Heller named MVP as swimming hands out end of year honors
April 23, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Junior Bente Heller (Hamburg, Germany/communication) was named team MVP as the Alaska women's swim program handed out its end-of-the-year awards on Saturday at the Butrovich Building.
Heller took home the team's top honor after capturing the program's first ever national title back in March when she won the 100 yard backstroke in Birmingham, Ala. She also finished tied for third in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 200 free as she is now a nine-time All-American.
She also medaled at the 2013 Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference Championship in the 100 free and the 400 and 800 free relays. She tallied a team-best 133.5 points at the conference meet, 80 of which came in individual events. Heller also became the first Nanook swimmer to ever be ranked No. 1 in an event as she was the nation's top 100 free swimmer following the Husky Invitational last December. She was also a College Swimming Coaches Association of America Individual Academic All-American, presented at the 2013 NCAA Championship.
Heller was a dual-award winner on Saturday as she was also presented with the Attitude Award.
"It's a pretty obvious story when you see what she accomplished, No. 1 in the nation in one event and nation champion in another," head coach Scott Lemley said. "What many don't realize is that she did partly by overcoming adversity. In a sense, even though it's a culmination of a season, I think it's just the beginning for her."
Sophomore Danielle Lyons (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan/Biological sciences) was named the team's Scholar-Athlete as she not only succeeds in the pool but also in the classroom with the program's highest grade-point average. Lyons was also honored as a Honorable Mention Academic All-American by the CSCAA at the 2013 NCAA meet.
"There's a book called Winning Isn't Normal by a famous sports psychologist and to be good, you have to be driven," Lemley said. "It's not about the coach driving her, it's the inner motivation and she has that both in school and in the pool. You don't have to look too far to see how serious she is in getting the most out of these four years."
Freshman Linnea Doumas (Tucson, Ariz./Foreign Language) won a pair of awards as she was named Rookie of the Year while also receiving the Most Inspirational Award. Doumas walked on to the program in the fall and ended up being the fifth-highest scoring Nanook at the PCSC Championship with 29 individual points after turning in three personal-best times. For the year, she posted seven personal-best swims and now ranks seventh all-time in program history in the 200 backstroke.
"I didn't think could handle double practices," Lemley said. "I expected to see her wash out. We stuck her in the pool and she did more than just keep up. She became one of the most valuable members of the team and that's unprecedented in my experiences as a head coach, both back in the '80's with the men's team and now with the women's team. Now, we expect more out of her and it's a special story."
Other top accolades were awarded to sophomore Margot Adams (Anchorage, Alaska/Political science) and freshman Nina Mullin (Moss Beach, Calif./Wildlife Biology).
Adams won the Hammer Award after being the team's top trainer and as Lemley would say, “put the hammer down every day.” Adams was the national runner-up in the 100 butterfly for the second straight year and also became a two-time champion in that event at the PCSC Championship.
Mullin finished her rookie season with eight different personal bests and now ranks in the program's top-10 list in four different events, which are the 200 breaststroke (fifth), 1650 free (seventh), 1000 free (eighth) and 400 individual medley (10th).
"This is the best team I've ever coached," Lemley said. "Every year we achieve a lot and we train at a higher level and this year was no exception. It's demonstratively the best team I've coached with the ability level and commitment level. It's also the easiest team I've ever coached. They motivate me hopefully as much as I motivate them."
2012-13 Swimming Awards:
MVP: Bente Heller
Scholar-Athlete: Danielle Lyons
Rookie of the Year: Linnea Doumas
Hammer Award: Margot Adams
Attitude Award: Bente Heller
Most Improved: Nina Mullin
Most Inspirational: Linnea Doumas