March 24, 2010
Ashley Danner, a sophomore swimmer from Springfield, Va. and Eric Knight, a senior swimmer from Centreville, Va. had terrific performances in February and for their accomplishments, they were named the George Mason Female and Male Athletes of the Month for February.
Danner capped off the regular season in February with a stellar performance at the Colonial Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships, winning three titles en route to the Most Outstanding Swimmer award. She set new CAA and meet records in all three events in which she competed (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM) with victories in each, including NCAA automatic qualifying times in both the breaststroke events. Her time of 59.06 in the 100 breast was the fastest in the nation and gave her the top overall seed in the NCAA Championships.
Knight had an outstanding close to his career in February at the CAA Championships, as he won the Most Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Championships award with two individual CAA titles. After redshirting last season, he set school, pool, meet and CAA top performance records with his first-place time in the 100-yard freestyle, earning an NCAA consideration with a mark of 44.06. He also set a meet and program record and CAA top performance with his first-place time in the 200-yard freestyle of 1:35.85. Knight won the award for the second time, after he claimed the top prize at the 2008 CAA Championships.
This is the third Student-Athlete of the Month award for Danner and the second for Knight. Knight previously won the award in October of 2009 while Danner won it in October of 2008 and February of 2009.
The previous winners of the Male Student Athlete of the Month award are Sean Kelley (Sept., soccer), Eric Knight (Oct., swimming and diving), Luke Hancock (Nov., basketball), Mendbagaba Tovuujav (Dec., wrestling) and Cam Long (Jan., basketball) while the previous winners this year of the Female Student Athlete of the Month award are Tiana Kallenberger (Sept., soccer), Meier (Oct., swimming and diving), Holly Goode (Nov., volleyball) and Amber Easter (Dec., basketball) and Kristen Meier (Jan., swimming and diving).
