2006-07 season preview

October 27, 2006

NORTON, MA- After his teams posted the best dual records in program history and matched their highest New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship placements, Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving head coach Jean-Paul Gowdy continues to have lofty goals for each program.

Now in his fourth year, Gowdy is encouraged by the men, who went 11-3 last year and placed fourth at the conference meet. The Lyons return senior All-American Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering), the only athlete in program history to compete at an NCAA Championship, and Gowdy sees this as the year some of Roberts' fellow Lyons could make a jump to the national stage. Wheaton's women were 12-4 a year ago while also placing fourth at the NEWMAC Championship, and Gowdy expects great things this winter. He also has aspirations for some of his female athletes to gain their first national meet exposure, as several have a legitimate chance to qualify.

Joining Gowdy's coaching staff are first-year assistant Joe O'Leary, a 2002 graduate of Saint Michael's College, and first-year diving coach Katy Shoemaker, who graduated from Trinity College in May. Each brings college success and extensive high school coaching experience.

Wheaton's men will be captained by the squad's two seniors, Roberts and Zach Hicks (Bath, ME/Morse). Gowdy praised both Hicks' swimming and leadership abilities, as Hicks also serves as co-president of the Wheaton Athletic Mentors, the school's embodiment of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In his third year as a captain, Roberts, the defending NEWMAC Swimmer of the Year, looks to earn All-America laurels for the third straight season and qualify for all-conference honors for the fourth year. At last season's conference championship meet, Roberts won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races and led the 200-yard medley relay team to victory. He has been part of seven school records.

Joe Fowler (Farmington, ME/Mount Blue), Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth), Ryan Patch (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and Yunuscan Tokcan (Providence, RI/Northfield Mount Hermon School) comprise Wheaton's junior quartet. Jordan is the most decorated, as he earned all-conference honors last season and lays claim to seven school records. Fowler holds the school record in the 400-yard individual medley and was a member of last season's record-breaking 800-yard freestyle relay team.

Matt Pinkston (Houston, TX/Episcopal) and T.J. Sponzo (Simsbury, CT/Avon Old Farms) are the Lyons' sophomores. Sponzo helped three relay quartets establish program standards last year, and his top time in the 50-yard freestyle was 0.34 ticks shy of provisional qualification for the national meet.

Five freshmen join the men's program, among them John Ahern (Boxboro, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional), Andrew Allinson (Portsmouth, NH/Portsmouth), Sean Feeney (Pawtucket, RI/Moses Brown School), Mike Koltz (Columbia, MD/Boys' Latin School of Maryland) and Max Polin (Deerfield Beach, FL/North Broward School). Allinson's sister, Kelly '07, competed for the past three years with the Lyons, while Koltz provides Wheaton with its first true diver in two seasons.

While Gowdy has a 13-member men's squad, he has a women's team that is bringing in 13 new faces alone. Add the returning 11 veterans, and the Lyons have a lot to look forward to. "When I look up and down our lineup for dual meets or the championship meet, we're deep in virtually every event," said Gowdy. "I think this year is going to be a big year. It's exciting to think about the possibilities."

Three seniors return to the Lyons, including captains Kristen Behrens (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge) and Cassie Bohn (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa), and classmate Colleen Smith (Milford, CT/Lauralton Hall). Gowdy said Behrens and Bohn have been emerging as team leaders since they were sophomores, and Smith will provide veteran guidance for the slew of newcomers. Bohn's name is on three school records, while Smith holds the 200-yard butterfly mark.

The junior class is made up of five athletes, as diver Laura Fleck (Auburn, ME/Hebron Academy) comes to the program after two years on Wheaton's synchronized swimming team to join Tori Hay (Danville, CA/Monte Vista), Meg Miller (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury), Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose) and Diane Seltzer (Natick, MA/Natick). Pratt, a 2004-05 NEWMAC All-Conference qualifier, owns four individual school marks and swam on four record-breaking relay teams. Miller holds a stake in four Wheaton standards.

A talented sophomore quintet has the Lyons preparing for the future, as three set school records a year ago. Mandy Cumings (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville Community), Caitlin Glover (Durham, NH/Berwick Academy), Kelly Grant (South Salem, NY/John Jay) and Casey Shanley (Rumson, NJ/Suffield Academy) each enter their second season with the Blue and White, while diver Stacy Zickl (Wrentham, MA/King Philip Regional) joins the squad after playing soccer at Wheaton in 2005. Last year, Cumings set the program's 200-yard individual medley record while helping three relay squads establish standards. Glover holds the 200-yard backstroke mark and two relay records, while Shanley joined Cumings and Glover on the record-breaking 800-yard freestyle relay team.

Rounding out Wheaton's roster are 11 freshmen, many of whom will make an immediate impact. During an alumni meet on September 30, Emily Sweatt (Portland, ME/Deering) broke the school mark in the 100-yard breaststroke event, possibly a harbinger of things to come. Four additional Maine natives join Sweatt in the freshman class, as Brenna Crothers (Mount Desert, ME/Mount Desert Island), Amy Dalrymple (Surry, ME/Ellsworth), Iris Meehan (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) and Chelsea Stephenson (Cape Elizabeth, ME/Cape Elizabeth) also have Pine Tree State ties.

Stephanie Conelias (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire), Sarah Houlihan (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield), Aurelie Marcotte (Hampden, MA/Minnechaug Regional) and Maggie Samen (Lexington, MA/Lexington) complete Wheaton's New England contingent in the Class of 2010, while Elizabeth Ginsberg (Pittsburgh, PA/Shady Side Academy) and Elizabeth Willis (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) provide out-of-region roots.

Each Lyons team opens a schedule that includes 12 dual or double-dual meets, three invitationals and the NEWMAC Championship beginning with a double-dual meet against Clark University and Gordon College on Saturday in Balfour Natatorium. The Blue and White women travel to Wellesley College on February 16-18 for the conference meet, while Wheaton will host the men's championship for the second straight season, on February 23-25.

"What we need to focus on with our men and our women is preparing well for the end of the year," said Gowdy. "We can't control how the other teams swim, we can only control how we swim. If we're swimming well, then we should have a very successful year."

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