ORLANDO, Fla. College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) on Tuesday announced its 2022-23 NCAA Academic All-District Women's Swimming and Diving Teams, including three Mountaineer swimmers on the Division II list.
Junior
Tayla Liddle, sophomore
Jordan Maruska and senior
Addison O'Donnell each earned all-district honors for the first time in their careers.
Nominees must have been a starter or important reserve on their team and must have participated in at least 50 percent of the season's competitions. The academic requirement for nominees is a minimum grade-point average of 3.50.
Prior to the 2022-23 academic year, district sports information directors would vote on nominated players to fill district-specific teams, who would then advance to Academic All-America team voting.
Beginning with the current academic year, nomination limits were imposed on each sport (swimming & diving: 4 total) and all nominees are named to the CSC All-District team and advance to voting for Academic All-America honors.
All three Mountaineers earned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference academic honors as O'Donnell was voted to the RMAC All-Academic First Team while Liddle and Maruska were named to the RMAC all-academic honor roll.
O'Donnell posts a 3.75 GPA in biology. Prior to being voted to the RMAC all-academic first team this season she earned spots on the RMAC academic honor roll her junior and sophomore years.
At the RMAC championship meet O'Donnell was a championship finalist in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing seventh. She also swam in the consolation final of three other events, placing 10th in the 200 freestyle, 13th in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 free.
Each of the three relays on which she was a participant took fourth place at the meet. She anchored the 400 and 800 free relays and swam the breaststroke leg on the 400 medley relay.
Last season O'Donnell set the school record in the 100 breaststroke (1 minute, 3.94 seconds), which was also a provisional cut for the NCAA 2022 championship meet.
Liddle carries a 3.56 GPA in exercise and sport science and earned her first all-district and RMAC honor roll selections this season.
At the 2023 RMAC championship meet she earned spots in three consolation finals, finishing 10th overall in the 200 individual medley, 13th in the 200 free and 14th in the 200 backstroke. Liddle's time in the 200 IM (2:09.80) broke the school record at Western.
She joined O'Donnell on the fourth-place 400 and 800 free relays and swam on the 12th-place 200 free relay at the RMAC meet.
Maruska has a 3.96 GPA while majoring in environment and sustainability. The RMAC honor roll and CSC all-district teams are her first postseason academic honors.
At the 2023 RMAC meet she placed in the top 16 in four individual events, highlighted by an eighth place in the championship final of the 200 free. Maruska added a ninth in the 1,650 free, an 11th in the 1,000 free, and a 14th in the 500 free.
She, too, was on the fourth place 400 and 800 free relays at RMACs and anchored the 12th place 400 medley foursome.
The three now advance to CSC Academic All-America voting with the results being released on March 20.
Thirty-three Mountaineer athletes have earned CoSIDA academic all-America honors, most recently Alicja Konieczek from women's track and cross country in 2017 and 2018. Should Liddle, Maruska or O'Donnell be voted to the academic all-America team, it would be the first honor from a Western Colorado swimming program.
