American Athletic Conference Release

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AAC/SMU) – The American Athletic Conference announced its 2015-16 Team Excellence Awards on Wednesday, which included two teams from SMU. Both the men's soccer and men's swimming and diving programs were honored as the squads with the highest collective grade-point-average in their respective sports.

Swimming and diving has earned the honor each of The American's three seasons, one of only three programs to do so, while soccer has secured the award the past two seasons.

The men's soccer team had a successful year in the classroom and on the pitch during the 2015 season, posting a 3.23 GPA during the fall championship season, before improving to a 3.48 in the spring. The team reached as high as No. 7 in the Division I ranks en route to an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and the AAC regular-season crown. The team is also eligible for the NSCAA Team Award this year, which honors programs that have achieved a minimum 3.0 GPA during the 2015-16 school year.

On the field, Mauro Cichero was selected as an NSCAA All-American and was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest individual award presented to a player in intercollegiate soccer, and is included on the watch list for 2016. Cichero was a first-team All-Region selection, while Jacob Speed and John Lujano were named to All-Region second teams and Michael Nelson and Jared Rice to third teams.

Cichero (offensive), Lujano (midfielder) and Nelson (goalkeeper) were also voted on by The American's coaches as Players of the Year. Lujano was furthermore named a third-team NSCAA Scholar All-American.

Men's swimming and diving kept up its tradition of excellence in the classroom as they were not only named the AAC's most notable team in its sport, but also a CSCAA Scholar All-America team at the conclusion of both the fall and spring semesters last season. During the fall semester, the team registered a 3.34 GPA and followed it up with a 3.40 in the spring.

Seven men were named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans following the season, including Bryce Klein who earned first-team honors. Bartosz Krzyzaniak, Parker Meinecke, Stefan Popov, Lucas Schenke, Christian Scherubl and Sam Straughan were honorable mention selections.

SMU swept conference athlete of the year honors at the 2016 American Championships, as Straughan was named the Swimmer of the Year and Bryce Klein earned Diver of the Year accolades. The Mustangs won 13 of 21 events finishing second. In all, nine Mustangs accounted for 20 total all-conference honors.

Conference Award Winners
Baseball – East Carolina
Men's Basketball – Temple
Women's Basketball – Connecticut
Men's Cross Country – Tulsa
Women's Cross Country – Memphis
Men's Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field – Cincinnati
Women's Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field - Memphis 
Football – Cincinnati
Men's Golf – UCF
Women's Golf – East Carolina
Rowing – Tulsa
Men's Soccer – SMU
Women's Soccer – Memphis
Softball – USF
Men's Swimming & Diving – SMU
Women's Swimming & Diving – Cincinnati
Men's Tennis – Memphis
Women's Tennis – UCF
Volleyball – Temple