April 2, 2004
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner Tom Hansen announced Friday that Arizona State sophomore diver Joona Puhakka was named the 2004 Pac-10 Men's Diver of the Year and head coach Mark Bradshaw was named the Men's Diving Coach of the Year. This is the second year in a row that the pair has won these awards.
Puhakka won titles in both the one-meter and three-meter springboard at the Pac-10 Championships in Federal Way, Wash., for the second consecutive year. Last year he was already the first diver in ASU history to win two individual Conference titles in the same season. Puhakka went on to win the three-meter national title at the NCAA Championships, the second national title of his career. He is the only athlete in the history of the men's swimming and diving program to win two national championships in a career as the 3m crown follows the 1m title he brought home in 2003 as a freshman.
Bradshaw, in his seventh year at Arizona State, received his second major award of the season. He also collected Coach of the Year honors in women's diving and coached the women's Diver of the Year, Trisha Tumlinson. These awards follow a 2003 season where, in addition to his honor as Pac-10 Men's Coach of the Year, Bradshaw was named the NCAA Men's Diving Coach of the Year.