CARBONDALE, Ill. – For the second time in her career, Illinois State diving standout Caroline Lecoeur has been selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Diver of the Year. The Redbirds wrapped up MVC championship action Friday night, finishing fourth overall with a score of 444.
"This year, semester and week took great commitment from every single member of our program to make this possible," said head coach Caitlin Hamilton. "I'm very proud of how this team came together and have continued to get better as a team. In tough times, we continued to improve and grow. I can't wait to see what's next for these Redbirds."
CROWNING CARO
After winning the 1-meter diving event on Wednesday night, Lecoeur returned to the boards on Friday afternoon and took home the gold medal in the 3-meter with a score of 257.50. This accomplishment marks the first time in the senior standout's career that she has won a gold medal in either event at the MVC championships.
With her second post-season specialty award, Lecoeur becomes just the second Redbird to repeat as Diver of the Year in her career since Krystal Featherston did so during the 2003-05 seasons.
EMILY STAYS ELITE
Emily Keebler was presented the Elite 17 Award for her continued success in the classroom and performance at the championships. Keebler holds a perfect 4.00 grade-point average (GPA) as an exercise science major and earned a silver medal in the 400-yard IM.
ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS
Four Redbirds – Lecoeur, Keebler, Madyson Morse and Lauren Naeger earned All-MVC First Team honors, while six collected an honorable mention throughout the course of the championships in their respective individual events:
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