St. Thomas women’s swimmers Emily Punyko and Hayley Trace have been named 
to the 2012 Scholar All-America first team announced by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.
The scholar list for Division III women included 122 athletes from 42 institutions.
Punyko, a freshman from Duluth East with a 3.84 grade-point average, had an excellent freshman season in 2011-12 in the pool and the classroom. She tied for 14th place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.42 at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships to earn honorable mention All-America honors. She also competed at nationals in the 200 breast prelims and 200 medley relay.
In the MIAC championships, Punyko swam on the winning 200 and 400 medley relays;
took second in the 100 breast and the 200 fly; and fourth in the 200 IM. She finished the year with school records in the 100 and 200 breast and 200 IM as well as both medley relays.
Trace, a sophomore from Apple Valley, has a 3.41 cumulative gpa and majors in Management. She swam at nationals in the 200 medley relay, and contributed to the MIAC champion 200 and 400 medley relays. Both relays set new UST records. She shared the Most Improved Award for UST women''s swimming and diving as a freshman in 2010-11.
PHOTOS: Above, Emily Punyko; below, Hayley Trace
Click here to see CSCAA news release:
http://cscaa.org/downloads/ScholarAA2012SpringDivIIIWomenIndividual.pdf