SUWANEE, Ga. – University of the Ozarks’ Jessie Wright was selected as the league’s female Swimmer-of-the-Year, while Colorado College’s Keller Pooley was named the conference’s Diver-of-the-Year based on exclusive voting by the head coaches and sports information directors of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. 2026 All-SCAC Team
Wright, a senior from Decatur, Texas., lifted the Eagles to their best performance in program history, finishing third at the 2026 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships. She secured six All-SCAC honors, highlighted by the program’s first-ever individual SCAC Title and All-Conference honor, winning the 200-IM with a program record time of 2:15.39. She also earned a pair of third-place All-SCAC individual finishes in both the 400-IM (4:56.12) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:15.67). In the relay events, Wright led the Eagles to a trio of All-SCAC third-place finishes in the 200-medley relay (1:53.89), 800-free relay (8:23.61) and the 200-free relay (1:44.07). Wright set new program records in the 200-free (2:00.06) and the 100-fly (1:02.01) while swimming her legs of the 800-free relay and the 400-medley relay. A three-time SCAC Swimmer of the Week honoree during the 2025-26 year, Wright helped Ozarks post a perfect 6-0 record this year in dual meets.
Wright’s selection marks the first student-athlete in Ozarks Swimming & Diving program history to earn SCAC Female Swimmer of the Year honors.
Pooley, a junior from Bethlehem, Pa., earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet honors in helping the CC Tigers capture the program’s first-ever SCAC Swimming and Diving Team title in February. Pooley swept both the one and three-meter competitions, earning an NCAA ‘B’ cut in the low board with her winning score of 437.00. She became the sixth diver in SCAC history to repeat as Champion of the 1-meter and the first since 2022. She captured her first career win in the 3-meter and third career individual title with a wire-to-wire winning score of 405.85.
Pooley was also the top SCAC finisher at the NCAA Division III Regionals on both boards, finishing 10th in both events. She posted a 1-meter score of 397.40 and a 3-meter score of 402.25.
Pooley is the second student-athlete in CC Tigers’ program history to earn SCAC Female-Diver-of-Year. She joins former teammate Emma Krasemann who was the 2024 and 2025 SCAC Female Diver-of-the-Year.
Additionally, in an announcement that was made at the close of the championship meet, the Colorado College staff - led by head coach Jen Buffin along with assistant coaches Tarek Farouk, Adric Arndt, and Ellen Walker - earned SCAC Women's Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors. The award marked the first time Buffin and her staff have been honored and the sixth time the program has been recognized on the women's side. Coach Buffin led CC to the program’s first-ever league title by an impressive 328-point margin. The 328-point margin was three points larger than the margin of victory achieved by the Trinity women at the 2023 championships. All told, CC swimmers and divers won 14 off the 15 individual events contested and four of the five relays.
