DALLAS (April 11, 2019) – For the second-straight season, the FIU swimming and diving team dominated the Conference USA superlative awards as the Panthers claimed four of the five postseason individual honors to cap the 2018-19 campaign.

The C-USA honorees, which were announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon, were Naomi Ruele (Swimmer of the Year), Maha Gouda (Diver of the Year), Holly Shepherd (Freshman Swimmer of the Year) and Kaitlyn Fredericks (Freshman Diver of the Year).

"I am very proud of this group of ladies. They represent FIU and our program well. The hard work and discipline it takes to excel in swimming and diving is immense and these four ladies are no exception," said Randy Horner.

It was another remarkable year for the FIU swimming and diving team. For the fifth-straight year, the Panthers were crowned conference champions making them the winningest program at FIU. FIU also closed out its season with a top three finish at the CSCAA National Invitational Championships. The diving program made history when Gouda became just the second All-American for the Panthers, after finishing eighth overall in the 1-meter platform at the NCAA Championships.

"We feel good about the season and how it finished with the conference championship and the NIC. We had two amazing performances from Maha and

Naomi at the NCAAs and overall it was a good year and a good season, and we are excited to build off that," said Horner.

A fourth and final run for senior Ruele at the NCAA was punctuated with a new school record and the strongest run of her career. With the honor on Thursday, Ruele has now tied the league record for winning C-USA Swimmer of the Year after picking it up for a third time.

"Naomi is a unique situation," said Horner, "She came in her freshman year and was redshirted due to a shoulder injury. She has come a long way, from making a trip to Olympics to be a leader her senior year to making a perfect run for the NCAAs. She is an impressive young athlete and it has been great watching her grow and achieve so much success over the years," said Horner.

Reflecting on her Panther career, Ruele owns three individual school records in the 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke. In addition, she is a part of four record-holding relays: 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay.

One of those records was set this season, after Ruele tapped in at 52.42 at the NCAAs in the 100 backstroke to become the new owner of the event record. Ruele, who was named C-USA's Swimmer of the Meet also, led her team to its fifth-straight conference title and set a new meet record in the 100 freestyle when she touched at 48.45. At the conference championships, Ruele was part of three gold medaling relays: 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relays and she won her fourth-straight gold medal in the 100 backstroke event (52.51) before taking home gold medals in the 50 and 100 freestyle events as well.

A trio of freshmen also make the list and as described by coach Horner, there is an impressive strength in what those rookies can do.

"The freshmen class in general is a program strength. I love having three of them on the list, our future is looking very bright," said Horner.

Gouda is the program's youngest All-American and just the second overall, after posting an eighth-place finish (270.55) from the platform at the NCAA Championships and becoming the first ever 1-meter qualifier, she claimed C-USA Diver of the Year for her efforts.

There is no question about her consistency, she was named Diver of the Week four times and picked up gold medals in all three diving events at the conference championships. Additionally, she was named C-USA Diver of the Meet and set a new personal-best from the 3-meter during prelims with a score of 347.8.

"Working with Maha this year has brought our team to higher levels in all aspects," said Head Diving Coach Rio Ramirez. "We are so proud of Maha's success and the way she handles it. She leads by example and this is every coaches dream."

Described as perfectionist and a great teammate, Fredericks walks away from her freshman campaign being named C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year.

"She is a quality diver and her personality and ability to adapt to change brings a fun dynamic to the team," said Ramirez.

In Fredericks' first season she qualified for all three NCAA Dive Zone events and earned a silver medal at conference championships from the platform with her score of 265.96. From the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the C-USA Championships she also placed sixth (260.60) and seventh (254.65), respectively. Fredericks registered seven top-10 finishes throughout her rookie season.

Last but certainly not least, Shepherd the recipient of the C-USA Freshman Swimmer of the Year superlative made an impressive run during the final months of competition.

"Holly dealt with a lot of adversity during the fall. She battled some illnesses and injuries and the bulk of her training took place in December and what she achieved in that short time is impressive," said Horner.

Shepherd was a standout athlete at the C-USA Championships where she picked up three medals. Her first gold medal was earned in the 400 IM when she touched at 4:15.27. She captured silver medal in the 200 backstroke at 1:56.93 and received a bronze medal in the 200 IM with her time of 2:00.21. At the National Invitational Championships, she individually finished ninth in the 200 backstroke, seventh in the 200 IM, ninth in the 400 IM and 10th in the 100 backstroke. She was also part of the 400 medley relay team, which placed second and the 800 freestyle relay squad which placed fourth at the NIC.

"She is a solid competitor and showed great ability and consistency at the end of the season and I am excited for all she will accomplish at FIU," said Horner.

This is the second year in a row that FIU has picked up all but one award. The Newcomer of the Year Award was awarded to FAU's Fatimah Westbrook.

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