Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Cole, Handley earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors
06/14/2018 | 9:49:00 | Swimming & Diving
Southern Illinois swimmers Chris Cole and Bryn Handley earned Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America, the organization announced Thursday. Cole earned a spot on the Academic All-America Second Team while Handley was selected to the Academic All-America Third Team.
Cole is a two-time MAC Scholar-Athlete and earned second-team All-MAC Â honors in 2018. He qualified for the A-Final in three events (400m, 500 free, 1650 free) at the MAC Championships, including sixth place finishes in both the 400m and 1650 free. A soon-to-be senior from Portage, Mich., Cole has a perfect 4.0 GPA in journalism.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Handley earned a perfect 4.0 GPA at SIU and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy this spring. She was a three-time MVC Elite 17 Award winner, a six-time MVC Champion and was named Academic All-American by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America in 2017. Â
Handley was one of the program's top distance swimmers and won the 5k CSCAA Open Water National Championship in 2017. She recently was awarded a pair of prestigious postgraduate scholarships, first from the NCAA and then another from the Missouri Valley Conference.
With Cole and Handley's selections, Southern Illinois now has 96 Academic All-Americans dating back to 1970, the most of any Missouri Valley Conference school. They are the 11th and 12th Saluki swimmers to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America laurels and the first since 2005.
To be eligible, players must have been in their second year at an institution with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and have earned first-team Academic All-District honors.Â
Cole is a two-time MAC Scholar-Athlete and earned second-team All-MAC Â honors in 2018. He qualified for the A-Final in three events (400m, 500 free, 1650 free) at the MAC Championships, including sixth place finishes in both the 400m and 1650 free. A soon-to-be senior from Portage, Mich., Cole has a perfect 4.0 GPA in journalism.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Handley earned a perfect 4.0 GPA at SIU and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy this spring. She was a three-time MVC Elite 17 Award winner, a six-time MVC Champion and was named Academic All-American by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America in 2017. Â
Handley was one of the program's top distance swimmers and won the 5k CSCAA Open Water National Championship in 2017. She recently was awarded a pair of prestigious postgraduate scholarships, first from the NCAA and then another from the Missouri Valley Conference.
With Cole and Handley's selections, Southern Illinois now has 96 Academic All-Americans dating back to 1970, the most of any Missouri Valley Conference school. They are the 11th and 12th Saluki swimmers to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America laurels and the first since 2005.
To be eligible, players must have been in their second year at an institution with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and have earned first-team Academic All-District honors.Â
Players Mentioned
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