve their highest score at the league meet (422.5) since the 2005 squad totaled 446 markers.

Brink began her weekend on Thursday by breaking the Academy record in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing fifth overall with a clocking of 2:04.64. Later that same evening, Brink teamed with sophomore Grace Hamilton, freshman Keeli McNeary and junior Alyssa Tran to eclipse the Army standard in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:34.62).

Brink's outstanding swimming continued on Friday when the Markle, Ind., native placed runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle with an Academy-record time of 1:50.08. The fourth-year performer also swam the third leg of Army's 200-yard medley relay team that set a school mark. The quartet of McNeary, Tran, Brink and sophomore Juliette Wallerstein clocked a time of 1:46.18 to place fourth.

Brink capped her outstanding weekend on Saturday by winning the 100-yard freestyle in an Academy-record time of 50.74. She also teamed with Hamilton and freshmen Kristen Barta and Kristina Muller to place third in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a school-record clocking of 7:35.14.

Tran, meanwhile, was named to the All-Patriot League second team for the third year in a row after scoring 31 points at the conference championships. Her best finish came in the 50-yard freestyle as the Yorba Linda, Calif., native placed third with a clocking of 23.69. Tran added a seventh-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly (56.74) and was 14th in the 100-yard freestyle (53.09). She was also a member of four scoring relays for the Black Knights

The Army swimming and diving teams return to action this weekend (Feb. 24-26) when the Black Knights travel to Annapolis, Md., to compete in the ECAC Championships.