WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Standout Williams College senior swimmer Logan Todhunter (Ithaca [NY] HS) will be one of 11 nominees for the 2011-2012 Division III Woman Athlete of the Year Award presented by The Collegiate Women Sports Awards and sponsored by Honda American Motor Co. To celebrate these awards American Honda Motor Co., Inc. donates $1,000 to the women?s athletic fund of each Honda Sports Award nominee's university and each Division II and III nominee?s university. The Division II and III winner's institutions receive $5,000 each.
Todhunter is the second Eph to be nominated for the Division III Woman of the Year Award this academic year, joining sophomore cross country runner Chiara Del Piccolo who is representing her sport on the Division III Woman of the Year Award ballot as well.
A press conference will be held June 22, 2012 in Los Angeles to announce and present the Division II and III Athletes of the Year.
Todhunter who completed her Williams career last weekend at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, where she was named Swimmer of the Meet for the second time is also the swimming nominee in Division III for the Woman Athlete of the Year Award for the second time.
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Logan Todhunter '12 |
In 2010 Todhunter won her first NCAA Swimmer of the Meet honor and that was also the first time she was named a finalist for the Division III Woman Athlete of the Year.
Next weekend Todhunter will return to Indianapolis and compete in the same pool, the IUPUI Natatorium, where she just won three NCAA individual events, set one meet record, and helped Williams win two relay titles in meet record time, in her quest to earn a berth in the U.S. Olympic Trials.
The two relay meet records set by the Ephs in Indianapolis came in the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. She also broke her own meet record and established a new meet record by winning the 200 butterfly in 1:55.66, which was nearly two seconds better than her old mark of 1:57.46.
Commenting after the Todhunter's record 200 fly, Eph head coach Steve Kuster, who won the National Women's Coach of the Year award for the third year in a row, said, "Logan - she was UNBELIEVABLE! I'm not sure I can put into words what a truly great race she had. She had the type of swim that we both thought was in there, but again, I can't describe just how unbelievable it was." Had Todhunter been competing in NCAA Division I she would have finished 13th.
The NCAA Division III Women's Swimming & Diving Championships started in 1982 on the campus of UMass-Boston and Williams College won the first team title and second (1983) titles and the Ephs have finished second four times including this season.
In the 32 years that women have competed for the NCAA swimming & diving championships only eight swimmers out of some 15,000 have ever won an event all four years and only four of those eight have done it in two events ? meet Logan Todhunter.
Todhunter was a prime reason that the Williams Ephs finished second at the NCAA Championships this past weekend in Indianapolis, participating in five of the Ephs' nine wins on the weekend.
Todhunter won both the 100 and 200 butterfly events at the NCAA Division III Championships all four years and also won the 200 IM the last three years. That makes 11 individual NCAA titles for Todhunter, which is not only the most ever won by an Eph, but ties the NCAA Division III best established by Patricia Abt, Kenyon College (50 free 1984-85-86-87, 100 free 1984-85-86-87, 200 free 1984-85-87), and Carla Ainsworth, Kenyon College (50 free 1993-94-95, 100 free 1992-93-94-95, 200 free 1992-93-94-95).
Winning the NCAA Div. III 200 individual medley three years in a row demonstrates Todhunter's overall swimming ability as the event includes the breast, butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle strokes.
