While Wittenberg swimming and diving Head Coach Leslie Ramsey was a student at the University of North Carolina, she was not aware of the mark she was making for herself.

That has all changed with Ramsey recently being named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 50th Anniversary Women’s Swimming and Diving Team. The announcement came on Aug. 21 and recognizes college students who have enjoyed the highest achievements in all of college sports.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Ramsey, who came to Wittenberg in August 2001 after serving as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky. “There are some very impressive swimmers on that list.”

Not only is the list of swimmers impressive, but the top 50 lists in the other sports are also phenomenal. Among the headliners are golfers Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III and David Duval, football Hall of Fame inductee Lawrence Taylor and soccer players Mia Hamm and Claudio Reyna. At press time, the names for baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball had not been released.

A 1996 graduate of UNC, Ramsey enjoyed a stellar collegiate career. An NCAA Division I All-American in 1992, ’94 and ’95, she took home ACC Swimmer of the Year honors as a senior, and she was also named her team’s Most Valuable Swimmer that year. In addition, she was an All-ACC Academic Honor Roll student in 1994 and ’95. At the Olympic Trials in 1996, Ramsey finished 14th in the 200-yard butterfly.

“Probably my biggest achievement was being named conference swimmer of the year,” Ramsey said. Until now perhaps.

Ramsey was honored along with the rest of the North Carolina contingent, which had the largest representation on the women’s swimming and diving team with 22 student-athletes, during halftime at the Sept. 27 football game against Georgia Tech.

— Emma Belcher