University of Houston Athletics
Lacey Truelove Named Conference USA Diver of the Year
4/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
April 13, 2011
HOUSTON - University of Houston senior Lacey Truelove was named the Conference USA Diver of the Year after reaching All-America status for the third time at the conclusion of the 2011 season.
Voted on by the league's head coaches, Truelove becomes the 10th-consecutive Houston diver to be awarded the conference's top honor, one for every year of C-USA's existence.
Truelove won the NCAA Zone D 3-meter diving title to advance to the NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. On the national stage, Truelove claimed All-America Honorable Mention status by finishing ninth in the 3-meter competition.
While competing in the NCAA Championships, tragedy struck Truelove and her team when Houston's head swim coach Mark Taylor passed away while staying in Austin. With the final day of the championships looming, Truelove and teammate Julia Lonnegren made the decision to compete as a tribute to what Coach Taylor would have wanted.
"Considering the conclusion of her season and the passing of Mark, we are very proud of her and very happy for the program," head diving coach Jane Figueiredo said. "This award means even more this year than it has in the past given everything that this team has gone through. Lacey is very deserving of this award."
Figueiredo was named the C-USA Diving Coach of the Year following the conference championships in February. It was the 10th-straight time the longest tenured UH head coach has earned the award.
She coached Truelove, the London, Ontario native, to her third C-USA platform diving championship and her first C-USA 3-meter diving title at the 2011 C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Throughout her senior year, Truelove won 15 individual diving titles and was named the C-USA Diver of the Week four times during the regular season.
Therese Svendsen of SMU is this year's Swimmer of the Year for the second straight year, while teammate Nina Rangelova claimed the Freshman Swimmer of the Year honor. Sadie Eicher of Tulane was named Freshman Diver of the Year. Rounding out the awards is Mustang Genny Konicke, who garnered the Newcomer of the Year honor.
Houston has now won 20 C-USA specialty awards since the conference began passing out accolades in 2002. SMU has earned the second most awards with nine.
Players Mentioned
