April 3, 2003
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The Arizona State diving team collected four out of the six possible Pac-10 Conference postseason diving awards, conference commissioner Tom Hansen announced today. For the men, Joona Puhakka was named the Pac-10 Diver of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year, while Mark Bradshaw was named the Coach of the Year. Trisha Tumlinson was named the Pac-10 Women's Diving Newcomer of the Year.
Puhakka, a freshman from Helsinki, Finland, won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events at the Pac-10 Diving Championships and finished third on the platform. He is the only male diver in school history to win two Pac-10 titles in one season.
Puhakka went on to win both the 1-meter and 3-meter at the Zone E meet and subsequently the NCAA Championship on the 1-meter. He finished third at the NCAAs on the 3-meter. He is the second Sun Devil in a row to take home the Newcomer of the Year award, as ASU sophomore Thomas McCrummen took the honors in 2002 after finishing third on the 1m, fourth on the 3m and seventh on platform.
Bradshaw's Pac-10 Coach of the Year honor is the second major award presented to him this week after being named the NCAA Diving Coach of the Year after the conclusion of the national championships. He is the first Sun Devil coach to win the conference award since Ward O'Connell garnered Pac-10 Women's Diving Coach of the Year recognition in 1994. This is the second conference coaching honor Bradshaw has received in his career, having been named the Metro Conference Diving Coach of the Year in 1989 while coaching the United State Military Academy.
Tumlinson earned Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year acclaim after finishing second on platform, fourth in the 1-meter, and seventh on the 3-meter at the Pac-10 Diving Championships. She broke the Sun Devil record for platform at the Pac-10s, only to break it again at the women's NCAAs (456.55) on her way to an impressive third place finish.