Stanford sweeps men's diving awards
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - STANFORD’s Kristian Ipsen was voted Pac-12 Men’s Diver of the Year, while teammate Bradley Christiansen was named Pac-12 Men’s Diving Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and Cardinal head coach Rick Schavone was tabbed Pac-12 Men’s Diving Coach of the Year, the Conference office announced today. The awards were voted on by the men’s diving head coaches. It marks the first time since 2010 that a school has swept all three awards.
Ipsen, a native of Clayton, Calif., takes home his second-consecutive Diver of the Year accolade after defending his 1-meter title at the Pac-12 Championships and finishing second in the 1-meter and third in the platform competitions. He is the third Cardinal to win multiple 1-meter crowns in the Conference meet. In national contention, the Olympian added on to his All-America honors count after placing in the top-10 in all three events. Ipsen came in at second in the 1-meter, fourth in the 3-meter and sixth in the platform to take three All-America accolades, giving him nine total over the course of his career on the Farm.
Christiansen, a native of Southlake, Texas, made his Championships debut by qualifying for both the 1-meter and 3-meter portions. The freshman picked up his first collegiate All-America honors in the 1-meter, placing 15th with a score of 319.20. He scored a 351.70 in the preliminaries for the 3-meter. At the Pac-12 Championships, Christiansen finished in the top eight in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter. He came in at fifth in the 1-meter with a score of 363.40 after placing eighth in the 3-meter with 329.60 points.
Schavone was voted Pac-12 Men’s Diving Coach of the Year for the third-straight year and fourth time overall as the Cardinal coach took home the honor in 1995, 2012 and 2013. He has also received the Pac-12 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year award six times. Schavone led three divers to the NCAA Championships this season, including Ipsen, Christiansen and Noah Garcia. A four-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year (1992, 1993, 2007 and 2013), he has also served as head coach for several U.S. National Teams and coached Stanford men and women divers to 30 national championships, including 12 NCAA champions and 108 All-America honors.