Five Razorbacks Combine For Eight SEC Honors

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Five members of the Arkansas swimming and diving team, four student-athletes and one coach, combined for eight postseason honors from the Southeastern Conference Thursday announced by the league office.

The eight postseason SEC honors are the most in program history. All four of the student-athletes selected represented Arkansas at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Arkansas doubled its all-time number of SEC All-Freshman Team honors to six, as three Razorbacks were named to the team this season.

“We are so excited about these awards and recognition from the SEC,” said head coach Neil Harper. “We set out a year and a half ago to raise the bar for this program and this is a great start. Brooke Schultz has had an amazing freshman season and to win the NCAA title was the pinnacle. Nicole Gillis and Maha Amer performed excellently at both SEC’s and NCAA’s. It’s great to see Dale Schultz take over the dive program and lead it to such success. His Coach of the Year award is very well deserved. Peyton Palsha had a great freshman year and along with Brooke and Maha, we feel that we have a great future ahead of us. With next year’s incoming class and our returners, we have a lot to work hard for but also look forward to.”

Leading the way was freshman diver Brooke Schultz, who was named SEC Female Diver of the Year, SEC Female Freshman Diver of the Year, All-SEC First Team and All-Freshman Team. The Fayetteville native wrapped up her freshman campaign winning the three-meter NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio, last month, setting a school and personal-best mark with a score of 399.45. She also claimed two SEC Championships, one on the one-meter and the other on the three-meter, while turning in six SEC Diver of the Week honors and one SEC Freshman of the Week award. During her freshman season, Schultz broke the school record on the one-meter springboard twice, while breaking the school record on the three-meter seven times. She broke both of Arkansas’ pool records, along with the UCLA pool and Texas A&M pool record.

Schultz is joined by her father, Dale Schultz, who was named SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year. It marks the third time in his career that Schultz has earned the honor and the second time in his three stints as a Razorback (1993).

Senior Nicole Gillis was named All-SEC Second Team for the first time in her career. Gillis logged personal-bests this season on both the three-meter springboard and the platform. Against Kansas, the South Africa native scored a personal-best 353.95 on the three-meter to win the event. At the SEC Championships, she turned in a ninth-place finish on the platform with a personal-best 250.65. At the NCAA Championships, Gillis qualified for the platform, finishing 19th overall with a score for 243.35.

Joining Schultz on the SEC All-Freshman Team is diver Maha Amer. Amer turned in personal-bests on the one-meter and three-meter springboards during her first season in Fayetteville. Her three-meter best came at a quad meet in California, scoring a 319.30 against UCLA, Washington State and UC Davis, good enough to finish second, trailing only Schultz. Her three-meter best came at the SEC Championships, where she scored a 322.35 finishing fourth overall. At the NCAA Championships, Amer competed on the three-meter, finishing 16th overall with a score of 280.05, earning All-American honorable mention status.

Along with Schultz and Amer on the SEC All-Freshman Team is distance swimmer Peyton Palsha. Palsha is the lone Razorback swimmer to earn conference honors. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native qualified for the NCAA Championships in her freshman campaign in the 1650 freestyle, while also competing in the 500 freestyle. After setting personal bests in both events at the SEC Championships, Palsha finished 28th in the 1650 free at NCAA’s in 16:14.37 and 37th in the 500 free in 4:43.19.

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