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That said, the Gophers landed a big-time signee in Kierra Smith. Smith follows a similar path trod by fellow Canadian breastroker Jillian Tyler and will make for an outstanding 1-2 punch with Haley Spencer. Lauren Votava, like Spencer, comes from Mary Liston at Rockwood and is an up-and-comer. Haley Pietila, Lauren Zima and Marina Spadoni round out the class.
Whether this year’s relatively small group was an aberration or a trend remains to be seen, but the Gopher staff will head into 2013 needing to replace 25% of their Big Ten points so you can expect they will be working the phones on July 1st.
Incoming Freshmen
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Graduating Seniors
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Kayla Iverson (fly and sprint free), Holly Harper (back), and Gabrielle Bishop (back) all elected to stay close to home and all three should have an immediate impact on the team. Of course having an impact on the team and in the ACC are two different things. Considering how the ACC’s recruiting has taken off in the past couple of years this group will be tasked with improving quickly just to keep up. VT’s classes have traditionally had these types of signees, however, and if they can push themselves and challenge their new teammates to be better, VT will be headed in the right direction.
Of course, VT classes are also generally marked with an overseas stud too. This year’s is Weronika Paluszek. Fesh off her third-place finish at Polish Nationals, the breaststroker highlights the class. More importantly, she addresses an area where, since Jessica Botzum’s graduation, the Hokies have struggled.
Incoming Freshmen
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Graduating Seniors
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Julie Leth-Espensen is the highest-ranked among this year’s class, though sprinter Sara Hamilton could prove a bigger factor according to Sudd. “With Sara, our sprint relays really become a big factor as we push to get more people qualified to nationals.” Leth-Espensen is a Danish IM’er with NCAA potential while Morgan is one of the many Canadian breaststrokers to head south. At least a couple of FGCU’s class will be used to the South Florida climate. Samantha Rahael and Lani Cabrera are both Sunshine State natives with Caribbean connections. Samantha Rahael is the latest Bolles swimmer to choose FGCU and has been Trinidad & Tobago’s Swimmer of the year while Lani Cabrera (Davie Natadores) holds five of Barbados’ national records.
Incoming Freshmen
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Outgoing Seniors
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If either team has an edge, it might go to Harvard simply because they lose fewer points than Princeton. Backstrokers Sada Stewart and Kendall Crawford have both seen one another many times over the years and they’ll continue to do so at the collegiate level. Each team added another big-time addition. Canadian Sherry Liu will swim distance for Harvard while local girl Megan Lydzinski will lead a trio of three sprinters, each of whom, would have ranked among the Tigers’ top three.
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Incoming Freshmen- Harvard
Losses - Harvard
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Name | Conference Points |
NCAA Points |
---|---|---|
Leddy, Meghan | 84 |
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Zagroba, Catherine | 73 |
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Roberts, Hilary | 66 |
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Incoming Freshmen- Princeton
Rank | Name | State |
Score |
---|---|---|---|
51 |
Sada Stewart | PA |
2.65 |
90 |
Morgan Karetnick | CT |
3.84 |
94 |
Megan Lydzinski | NJ |
3.92 |
111 |
Beverly Nguyen | CA |
4.78 |
112 |
Elizabeth McDonald | CT |
4.79 |
126 |
Nicole Larson | MN |
5.32 |
174 |
Maylin Meisenheimer | TX |
7.43 |
198 |
Mallory Remick | IL |
8.88 |
249 |
India Boland | MA |
11.40 |
Losses - Princeton
Name | Conference Points |
NCAA Points |
---|---|---|
Shanley, Lauren | 61 |
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Smalling, Aislyn | 60 | |
Monroe, Meredith | 54 |
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Kirkwood, Christina | 47.5 |
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Gruendel, Kerry | 47.5 |
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Baran, Caitlin E | 41 |