COLCHESTER, Vt. - Eight Saint Michael's College men's and women's swimming & diving student-athletes qualified for College Sports Communicators (CSC) NCAA Division II Academic All-District honors on Tuesday. Four from each team were lauded, and were among 38 total from Northeast 10 Conference programs.
 
Seniors Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State), Gavin Nelson (Winona, Minn./Winona Senior), Connor Quirbach (Lowell, Mass./Chelmsford), Ashley Silveira (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) and Livy Waranis (Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett) and sophomores Nate Alexander (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool), Shay Callanan (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) and Katie Rocha (Stratham, N.H./Exeter) all claimed accolades. Nelson, Quirbach and Silveira were third-time qualifiers, while Kowal and Waranis nabbed their second awards. The sophomore trio all landed initial honors.
 
Alexander, a three-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll qualifier, totes a 3.92 grade-point average as a secondary education and chemistry double major. He placed 18th in the 1,000-yard freestyle at the NE10 Championship while helping 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley quartets to 15th-place showings.
 
Callanan won a pair of events during her sophomore season before turning in 12th-place performances in the 200-yard backstroke and 1,650 free during the NE10 Championship. A three-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll honoree, Callanan has a 3.94 GPA as an environmental science and public health double major.
 
Kowal will graduate with his name on nine school records, including five solo events and four relays, and a program-record 63 individual victories in just three years. The two-time all-conference qualifier tied a school mark with 23 individual wins among 27 triumphs this winter. Kowal has placed on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll all five semesters at Saint Michael's and nabbed a pair of Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Awards. He has a 3.70 GPA as a data science and mathematics double major.
 
Nelson scored in the 100 and 200 back events at the NE10 Championship after aiding the 200 medley relay to a victory at the State University of New York at Potsdam on Jan. 10. The captain is a six-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll qualifier and two-time D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award winner. Nelson holds a 3.74 GPA as a data science and information systems double major.
 
Quirbach won 10 events, with eight in relays, and will graduate with his name on three school marks. At the NE10 meet, he swam for the fifth-place 800 free relay and qualified for the 200 free B final. A two-time all-league swimmer, Quirbach qualified for the NE10 Academic Honor Roll seven times, claimed a pair of D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards, and holds a 3.88 GPA as a business administration and accounting double major.
 
Also a tennis student-athlete, Rocha won the 200-yard butterfly against Norwich University on Nov. 15. A three-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll winner, she is a public health major with a 3.98 GPA.
 
Silveira won nine diving events this winter before taking third in the one-meter dive at the NE10 Championship, landing all-conference and her third academic all-conference accolade in the process. She has been placed on NE10 Academic Honor Roll every semester, twice claimed D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards, and won the NE10 Elite 24 Award as a junior with the highest GPA among NE10 Championship competitors. Silveira owns a 3.98 GPA as an anthropology & sociology major.
 
Waranis qualified for the 400-yard individual medley B final and aided the 17th-place 200 free relay foursome at the NE10 Championship. The captain has landed on the NE10 Academic Honor Roll all seven semesters and earned D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards as a sophomore and junior. Waranis is a double major in elementary education and equity studies while holding a 3.91 GPA.
 
College Sports Communicators recognizes major contributors toting at least a 3.50 GPA by their sophomore seasons. Each school was able to put a maximum number of student-athletes forward for an award that previously necessitated voting. Instead, All-District honorees can now advance directly to the Academic All-America ballot, which still incorporates national membership voting. Through the Academic All-America program, CSC names Academic All-District and Academic All-America teams at each the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III levels, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.