LANCASTER, Pa. – The Atlantic East Conference office released the 2024 All-Atlantic East Conference Women’s Swimming Teams Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 20). The St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s swim team had six garner all-conference honors while claiming three of the four major awards.
Eighth-year Head Coach Casey Brandt and his staff of Carolyn Sutton ’20, Christian March, and Zach Shattuck were voted by their peers as the Atlantic East Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Seahawks (8-10, 3-2 AEC) to a runner-up finish at the Atlantic East Women’s Swimming Championship for the second straight season.
For Brandt and his staff, this is their third Coaching Staff of the Year award, having earned the award back in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Overall, this is the program’s seventh coach of the year honor as St. Mary’s College garnered the award four times as members of the Capital Athletic Conference (2003-04, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2011-12).
First-year Kelsie Miller (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) took home both the Atlantic East Swimmer and Rookie of the Year honors. Miller becomes the fifth Seahawk to pick up Swimmer of the Year honors as Paula Goodwin (1991-92 and 1993-94) and Brie McDowell ’09 (2006-07 and 2008-09) gained the honor from the CAC while Rileigh Krell ’22 (2020-21) and Anna Kidd ’24 (2021-22) notched honor as members of the Atlantic East.
Miller is now the sixth St. Mary’s College women’s swimmer to be named the Rookie of the Year following in the footsteps of past CAC honorees, Sasha Bishton ’01 (1998-99), Jody Costa ’02 (1998-99), Kelly Heyde ’13 (2009-10), and Brooke Raab ’15 (2011-12), while Kidd collected the award from the Atlantic East in 2020-21.
Seniors Anna Kidd (Arbutus, Md./Mount de Sales), Marissa Fields (Leonardtown, Md./Chopticon), and Lilianna Bowman(Westminster, Md./Winters Mill), sophomore Venus Kai Judge (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard), and Miller all picked up First and Second Team awards while senior Kate Holland (Rockville, Md./Rockville) notched a Second Team award.
In her first conference championship meet, Miller claimed gold medals in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, and 200 butterfly events and as a member of three winning freestyle relays (200, 400, 800) for six First Team All-Atlantic East honors. She also gained a silver medal as a member of the second-place 200 medley relay for a Second Team All-Atlantic East award. Miller registered six championship meet records, six conference marks, one school record (100 butterfly), and an NCAA B cut in the 100 butterfly.
Kidd concluded her Seahawk career as the four-time 100 freestyle champion while taking first in the 50 freestyle and being part of all three victorious freestyle relays for five First Team All-Atlantic East honors. She also earned silver medals in the 200 freestyle and as a member of the second-place 200 medley relay for a pair of Second Team All-Atlantic East awards.
Kidd finishes her illustrious career with 26 All-Atlantic East awards, including 21 First Team honors. She also earned the Atlantic East Rookie of the Year award in 2021 and the Atlantic East Swimmer of the Year honor in 2022.
Fields ends her career as an eight-time all-league honoree. She gained her first career First Team All-Atlantic East honors as a member of the 200 and 400 freestyle relays while picking up Second Team All-Atlantic East awards as part of the 200 and 400 medley relays.
Bowman added two more First Team All-Atlantic East awards to her résumé as a member of the winning 400 and 800-freestyle relays while being part of the second-place 400-medley relay for a Second Team All-Atlantic East honor. She leaves St. Mary’s College as a four-time All-Atlantic East honoree.
Judge gained her first career First Team All-Atlantic East honors as a member of the winning 200 and 800 freestyle relays while collecting three Second Team All-Atlantic East awards in the 500 freestyle with a personal-best time of 5:28.95 and as a member of the second-place 200 and 400-medley relays.
Holland is notching her first-ever postseason honor after contributing to the second-place 400-medley relay for a Second Team All-Atlantic East award.
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