Supported by CSCAA
National Collegiate Swimmer-of-the-Week
recruiting class '08
voting polls
.: CollegeSwimming.com Preview: Pac-10 Conference
October 3rd, 2006
University of Arizona
Head Coach: Frank Busch (18th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Men: 4th of 6 Women: 1st of 9
NCAA Finish: Men: 2nd Women: 3rd
Last season proved to be quite a successful one for the Wildcats. With a runner-up finish at NCAA's for the women and a third place finish for the men, the Wildcats will again try to repeat and improve on that success. Unfortunately, they will have to do it without the help of All-Americans Marshi Smith, Jenna Gresdal, Erin Seiper on the women's side and Simon Burnett, Lyndon Ferns, Dave Rollins, Tyler DeBerry on the men's. Coach Frank Busch will look to his veterans Whitney Myers, Lacey Nymeyer, Courtney Cashion, Adam Ritter, and Ivan Barnes to lead the team.
While last year, the Wildcats had plenty of veteran talent to look towards while competing for the title, this year they will need their freshman to contribute if they hope to improve. Incoming swimmers Annie Chandler, Cathryn Iverson, Jenny Forester, Jean Basson, Joel Greenshields, and Jack Brown. The biggest catch however is Florida transfer Darian Townsend. Townsend was a member of the South African World Record-setting 400 freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
This season should prove to be a new challenge for the Wildcats, but one that Busch is confident they are up to.
Stanford University
Head Coach: Men: Skip Kenney (28th Season) Women: Lea Mauer (2nd Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Men: 1st of 6 Women: 3rd of 9
NCAA Finish: Men: 3rd Women: 5th
Few programs have as successful a history as the Stanford Swimming program. With countless NCAA and Pac-10 Championship titles, there is always the same pressure to repeat that success each year. This year, there is again plenty of talent and depth on the Cardinal teams, the question is whether it is enough to repeat and improve from last year.
For the men, returning All-Americans Hongzhe Sun, Shaun Phillips and Ben Wildman-Tobriner will lead the way. With the loss of Tobias Oriwol and Michael McLean to graduation, the Cardinal will also look to Nate Cass and Paul Kornfeld to continue the improvement they showed this past summer.
The women suffered some big losses including All-Americans Dana Kirk and Kristen Caverly to graduation. Fortunately, there are plenty of other talented swimmers ready to help fill the gap. Brooke Bishop, Caroline Bruce, Lauren Costella, Andrea Axtell and Madeline Rovira will need to improve from last season to help make up the loss. Additionally, incoming freshman Julia Smit and Elaine Breeden should contribute immediately.
The Cardinal will look to continue its historic winning tradition with both new talent and veteran leadership.
University of California, Berkeley
Head Coach: Men: Nort Thornton (33rd Season) and Mike Bottom (10th Season)
Women: Teri McKeever (15th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Men: 2nd of 6 Women: 5th of 9
NCAA Finish: Men: 6th Women: 4th
The Bears finished up the 2005-2006 Season successfully, with top-10 national finishes for both the men and women, and a runner-up finish for the men at the conference championships. This year, both the men and women of Cal look to improve. The Women suffered some a big loss with Helen Silver to graduation, but with returning All-Americans Emily Silver, Annie Babicz, Jessica Hardy, and Erin Reilly, Cal should have no trouble finding the points. Perhaps one of the biggest additions to the Bears is Dana Vollmer, transferring in from Florida. There was much talk about McKeever taking the USC Women's position, but with so much talent at Cal, who wouldn't want to stay?
The men's side will feel the loss of Henrique Barbosa, Miguel Molina and Milord Cavic, but they return a talented crew. Backstroker David Russell had a breakout year, but peaked a little early. He'll look for a better NCAA meet this season. Jernej Godec is a sprinter of the first order and Daniel Lysaught heads into his final season after a tremendous Junior campaign. Louis Vayo and Patrick O'Neil will need to step in a provide the depth and leadership that Cal will need to improve from last year. O'Neil comes off a solid summer that saw him make the Pan Am team. Freshman Nathan Adrian will help with the consistently successful Cal sprint program. With the returning veterans as well as the top notch recruits Cal has, the Bears have set themselves up to continue and build upon their success last year.
University of Southern California
Head Coach: David Salo (1st Season)
PAC-10 Finish: Men: 3rd of 6 Women: 4th of 9
NCAA Finish: Men: 7th Women: 6th
Dave Salo might be the new guy in the Pac-10 college coaching ranks, but he is hardly a "rookie". Salo is one of the most recognized and celebrated coaches in history. As the head coach of Irvine Nova, Salo tutored and developed countless Olympians. Now he will attempt to bring his club success to the college scene. He has big shoes to fill as long time coach, Mark Schubert, retired from college coaching last year to work with USA swimming. Fortunately, Salo has a team full of experience as well as some new faces heading into this year.
The Trojans have plenty of veterans on the men's side including Larsen Jensen, Viktor Bodrogi, and Sam Masson to lead the team. Key for the Trojan's success will be the improvement of their men's sprint core including Sean Sussex and Bryce Elser especially with the loss of Ous Mellouli to graduation. For the Women, Salo says, "we look to the leadership of Kalyn Keller and hope that the injuries that have plagued many of the women will be resolved by the time the spring championships come around." Additionally, with NCAA qualifiers Rebecca Soni, Rhi Jeffrey, and Georgia transfer Amanda Weir, the Trojans are setting their sites on success.
Salo says, "As the rookie on the block, I am looking forward to challenging our team to improve. It is my intent to work on our athleticism and trust that it will transfer in the water."
