GREENWOOD, Ind. - Eight members of the Illinois Wesleyan University swimming and diving teams were honored for their academic success with College Sports Communicators Academic All-District distinction, announced by the organization Tuesday, April 2. 

Seniors Ethan Lowder (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community), Lauren Feddersen (Champaign, Ill.-Centennial), Sydney Dunlap (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton Warrenville South), Henry Moore (Champaign, Ill.-Centennial), Donald Tichy (Chicago, Ill.-Chicago HS for Agricultural Science), and juniors Alexa Starkey (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community West), Hadley Fudge (Stanford, Ill.-University High), and Lane Wagner (Danville, Ill.-Danville) received CSC Academic All-District accolades for the first time in their career. Lowder and Feddersen's combined academic and athletic success has advanced them to the ballot for Academic All-America. 

Lowder has maintained a 4.0 GPA in physics as a senior as well as winning the CCIW Elite 26 award for the third straight year. The award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest GPA among those competing at the conference championship. Lowder secured a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at the CCIW Championship with a time of 20.95 to garner All-CCIW recognition. The Bloomington, Ill. native was one of four to help break the 200-yard medley relay school record with a time of 1:33.94. 

As a biology major, Feddersen had her most impressive performance in the CCIW championships this season. Feddersen placed first in all of the events that she competed in at the championships. The Champaign, Ill. native took wins in the 200-yard breaststroke, 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard medley relay, and the 200-yard IM, respectively. Feddersen also took CCIW Female Swimmer of the Year. 

Fudge, a psychology major at IWU, garnered All-CCIW honors in three events at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship. She competed in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:07.11 to place second. Fudge placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:06.66, and finished third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.59).

Tichy is an accounting major and played a huge role on the team this year. Tichy was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team that beat the school record with a time of 1:33.94. 

Moore is a biology major at IWU and competed in all freestyle events in the CCIW championships. Moore's most impressive placement was in the 1650-yard freestyle, where he placed eighth. 

Wagner is a finance major at Illinois Wesleyan. The Danville, Ill. native put up impressive times during the CCIW Championship but just fell shy of taking a place on the All-CCIW stand. Wagner placed fourth with a time of 4:10.66 in the 400-yard IM. 

Dunlap is a senior elementary education major at IWU and has had a fairly successful senior season. The Wheaton, Ill. native competed in multiple events in the CCIW championships and beat her own times in the 400-yard IM with a time of 5:38.21.

Starkey, an elementary education major, competed in all freestyle events in the CCIW championships placing seventh, eleventh, and sixth in the 500-yard free, 200-yard free, and the 1650-yard free, respectively. 

Academic All-America will come out on April 23 for the men and April 24 for the women.