CollegeSwimming.com takes its annual look at this year's recruiting classes.
Tough call picking between Missouri and LSU for the 25th spot.
Both teams have second-year coaches. Both lose big studs in
Shara Stafford and Amanda Kendall and both call themselves
Tigers. For us though the edge goes to Mizzou. While
Southern Tigers signed more depth, the Northern Tigers a pair of
top-50 commitments and with both teams in the newly-expanded SEC,
those top-50 commitments are huge.
Cy-Fair product Anna Patterson leads Mizzou’s entry into the
SEC. While she only boasts one top-ten time (200 Fly) she’s
good in just about everything not associated with
breaststroke. From the 50-500 she ranks among the Tigers’
current leaders so her impact will be immediate. .
Conversely there’s Madison Bridges. The backstroker’s impact
won’t be as immediate or obvious, what with Dominque Bouchard and
Cassie Cunningham already in place, but the girl can flat out sprint
and could have a lot of upside when in the freestyles.
Breaststroker Lauren Stoeckle completes the class. She’s the
kind of kid who makes an immediate impact in the Big XII. With
the Tigers’ move to the SEC she’ll have to develop, but with a trio
of 1:01 women ahead of her, the Tigers can afford to let her
develop.
Freshmen
|
Departures
| Seniors |
Conference
Points
|
NCAA
Points
|
| Stafford, Shara |
56
|
36
|
| Dibenigno, Emy |
27
|
|
| Nathanson, Lisa |
20
|
|
| Rovig, Stephanie |
20
|
|
|
This past season Notre Dame thwarted Louisville’s quest for a
third-straight Big East men’s title. This year the Louisville
women are in position to do what the men’s team couldn’t. To
do so, however, they’ll need to find a way to replace the 143 points
this year’s senior class scored. We’re not sure this year’s
class can replace last year’s seniors point-for-point, but they
could potentially score more points at NCAA’s.
First there’s uber-flyer Kelsi Worrell. The New Jersey High
School Athlete of the Year (we’re talking all sports here) broke
through this past season and will be joined Brittany Robinson.
Robinson has dropped nearly 3% from her backstroke and butterfly in
each of the past three seasons and that includes the suit era.
Locally Louisville added Emma Coakley to the mix and looking further
afar they added Canadian Devon Bibault. Bibault isn’t as
proven in short-course, but has a bit more range than Worrell and
Robinson. You have to figure that with a mentor like Rachel
Komisarz on staff these Cardinals will be flying high.
Incoming Freshmen
|
Outgoing Seniors
| Name |
Conference |
NCAA |
| Lilliestrom, Fanny |
37
|
|
| Juncker, Stephanie A |
20
|
|
Thompson, Lorraine
|
27
|
|
Cole, Aileen
|
26
|
|
Bobo, Lacey
|
12
|
|
Rogers, LIndsay
|
11
|
|
|
It didn’t take Braden Holloway long to put his stamp on North
Carolina State as a head coach. While the Wolfpack’s
recruiting had been on the rise, it was tough to tell whether that
was due to Holloway or Woody Woodward. It seems both had an
impact, but this year’s class has Holloway’s fingerprints all over
it.
The Wolfpack first looked overseas and picked up flyer Anne Leuthold
from Germany and Canadian freestyler Olivia Bello. Neither has
had the big breakthrough on the international level, but they’re
exactly the type that a mid-pack ACC team could use right
away. Beyond imports Leuthold and Bellio, NC State added an
assortment of pieces that should help. Flyer Kayla Skenadore
from Wisconsin, Florida sprinter Erika Bonnema and in-stater Hayley
Tomlinson all help but aren’t big-name players (yet).
They don’t need to be though. The Wolfpack are well positioned
as they head into 2013 for a couple of reasons. First, NC
State doesn’t lose a single swimmer that scored any higher than 19th
in their conference meet. Second. by hiring within NC State
avoided some of wholesale personnel changes that have marked teams
in transition. That means they can grow and develop as
Woodward continues to build his own program.
Incoming Freshmen
|
Outgoing Seniors
| Rank |
Name |
State
|
Score |
|
None
|
|
|
|
Bill Dorenkott was an early fan of CollegeSwimming.com. It’s a
good thing too because we know he won’t be fazed by us ranking the
Buckeyes’ class in the 20’s. That’s because Bill Dorenkott is
the kind of guy who gets to the point. He knows who he wants,
who will fit, and then goes out and gets them.
This year the Buckeyes didn’t need much. With only nine Big
Ten points to replace Dorenkott and assistant Stefanie Williams
first addressed a thin breaststroke corps by adding Anne
Lazor. Annie Gillig, the other Top-100 signee, is a
backstroker by nature, but has IM’s already ahead of the outgoing
Catherine Eitel and Elisabeth Narum. The Buckeyes kept
two of the state’s top three within the borders, but again Dorenkott
has to like how Molly Hazelbaker fits into the distance group and
how much upside Camey Rabold has to her. While this year’s
class sits in the 20’s, look for the Buckeyes to make a big campaign
in 2013. With nine swimmers rising to Senior status, OSU will
need a continued infusion of talent to continue their rise.
Incoming Freshmen
|
Graduating Seniors
| Name |
Conference
Points
|
NCAA
Points
|
Eitel, Catherine
|
4
|
|
Narum, Elisabeth
|
4
|
|
Nichols, Natalie
|
1
|
|
|
Florida State seemingly made recruiting look easy. The
Seminoles graduate four ACC scorers and welcome a dozen newcomers
for this fall. The success, according to head coach Neil
Harper was actually a r
esult their earlier efforts. “With the
type of kids we brought in last year, they made it easier for the
recruits to really connect with the team. It just goes to show the
direction where we are heading with this team and its leaders.”
Madison Jacobi agrees. When she committed she mentioned a FSU
staff, “who really cares about their swimmers and an awesome,
close-knit team.” Jacobi is an awesome and versatile talent
capable of scoring at both conference and potentially national
levels. Same can be said for breaststroker, Sami Pochowski
from Wisconsin. Lauren Hine and Mary Elizabeth
King both come from big teams (NBAC and Swim Atlanta respectively)
and both will be swimming in Omaha later this month. The rest
of the class is solid and considering the Seminoles’ light losses,
they’ll make the ACC that much tougher.
Incoming Freshmen
|
Outgoing Seniors
| Name |
Conference
Points
|
NCAA
Points
|
| Sarandos, Stephanie |
9
|
0
|
| Rowland, Lisi |
13
|
|
| Broadbent, Char |
13
|
|
Richmond, Tori
|
15
|
|
|
