Led By Ilya Kharun, Arizona State Dominates Big 12 Awards
In its first year in the Big 12, Ilya Kharun and Arizona State dominated the Big 12 Awards, with five individuals taking home honors on Wednesday.
Kharun was named men’s swimmer of the year. Herbie Behm was recognized as both men’s and women’s coach of the year, sharing the women’s honor with BYU’s Tamber McAllister. Julia Ullman was named women’s freshman of the year, and Patrick Sammon is the men’s scholar athlete of the year.
BYU’s Mackenzie Miller Lung was named women’s swimmer of the year. The diver of the year honors went to Utah’s Elias Petersen and Kansas’s Shiyun Lai, while their coaches took home those awards, in Richard Marschner of Utah and Allen Feng of Kansas. Arizona freshman Tomas Lukminas was the top male freshman. Hedda Grelz of Houston is the women’s scholar athlete of the year.
2024-25 Big 12 Awards
- Men’s Swimmer of the Year – Ilya Kharun, Arizona State
- Women’s Swimmer of the Year – Mackenzie Miller Lung, BYU
- Men’s Diver of the Year – Elias Petersen, Utah
- Women’s Diver of the Year – Shiyun Lai, Kansas
- Men’s Freshman of the Year – Tomas Lukminas, Arizona
- Women’s Freshman of the Year – Julia Ullmann, Arizona State
- Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year – Herbie Behm, Arizona State
- Women’s Swimming Co-Coaches of the Year – Herbie Behm, Arizona State and Tamber McAllister, BYU
- Men’s Diving Coach of the Year – Richard Marschner, Utah
- Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – Allen Feng, Kansas
- Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year – Patrick Sammon, Arizona State
- Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year – Hedda Grelz, Houston
Kharun won five individual titles at the Big 12 Championships as well as finishing second in the 50 freestyle in helping the Sun Devils win the team title. He finished third at NCAAs in the 100 butterfly and second in the 200 fly, which he won last year. The Canadian Olympic medalist earned six more All-American honors for the sixth-place Sun Devils at NCAAs.
Miller Lung was the runner-up at NCAAs in the 200 breaststroke. The junior became the first two-time All-American, in both breaststroke events, for BYU since 1990. She also qualified for NCAAs in the 200 individual medley. She was a three-time All-Big 12 selection.
Petersen was the leading diver at NCAAs among the Big 12 contingent, finishing fourth on 1-meter at NCAAs. He set the program record in 1-meter in the regular season. At Big 12s, he was second on 1-meter, third on 3-meter and seventh on platform.
Lai made history as a sophomore, the first Kansas swimmer to win this award in program history and the highest NCAA finish for a Kansas diver at NCAAs since 1996. She won 1-meter at the Big 12 Championships, to go with a runner-up result on 3-meter and fifth in platform. At NCAAs, the native of China placed sixth on 1-meter and seventh on 3-meter.
Lukminas set the Arizona program record in the 100 free at Big 12s, then led the Wildcats to three top-two results in relays, including the win in the 200 free relay. He finished in the top eight in the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free at the conference championships.
Ullmann finished no worse than third in any of her individual events at Big 12s. She set a school record in the 100 fly on the way to the championship. She was third in the 100 free and third in the 50 free. She helped the Sun Devils finish eighth in the 200 medley relay at the NCAA Championships.
Behm, in his first year at the helm of the Sun Devils, helped Arizona add its first Big 12 title to consecutive Pac 12 titles, when he was an assistant coach to Bob Bowman. The Arizona State men were sixth at NCAAs, with 11 All-Americans, and the women were 19th, their best finish since 2012. Arizona State also won the Big 12 women’s title, its first ever conference crown.
McAllister mentored 10 swimmers who broke BYU program records, including Miller Lung’s first Big 12 title. Miller Lung scored 29 points at NCAAs, the highest for a Cougar since 1991.
Marschner led the Utes diving squad to the most All-Big 12 selections. Utah had the ninth-most points among diving squads at NCAAs. In addition to Petersen, Jesco Helling won the Big 12 title on platform.
Feng led Lai to both springboard events at NCAAs, her points leading the Jayhawks to finish 25th as a team. That was their highest placement since finishing 22nd in 1996.
Sammon adds to his Elite 90 award. The senior real estate development major has a 4.00 GPA. He won the 200 free at Big 12s and was part of victorious 400 free and 800 free relays. Sammon led off Arizona State’s ninth-place 800 free relay at NCAAs and was part of the runner-up 200 free and 400 free relay squads.
Grelz is a graduate student from Houston. The diver is earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a 4.00 GPA who competed in all of Houston’s dual meets this season. She finished eighth in 1-meter and eighth in 3-meter at Big 12s.
