April 23, 2003

FAIRFAX, VA...George Mason freshmen Tim Norton and John Appleman were named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Male Rookie Swimmer of the Year and Male Rookie Diver of the Year, respectively, after a vote by the league's head coaches following the recent completion of the NCAA Championships.

Norton led all male freshmen in individual scoring and finished fourth overall at the conference championships with 53 points. He won the 400-yard individual medley in 3:56.91, finished second in the 200-yard butterfly, third in the 500-yard freestyle and was a member of the Patriots 800-yard freestyle relay team.

"Tim came into this season as one of our highly-recruited student-athletes, and he's just continued to get better here at George Mason," said Patriot head coach Peter Ward, who was named the CAA Men's Coach of the Year and Women's co-Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the conference championships. "He showed a great deal of versatility for us during the dual-meet season, winning events that ranged from the breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke and even some long distance freestyle, so he was pivotal to our success. He's definitely one of the top freshmen to ever come into our program."

Appleman, who became the first male Patriot diver to qualify for the NCAA Zone Championships, finished third in the one-meter and fourth in the three-meter events at the conference championships.

"John had a great year for us, and he still continues to improve," commented Ward, who has seen four of his program's divers earn conference Rookie of the Year accolades. "We've had some success with our women's diving program, and we hope that John has started a trend for our men. I only expect him to continue to get better."

The Mason men finished a program-best third at the recent CAA Swimming & Diving Championships, while the women captured their second straight conference title.