UNCW Season Preview: Women

    The Seahawk women are eager to continue where they left off last year at the CAA Championships as they rose up the standings to rally for a third place finish behind strong efforts from a deep junior class that is excited  to bring a championship back to UNCW. “We’ve addressed several areas where depth hurt us last year and will be stronger and more balanced this year. We have numbers both in depth and quality. This year’s seniors are as strong as we’ve had recently.”

Sprints/Freestyle
    There no secret in the CAA who will key that senior group as senior Caitlin Kirsteier, who owns UNCW’s records in the 50 and 100, returns. Joining Kirsteier are sophomores Anna Munger and Mattie Riley, who both made an impact last season. “Both Munger and Riley were nice surprises as they adapted to the collegiate level quickly.” Looking to make a similar move will be freshmen Carly Tanner and Nicole Miller, who will grow with experience.

Middle&Distance/Freestyle
    The loss of school record holder Danielle Mortenson will hurt, but Allen is excited with what he’s seen from freshman Rachel Wilson. “Rachel has been tremendous in preseason workouts and we feel she will be able to step in quickly.” Also looking to ease the loss of Mortenson will be the combination of junior Sabina Sinksa, senior Meredith Banks and Anna Tommerdahl and sophomore Kasey Richardson, Libby Mayock and Alden Dyer.

Butterfly
    Perhaps UNCW’s strongest event is the Butterfly. Kirsteier is the reigning three-time CAA Champion in the 100 Fly. Sinksa will also contribute in both the 100 and 200 as will sophomore Caroline Little. “We were able to add quality depth in freshmen Marissa McJunkin and Ellen Velte. Both are very capable to make an immediate impact on our team.”

Backstroke
    The Backstroke will also be a source of strength for the Seahawks with the return of seniors Michelle Baric and Laura Chinni, both of whom posted good results at the CAA Championships. Senior Chantal Woodard and sophomores Hilary Fritz, Dyer, Caroline Little and Stephanie Florenza are joined by freshman Kathryn Yarbrough and Nicole Miller in making UNCW even tougher in the Backstroke events.

Breaststroke
    Sophomores Caroline Huber and Kasey Richards were able to help in the Breaststroke events. Freshman Carly Tanner has shown that she too will be able to make splash as a rookie for the Seahawks and has looked good in early season workouts.

IM
    The women should be able to draw strength and show versatility in the IM events. Chinni, Huber, Baric, Dyer and Woodard gave strong swims last year and with the addition of McJunkin, UNCW will continue to post solid outings in both the 200 and 400.

Diving
    UNCW returns all three letterwinners from last year in junior Julia Newbold and sophomores Kristin Harris and Meg Gildea. “Diving will be an improved area for us this season. All of our returners gain invaluable experience last year and we were able to add some talented newcomers to the lineup this year.” Joining Seahawk Diving are freshmen Amanda MacCreery and Alexa McCarthy.