March 23, 2010
PHILADELPHIA - Senior swimmer Shannon Duval added another accolade to her resume on Tuesday as she was named the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year based on a vote of the conference's sports information directors. Duval joins alum Melissa MacPherson, who last brought the Student-Athlete of the Year award to La Salle in 2001.
The Explorers also placed three more on the Academic All-Conference teams, as Emily Heath joins Duval on the women's team and seniors Brandon Hargraves and Justin Huckel earned distinction on the men's academic team.
Duval earns the honor following a stellar season in which she won two gold medals at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship. She captured the conference titles in both the 100- and 200- yard breaststroke events. She also won the bronze in the 200 yard individual medley and swam the second leg of the school record setting 400 yard medley relay that finished fourth in the conference.
"Shannon has demonstrated a great ability to balance her time between academic and athletic pursuits while excelling in both areas," Head Coach Matt Nunnally said. "This honor is well deserved and a reflection on her hard work both in the class room and the pool."
As a junior in 2008-09, Duval won silver in both the 100- and 200- breaststroke to earn Second Team All-Conference honors, and also helped to establish four new school relay marks at the Atlantic 10 Championship.
Throughout her career, she has set numerous pool and school records including three just this past January. For her performances in January, she became the first female swimmer in the history of the Atlantic 10 Conference to garner three consecutive Performer of the Week honors.
An academic standout as well, the accounting major boasts a 3.81 grade point average. She is a three-time member of the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team and two-time member of the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team, with this year's team yet to be announced.
In addition to Duval, Heath also earned Academic All-Conference accolades. Heath captured the gold medal in the 1,650 freestyle at this year's Atlantic 10 Championship as well as the bronze in the 500 free and fourth place in the 200 breaststroke. The mathematics major with an incredible 3.96 GPA is also a member of the school record 800 free relay squad that set the mark at the 2009 A-10's, and also captured bronze in the 500 free in 2009.
On the men's side, Hargraves and Huckel garnered academic honors. The pair both boast 3.71 GPAs in Education and are both members of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll. Hargraves finished in the top half of the conference in the 1,650 free at this year's championship and also owned team-best times in the 500-, 1000- and 1650 free as a junior in 2009. Huckel led the men's divers at this year's A-10's, finishing 11th and 13th, respectively, in the 1-mtr and 3-mtr diving events. The Academic All-Conference honor is the first for both seniors.
