Seniors Devin Nadar of Shorewood, Wis., and Jordan DeGayner of Nokesville, Va., have been named recipients of the annual Laura Golden and Van Diest awards as Colorado College's top female and male student-athletes among the 2012 graduating class.
    
The awards were presented on Tuesday during honors convocation at Shove Chapel.
    
Nadar, who will graduate on May 22 with a bachelor of science degree in international political economy, served as a team tri-captain in cross country as well as track and field during the 2011-12 academic year. She led the Tiger harriers at every meet she entered last fall, earning NCAA Division III All-West Region honors at the end of the season. Voted by her teammates as CC's most valuable runner, she also shared most improved honors with classmate Maggie Harkins. Nadar also earned All-Academic status from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after finishing 17th individually at regionals while carrying a grade-point average of at least 3.3 in the classroom. Last Saturday, she capped her final track season by posting a personal-record time of 18 minutes, 11.39 seconds in the 5,000 meters at the Occidental College Invitational.
    
DeGayner, who in March became the first-ever “Big Cat” to claim a national title in a swimming event, will graduate later this month with a B.S. in chemisty. He tied for first place in the 200-meter freestyle at the NCAA Division III championships, breaking his own school record with a clocking of 1:37.51 that bettered his winning effort of 1:38.34 at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference meet a few weeks earlier. Both marks also established SCAC standards. In April the two-time All-American and 2011 Academic All-American was named the league's Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive season. In addition, as part of Colorado College's 800-yard freestyle relay team at the national meet in Indianapolis, he helped the foursome finish in a school-record 6:45.85. Winner of seven SCAC crowns during his career as a Tiger, DeGayner will leave CC owning program standards in six individual events and a share of the top mark in all five relays.
    
The Van Diest Award has been presented annually since 1936. The Laura Golden Award originated in 1981 and has been won every year thereafter except for 1982 and 1995.