Three Emory Swimmers Named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team

Emory University senior swimmers Lillian Ciardelli and Ruth Westby were named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic At-Large all-District first team, while sophomore Paul Weinstein earned a spot on the second team, based on their performances both in the pool and the classroom during the 2009-10 season.

This is the second-straight year that Ciardelli and Westby have been recognized as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team honoree, and both went on to be named to the Academic All-America third team later in the year.  This is the first ESPN the Magazine Academic all-District honor for Weinstein.

During her senior year, Ciardelli was a five-time NCAA All-American and a two-time national champion in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays with the 200 team establishing a NCAA Division III record and the 400 title the first in program history. Her performance at the championships helped the Eagles to the program’s third national crown in school history.  Over her career, she has totaled 15 total All-America honors and three NCAA Championship titles, in addition to holding Emory varsity records in the 100 Fly, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay.  Ciardelli is a psychology major at Emory with a cumulative GPA of 3.78, and was named an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship honoree earlier in the year.

Westby has recorded a school-record five National Championships, including two this past season, in addition to 27 all-America honors, just one short of the maximum possible over a career.  This season, Westby earned seven all-America certificates, helping the team to its third National Championship.  She is the school-record holder in seven different events, and is the only swimmer in Emory history to earn all-America honors in the same three individual events (50, free, 100 free and 200 free) all four years of her career.  Westby was named the 2008 and 2010 UAA Swimmer of the Year and was chosen as the UAA Swimmer of the Week on 11 occasions during her Emory tenure.  She is a double major in Environmental Science and Political Science with a 3.77 cumulative GPA, and also won an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship this year.

Weinstein earned all-America honors in the 1,650-yard freestyle for the second-consecutive season in 2010, finishing fourth at the NCAA Division III Championships with a time of 15:42.42.  He also earned all-UAA honors with a second-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle and a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2010 conference championships.  Weinstein has recorded a 3.89 GPA as a business major at Emory.

Swimming and diving in one of 13 sports included in the At-Large category.  The others include the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo, wrestling.

By virtue of being named to the all-district first team, Ciardelli and Westby will be placed on the ballot for the ESPN the Magazine Academic At-Large all-America team.

Voting for the Academic All-District team is conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Emory nominees represent the "college division" in District 3 which is composed of NCAA Division II and III, and NAIA schools in the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.