Women of Troy Dominate Pac-12 Postseason Awards as Trojans Win Conference Coach, Diver and Freshman Swimmer of the Year Honors

LOS ANGELES – After a stellar season including a 9-0 regular season finish and a strong showing at both the conference and NCAA Championships, USC head coach Lea Maurer, freshman Minna Abraham and senior diver Nike Agunbiade earned conference postseason honors, as announced by the Pac-12 on Thursday, March 28.

PAC-12 WOMEN'S SWIMMING COACH OF THE YEAR: Lea Maurer, USC
For the second time in her career, and the first time as the leader of the Trojans, USC Head Coach Lea Maurer has been named the Pac-12 Women's Swimming Coach of the Year.

Maurer made history with the Trojans in the 2023-24 season as she led them to their first-ever 9-0 undefeated season, securing the most regular season wins in conference history. During the run, the Trojans took down both No. 5 California and No. 4 Stanford, with the then-No.7 USC upset both conference foes in one season for the first time since 1996.

At the Pac-12 Championships, USC wrapped up their performance with 1291 points, enough for a second place finish after taking home their most event wins since 2003 (9). To cap off the season, the Trojans finished eighth at the NCAAs, marking the Women of Troy's best finish since 2016, with 200 points even. USC recorded two third-place individual finishes (100 breast - Kaitlyn Dobler and 200y free – Minna Abraham) and set a pair of school records (200 free relay, 400 medley relay). Eight Trojans earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, with four USC relays earning first-team honors.

This is Maurer's second time winning the award, with the first coming in 2010 when she was Head Coach for the Stanford Cardinal. She is now just the third USC coach to receive the honor.

PAC-12 WOMEN'S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Minna Abraham, Fr., USC (Budapest, Hungary)
After scoring the most points of any other swimmer in the league (197), USC's Minna Abraham has been named the Pac-12 Women's Swimming Freshman of the year.

During the regular season, Abraham swam multiple NCAA DI top-5 times, entering the Championship season with a top-2 time in the country in the 200y free and top-5 times in the 400y medley relay and 800y free relay. At the Pac-12 Championships, the freshman swept the short distance freestyle events and helped the Women of Troy win three relays. At the conference championships, 17-year-old clocked a PR in the 100y free and anchored the Trojans first-ever 200y freestyle relay win, first 400y medley relay win since 2009 and second ever 400y free relay win.

At the NCAA's, Abraham was one of just 22 Pac-12 swimmers to collect points in the individual events and was the highest scoring relay swimmer in the league. She swam a 1:41.96 in the 200 free to earn her first ever NCAA Championships podium finish (3rd). Abraham wrapped up the NCAA Championships as a 5x first-team All-American and earned second team honors in the 800y freestyle relay.

At the conclusion of her freshman season, Abraham holds NCAA DI top-5 times in the 200y Free (4th - 1:41.38), 200y free relay (5th - 1:26.47), 800y free relay (5th - 6:53.54) and 400y medley relay (5th - 3:25.76). Abraham is the second Trojan to be named Freshman of the Year (Kaitlyn Dobler won the award in 2021).

PAC-12 WOMEN'S DIVER OF THE YEAR: Nike Agunbiade, GS., USC (Pacifica, Calif.)
Four years after being named the 2020 Pac-12 Women's Freshman Diver of the Year, USC fifth-year Nike Agunbiade has been named the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Diver of the Year, for the first time in her career.

The California native led the conference in the Platform diving event at the conclusion of the regular season after being the first Trojan to win the Pac-12 title in the event in 2023. At the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, Agunbiade went on to become the first Trojan to win back-to-back platform titles, also securing a runner-up finish in the 1-Meter event.

On the national level, the Trojan was the Conference's sole NCAA diving podium finisher and the only Women of Troy diver to collect any points, taking home third on the 1-meter for her career-best NCAA finish (319.50). She was also fifth in the consolation final of the platform competition, accumulating 248.40 points. Agunbiade capped out the season having collected almost 20 points more than any other Pac-12 diver.

Agunbiade is the first new diver since 2020 to win the award after Arizona's Delaney Schnell took home the last three. She also becomes the first ever African-American woman to win the conference's annual diving award.

Players Mentioned

Minna Abraham

Nike Agunbiade

Kaitlyn Dobler