TUCSON – Arizona swimming and diving graduating seniors Sam Pickens and Kevin Cordes earned the 2014-15 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medals, the conference announced on Tuesday.
A Conference Medal is awarded annually to each member institution’s senior male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.
National champions in the pool and outstanding students and members of the community, Pickens and Cordes earned the medals to keep up the swimming and diving’s rich tradition in the award. Since the 2004-05 season, an Arizona swimmer or diver has won 14 of the 22 total medals given to Arizona student athletes.
Pickens, who won the NCAA title in the 1-meter dive in both 2013 and 2015, is the first Arizona female to win a national title in diving. Pickens went undefeated in the 1-meter in 2015, including both a Pac-12 and NCAA Championship. The 2013 and 2015 Pac-12 Diver of the Year earned three All-America finishes and holds school records in both the 1-meter (345.90) and 3-meter (379.75). The Murrysville, Pa., native also excelled in the classroom, earning CSCAA Scholar All-America as well as Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention while majoring in Educational Psychology. Pickens was a two-year member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Peer Assistance & Leadership (PAL) in addition to participating in the Cats Give Back program and Ben’s Bells Initiative.
Cordes was a six-time NCAA Champion and a part of two NCAA-title-winning relays. Cordes earned four titles in the 100 breast, two in the 200 breast and was a part of the 200 and 400 title-winning medley relays. The 13-time All-American holds the American, U.S. Open, NCAA and school records in the 100 breast (40.04) and the 200 breast (1:48.66). Cordes was the NCAA and Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year in 2013 and 2014. For his academic success, Cordes was named the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2015 and earned numerous Academic All-America honors. In the community, Cordes took part in the Cats Give Back program, a Boys & Girls Club Christmas and the Special Olympics swimming meet.
Conference Medal winners have been named every year since the 1960-61 academic year. In 2009, the Pac-12 renamed the award the Tom Hansen Conference Medal in honor of Hansen, who retired at the end of June 2009 after serving for 26 years as Commissioner of the Pac-10.
On Thursday, July 9 at 7:00 p.m., Pac-12 Networks will air Pride of the Pac, a one-hour special honoring the 24 recipients of the prestigious Tom Hansen Conference Medal.
