Four Brandeis students earned All-American honors for spectacular seasons in winter sports. Chris Pai '07 headlined the honors with a solid showing at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in St. Louis. Maya Marx '04 earned her second All-American honor, also for her swimming performance in St. Louis.
Ryan Parker '05 became the first Judges' indoor track All-American, finishing third in the 800-meter run at the NCAA championships at the University of Wisconsin.
Danielle Fitzpatrick '04 rounded out the group earning an honorable mention All-American for leading the women's basketball team to the New England ECAC championship this season. Fitzpatrick was also named to the third team All-American by d3hoops.com.
Pai swam with speed and grace in St. Louis, turning in the best ever finish by a Brandeis male swimmer at the NCAA championships. Pai broke his own school record in the 50-yard freestyle preliminary round with a time of 22.04 seconds, finishing seventh overall in the finals. Pai also finished 20th in the 100-yard butterfly.
"Before nationals I put a lot of time in working on my starts and my stroke," Pai said."All-American as a freshman is pretty good, but over the next few years I hope to place higher."
Marx swam the last meet of her career at Brandeis with determination, finishing in 15th place in the 100-yard breaststroke. Marx swam the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:07.75, good enough for her second All-American honor. Marx was named a first-team All-American in 2003.
Parker traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater earlier in March to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track championships. The Harvard, Mass. native placed third overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.49, just 0.12 seconds behind the first place finisher. His finish helped the Judges to 30th place, just ahead of rival Washington University. It was Parker's second trip to the NCAA championships, a trend he hopes to continue next season.
"It was a good race," Parker said."My coach has really helped me achieve a new level since last year. I'm hoping to make nationals again in outdoor track and improve on my finish. Next year I hope to establish myself as one of the best middle distance runners in the nation for Division-III. I'd like to come out of Brandeis with a couple of national championships, and I really feel that my coach is the guy to get me there."
Fitzpatrick was named an honorable mention All-American after an MVP caliber season. The co-captain was also named to the first team All-University Athletic Association for the second year in a row. Fitzpatrick led the UAA in scoring with 17.9 points per game. She was fourth in field goal percentage, shooting 55.1 percent. She pulled down a team high 6.6 rebounds per game while leading the Judges to a 22-5 record, the winningest season in the program's history. Fitzpatrick closed out an excellent career by averaging 16 points and five rebounds per game in the New England ECAC tournament. She was named tournament MVP while leading the Judges to the crown.
"It's such a great honor," Fitzpatrick said."It's all been very surprsing, first winning the tournament and then getting All-American. But I couldn't have done it without my teammates.