AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Women's Swimming & Diving had a program record four student-athletes named to College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Women's Swimming & Diving teams, as announced by the organization on Tuesday. Hailey Hernandez and Emma Sticklen were selected to the second team, and Grace Cooper and Bridget O'Neil collected third team honors. Sticklen earned Academic All-America honors for the second-straight year after being chosen to the third team in 2023, while Hernandez, Cooper and O'Neil each earned the honor for the first time in their careers.
The four total selections this year breaks the previous program record of two, accomplished on seven previous occasions. Texas has earned six Academic All-America selections over the last two years, which is also a program best.
Sticklen, a 2023 third-team Academic All-American, is a senior from Katy, Texas who holds a 3.73 grade point average in exercise science. She won her second consecutive national title in the 200-yard butterfly at the 2024 NCAA Championships and broke her own program record in the 100 fly with a silver-medal swim of 49.70. All told, Sticklen earned All-American honors in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay and honorable mention All-American accolades in the 200 IM. She won the Big 12 title in the 100 fly and helped the Longhorns to conference victories in the 200 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. Sticklen is the first Longhorn to earn Academic All-America honors in back-to-back seasons since Karlee Bispo in 2011-12 and the sixth to earn the accolade multiple times.
Hernandez, a junior from Southlake, Texas, has a 3.60 grade point average in exercise science. She earned All-American honors at the national meet after winning silver on 1-meter (326.20) and bronze on 3-meter (342.15). Hernandez earned Big 12 Championship Diver of the Meet honors after winning gold on 1-meter (358.35) and placing fourth on 3-meter (363.65) at the Big 12 Championship. She also won gold with O'Neil and Jordan Skilken in the first-ever Team Diving event (376.20).
Cooper, a native of Oswego, Ill., is a senior who carries a 3.61 grade point average in advertising. At the 2024 NCAA Championships, she earned All-American honors in the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay, while also earning honorable mention All-American accolades in the 50 free and 400 free relay. She won Big 12 Conference title in the 50 free and helped the Longhorns to conference crowns in the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay. This year, she established the Texas record in the 50 free with a swim of 21.66 at the Texas Invitational, while also taking part in the 200 free relay program-record time of 1:26.31 at the national meet.
O'Neil, who hails from Southlake, Texas, is a senior majoring speech & language pathology and carries a 3.98 grade point average. She placed fifth on both 1-meter (295.50) and 3-meter (319.90) at the NCAA Championships. At the Big 12 Championship, she won gold in the Team Diving event with Hernandez and Skilken while also claiming the bronze on 3-meter (366.80) and finishing fourth on 1-meter (324.75). A four-time Big 12 Diver of the Week honoree this season, she earned four victories on 1-meter and two runner-up finishes during the regular season and added four wins on 3-meter and one runner-up result.
The additions of Hernandez, Cooper and O'Neil brings the total to 25 Longhorns from Women's Swimming and Diving to be named to the Academic All-America first, second or third teams and the four total honors this year brings the overall total to 31 in program history. The 2023-24 academic year marks the second year in which swimming & diving has taken part in sport-specific voting after previously being included among the At-Large contests.
Academic All-American is a title reserved for college student-athletes who perform at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom. The all-time list of 40,000+ Academic All-Americans includes major sports stars and some of the world's most accomplished individuals in medicine, business, science and the arts. Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators, Academic All-America is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions. Teams are announced year round and amplified by CSC member colleges, universities, and conferences on a wide local, regional, national, and even international scope.
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