ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After leading the Tigers to a 21st place finish at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, senior Meredith Budner has been selected as the recipient of the 2010-11 Female Career Improvement Honor award by CollegeSwimming.com.
In addition, the Tigers were recognized as a nominee for the Female Break-Out Team Award, joining eight other schools as nominees.
"I am very humbled to have our team and Meredith recognized in this fashion," Coach Pat Mead says. "Our alumni and team should be as proud as I am to be associated with this outstanding group of student-athletes. I also hope that the top prospects across the country recognize our success and realize that they can achieve their academic and swimming goals at Towson."
Honored as the
2010-11 CAA Swimmer of the Year, Budner led the Tigers to their fourth
straight Colonial Athletic Association championship in February. She
finished second in both the 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle
to earn All-America honors while placing 18th in the 200-yard
freestyle.
Budner, who
qualified for the NCAA Championship three consecutive years, broke her
own school and CAA record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of
4:34:56 to earn second place before shattering her own record in the
1650-yard freestyle by nearly eight seconds at the NCAA Meet with a
time of 15:44.26.
She also set the
school and CAA record in the 200-yard freestyle by finishing in 18th
place at the NCAA Championship with a time of 1:45.36.
Budner was named as
the Most Outstanding Swimmer at the CAA Championship after winning
three individual events in record-setting fashion as the Tigers became
the second team in CAA history to win four straight women’s swimming
and diving titles. She won the 500-yard freestyle and 1650-yard
freestyle events for the fourth consecutive year while setting the
school, CAA and CAA Championship records in each event.
Budner also became
the first female swimmer in CAA history to win the 400-yard individual
medley four consecutive years when she broke her own school, CAA and
CAA Championship record with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:10.67.
Budner, who won 12
CAA individual titles and six relay titles in her career, helped the
Tigers set a school, CAA and CAA Championship record in the 400-yard
medley relay with a first place time of 3:41.24. She swam the lead leg
of the relay, which recorded a mark of 55.08 seconds in the 100-yard
backstroke, setting a school record.
She also helped the
Tigers set a school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA
‘B’ cut time of 7:14.59, swimming the anchor leg for the relay. The
Tigers also set a school, CAA and CAA Championship record in the
400-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 3:21.24 as Budner
took the lead leg in the event and recorded the second-fastest 100-yard
freestyle time in school history with a mark of 50.03 seconds.
An All-CAA selection in three individual events and four relay events as a senior, Budner finished her collegiate career holding six individual school records along with two relay school records.
Most recently, Budner placed fourth in the 800-meter freestyle at the Charlotte UltraSwim in May. She also finished fifth in the 'B' final of the 400-meter freestyle and finished fourth in the 'C' final with a time of 2:02.25. She is currently training with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at the Olympic Training Center.
Read more about Budner's award by clicking here.
