Masterson Adds All-American to List of Career Accolades

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — With the conclusion of the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Swimming and Diving Championships a 7th place finish in the 100-yard freestyle and a 3rd place finish in the 50-yard freestyle has earned senior Joanna Masterson (Canandaigua, NY) duel-recognition as an All-American.

Masterson garnered All-American honors for her top-16 finishes in the 50-yard (24.10) and 100-yard freestyle (52.84) events. She completed the 100-yard freestyle preliminary heat with a new varsity and conference record of 52.41, touching in eighth place. She earned 28 points to place SUNY New Paltz at 27th in the competition as the lone participant from the Hawks. Masterson swam 27th in the 200-yard freestyle preliminary heat on Friday, March 10.

Masterson adds her All-American honors to a long list of accolades that she has stockpiled over her four-yard career at SUNY New Paltz. Earlier this season, Masterson won Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle to help the women’s team to a third place finish. In February, Masterson’s four State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships earned her recognition as the conference’s Most Valuable Female Swimmer and the recipient of the Grace Mowatt Award. The Grace Mowatt Award is bestowed annually to a female swimmer/diver for outstanding athletic and academic achievement in their collegiate career. The SUNY New Paltz women’s swim team placed third out of nine schools at the 2006 SUNYAC Swimming and Diving Championships.

In her four-year collegiate career, Masterson has recorded two conference championships in the 50-yard and 200-yard freestyles and three conference championships in the 100-yard freestyle, while establishing herself as a two-time SUNYAC Most Valuable Female Swimmer. She currently holds the conference records in the women’s 50-yard (24.01) and 100-yard freestyles (52.78) and SUNYAC Meet records in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles (1:56.90).

Over her career the SUNY New Paltz women’s swimming team has a combined record of 20-6 in duel meets and has achieved two third places finishes at the SUNYAC Swimming and Diving Championships.