PROVIDENCE, R.I. –  East Carolina senior Rokas Cepulis, Tulane junior Mia Schachter, SMU senior Devin Burnett and Houston junior Danielle Shedd have been recognized with weekly swimming and diving honors by the American Athletic Conference for their performances last week.
 
Cepulis led the East Carolina contingent at the three-day, seven-team Nike Invitational to earn Male Swimmer of the Week honors. He turned in the fastest time in the nation in the 200-yard breaststroke, setting a meet record in 1:55.88 and took fourth in the 100 breaststroke (54.26) and the 200 individual medley (1:47.86). He also swam on the Pirates’ 200 (1:30.38) and 400 (3:17.52) medley relay squads, which placed sixth. All three of his individual performances were provisional NCAA qualifying times.
 
Schachter turned in two first-place finishes and five runner-up swims at the Pearland Invitational on her way to Female Swimmer of the Week honors. She took first in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:00.24, while she won the 50 freestyle in 22.90, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships in both events. She added second-place finishes in the 100 freestyle (50.03) and the 200 freestyle (1:34.06) and contributed to runner-up finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:42.60), the 400 medley relay (3:43.07) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:23.93).
 
Burnett, who was the 2014 American Athletic Conference Diver of the Year, earned Male Diver of the Week honors for the second straight week after he took third place on the one-meter board, the three-meter board and the platform at the Art Adamson Invitational. He scored 357.85 on the one-meter board, 373.55 on the three-meter board and 375.785 on the platform.
 
Shedd was named the Female Diver of the Week after she turned in a second-place finish on the one-meter board at the Texas Diving Invitational. She scored 298.25 points to finish just six points shy of first on the one-meter board, while she registered a second top-eight finish with a seventh-place showing on the three-meter board (279.65).
 
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
Rokas Cepulis • Sr. • East Carolina • Siauliai, Lithuania
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
Mia Schachter • Jr. • Tulane • Arroyo Grande, Calif.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
Devin Burnett • Sr. • SMU • Plano, Texas
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
Danielle Shedd • Jr. • Houston • Converse, Texas
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
·          Cincinnati is in action next Dec. 4-6 at the RedHawk Invitational at Miami (Ohio).
 
·          UConn’s men’s and women’s teams competed in the UofL Invite in Louisville, Kentucky, last week. Senior Katy Munzenmaier and Chinyere Pigot led the Huskies as Munzenmaier broke the school record in the 200 freestyle as she swam 1:47.92 in the lead leg of the 800 freestyle relay. Pigot, a 2012 Olympian for Suriname, won the 50 freestyle in 22.66, registering the 24th-fastest time nationally in that event. The Huskies compete next at the AT&T Winter Nationals Dec. 5-7 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
 
·          East Carolina’s men’s and women’s teams both finished in fifth place at the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Pirates will also compete at the AT&T Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Junior Megan Sellers led the women’s contingent with a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.30) and a third-place finish in the 200 breast (2:15.58). Both times were provisional NCAA qualifiers.
 
·          Houston’s women’s team took fourth place at the Pearland Invitational as the Cougars trailed Rice, Tulane and North Texas. Sophomore Cameron Balkom registered three top-eight individual finishes, including a fourth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:21.37).
 
·          SMU’s men’s team took seventh at the Art Adamson Invitational, which was won by No. 10 Stanford. The Mustangs took sixth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:21.64), while freshman Matt Ackman was just .01 seconds away from a provisional NCAA qualifying time in the 200 breaststroke (1:59.80). SMU will compete next at the KMSC Elite Meet in Oklahoma City Dec. 18-21.
 
·          SMU’s women’s team took sixth place at the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M in a field that included No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 3 Stanford, No. 21 LSU and No. 24 Boise State among others. Senior Rachel Nicol provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 100 (1:00.57) and 200 breaststroke (2:10.74). The Mustangs compete next as a full team in a dual meet with LSU Jan. 3 in Rockwall, Texas.
 
·          Tulane’s women’s team took second place at the Pearland Invitational in Pearland, Texas, as the Green Wave scored 837.5 points, trailing only Rice (1,254). Tulane finished ahead of North Texas and Houston. Green Wave coach Katie Robinson said of the Green Wave’s showing, “Hands down, this was the best meet I’ve coached and I couldn’t be more proud of the way our team performed each day.” Tulane competes next against Rutgers and Miami (Fla.) Jan. 10 in Coral Gables, Florida.