University of California, Los Angeles
Head Coach: Cyndi Gallagher (19th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Women: 2nd of 9
NCAA Finish: Women: 20th
The Bruins hope to break back into the top 10 Nationally, unfortunately, this season they will have to do it without the help of All-American and recent Pan-Pacific finalist Kim Vandenberg. To help fill the gap, the Bruins will depend on the leadership of All-American seniors Katie Arnold and Katie Nelson. Additionally, Jane Imagane, Chiemi Yamamoto, Nicolette Teo, and Anna Poteete will all need to improve on their performances last year.
The Bruin divers will also play an important part in UCLA's quest to return to the form which led them to conference titles in 2001 and 2003.
There has been a lot of chatter following the announcement of the new aquatics facility and the talk of resurrecting the men's team. But, until then, the women of UCLA will do their best to carry on the winning tradition of the Bruins.
Arizona State University
Head Coach: Michael Chasson (9th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Men: 5th of 6 Women: 6th of 9
NCAA Finish: Men:14th Women: 29th
Arizona State looks to improve on their national finish next year. Coach Mike Chasson says, "All our goals are geared toward the highest NCAA finish possible for both the men and women. This will in part be achieved by qualifying as many athletes as possible for the NCAA's in individual events." One of the challenges facing the Sun Devil men this season is finding someone to fill the gap left by All-American and NCAA Champion diver Joona Puhaka to graduation. Chasson believes that CJ Nuess, Gal Nevo, Lucas
Azevedo, Steve Neuwert, Magnus Kjellberg, Ante Cvitkovic, Maren Naranca, Sean Boyle, Max Laney and Micki Benedetti all will have to step up this season to help the Devils achieve their team goals.
On the women's side All-American Caitlin Andrew will lead the Devil women. Helping her will be Jen Beckberger, Amy Konowalik, Christine Creek, Abra Armour, Jessie Perazzo, Ashley Evans, Ashton Aubry, Sarah Fischer,Ellis Schieman, Mirela Kardasevic, and Erin Hobbs.
With a fairly young team, the Sun Devils will need their upperclassmen to lead the way. Chasson comments, "Both teams have a lot newcomers that could impact the results significantly. Our relays will be much improved on both teams which will help at all types of competition."
University of Washington
Head Coach: Whitney Hite (1st Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Men: 6th of 6 Women: 8th of 9
NCAA Finish: Men: 45th Women: n/a
The Washington Huskies have gone through a lot in their history. From developing numerous All-Americans to having the program dropped momentarily following the 2001 season, the Huskies have seen a lot. Now, Washington embarks on a new journey with Whitney Hite at the helm.
With the loss of Bruno Barbic to Northwestern, the Husky Men will look to several veterans as well as several incoming freshman. Bret Lundgaard, Mason Amick, Taylor Brugh, and Jared Osborne will lead the team with experience, while incoming freshman Erez Fern and Georgia Tech transfer Yonatan Cohen should be able to help fill the gap left by the absence of Barbic.
On the women's side, the return of Caitlyn Short and Kim Jasmer, the Husky Women have the needed leadership to improve upon last year's performance despite the loss of Sharon Olsen to graduation. Incoming freshman Erin Campbell, Jessica Gaines, and Petra Radovic should provide the depth the Huskies need to improve.
Oregon State University
Head Coach: Larry Liebowitz (4th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Women: 7th of 9
NCAA Finish: Women: 31st
The Beavers have been steadily improving over the past five years. Last year they improved to a 7th place finish in the conference and are looking to continue improving. Liebowitz will depend on several key swimmers to lead the way. Returning All-American Saori Haruguchi, as well as well as Kayla Rawlings will need to try and fill the gap left by Asura Pacebutaite and Christin Kinney due to graduation.
The Beavers will also depend on their freshman including Canadian Sarah Mayzes, Brittney Iverson, Anna Crandall, Megan Evans, and Dena Lougee to add to the needed depth of the team.
With a challenging dual meet schedule including every Pac-10 school except California as well as Texas A&M and SMU. "We took a jump in the caliber of competition we swam against last year, and we're doing that again this year," Liebowitz said. "As we do that more and more, it's going to allow our women to become more comfortable swimming against strong competitors week-in and week-out."
Washington State University
Head Coach: Erica Quam (5th Season)
Pac-10 Finish: Women: 9th of 9
NCAA Finish: Women: 40th
Washington State University hopes to improve this year and try to break out of its 9th place conference finish from last year. Unfortunately, they will have to do it without the leadership and contribution of NCAA qualifier Jane Copeland due to graduation. Luckily for the Cougs, they still have All-American Erin McCleave to look to for leadership. Kayli Changstrom, Monika Povilonyte, Afton Pickett, and Katie Van Horne will also have to step up this season in order for the Cougars to improve on last year. Freshmen Michaela Ahlin and Shawna Keller will also need to rise to the occasion and contribute immediately.
The Pac-10 is a tough conference, and Quam and her team will need everyone to contribute in order to break into the top 6. Additionally, With Copeland gone, and McCleave as the only returning NCAA qualifier, the Cougars will need more swimmers qualifying for NCAAs if they hope to improve on their national standing. Quam is optimistic though, stating, "This team had success early last year at the Minnesota Invite, US Open, and OSU dual. Then we learned a lot about ourselves when we underperformed at Pac Tens. It is always how you react to a difficult situation that counts. That is something that builds character and helps you learn how to improve. Our group did a great job training and racing hard over the summer. Together we are stronger, mentally we are tougher, and our outlook looks positive for the season ahead."
