2001-02 Women’s Swimming Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
Oct. 26, 2001
%^$The third year of women’s swimming head coach Jeanne Fleck’s tenure at Ohio State will feature both familiar and new faces on the starting blocks.%^$
%^$The 2001-02 team is almost an even mix of veterans and newcomers-12 letterwinners return, combined with nine freshmen and one transfer student.%^$
%^$”We have a large class coming in,” Fleck said. “Many of them will see immediate time in the pool, so we need to come together as a team pretty quickly.%^$
%^$”As a coaching staff and program we are really excited about our future. We are now starting to recruit into our new state-of-the-art facility. The girls that are freshmen will swim at least one season in the new pool. Our new facility will not only host our meets but championship events as well.”%^$
%^$Fleck has set three goals for her team this season:
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First, to maintain or better the win/loss record from last yearagainst a tougher schedule.
%^$ Second, to have a .500 or better season.
%^$ Third, to do better at the Big Ten Championships.
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%^$Last season the Buckeyes finished with an overall record of 6-7 and 0-4 in the Big Ten.%^$
%^$”We need to improve on our record if we want to contend for a conference title,” Fleck said. “This year we are swimming against tougher teams. We have more Big Ten teams and more Top 20 teams on our schedule. But I am very confident we are going to be a stronger team that can achieve our goals.”%^$
%^$Returnees
%^$With 12 letterwinners returning the Ohio State women’s swimming team has the leadership and experience to compete in 2001-02.%^$
%^$Returning for the Buckeyes are co-most valuable swimmers from the 2000-01 team, Amanda Treleaven and Kristin Sendrowski.%^$
%^$Treleaven set a Peppe Aquatic Center record in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:49.62 and an Ohio State record in the 100 backstroke with a time of :56.22.%^$
%^$”Amanda is probably our top returnee,” Fleck said. “She had a great freshman season last year. She has great potential to make nationals this year.”%^$
%^$Sendrowski, a senior co-captain, was the team’s top swimmer in four events last year.%^$
%^$”Krissy has scored at Big Tens and we will look for her leadership in the pool,” Fleck said. “She swims the butterfly events as well as the 400-meter medley relay.”%^$
%^$The Buckeyes also will rely on Katie Severson, the top newcomer from a year ago. She returns as the top sprint freestyler. Severson set season team bests in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyles with times of :23.76 and :51.53, respectively.%^$
%^$”Katie improved so much last year,” Fleck said. “She is just going to continue to get better for us. We have also brought in several sprinters to challenge her, which will only make her a stronger swimmer in the big meets.”%^$
%^$Co-captain Kristin Sander will add veteran leadership and experience to the 2001-02 team. She was voted one of the team’s most inspirational swimmers during the 2000-01 campaign.%^$
%^$”Kristin will provide great leadership for our team,” Fleck said. “She knows what it takes to score at Big Tens. This past summer she spent a lot of time training in Columbus and she should take charge of our middle distance group.”%^$
%^$Erika Staley showed tremendous potential as a freshman during the 2000-01 season. She set season team bests in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke.%^$
%^$”Erika is another swimmer who I think will do big things for us,” Fleck said. “Last year she had a few injuries that slowed her down, but she is hungry to get back in the pool this season. She should be our top breaststroker.”%^$
%^$Newcomers
%^$Fleck will add a large freshman class to the Ohio State swimming program. Her team will have 10 new faces– nine freshmen and one transfer.%^$
%^$”We added a very talented group of student-athletes to our program this year,” Fleck said.%^$
%^$Highlighting the group of newcomers is a group of five sprint freestylers.%^$
%^$Ashley Barnes and Abby Grantstein will lead the new group of freestylers.%^$
%^$”Ashley and Abby are swimmers who can come in and do really well for us right away,” Fleck said. “Ashley will push Katie Seversen and Abby will help out with our relay teams.”%^$
%^$Megan Hasselchwart will come in as a contender in the breaststroking events.%^$
%^$”Megan is a breaststroker with a great deal of potential,” Fleck said. “She will train with Erika Staley, which will only make them better.”%^$
%^$Katie Kolles and Kristina Lipskis will give added depth to the middle distance freestyle group.%^$
%^$”Katie Kolles will give us much added depth in several events,” Fleck said. “She is a good sprint freestyler and backstroker, but she will probably end up in our middle distance group. She has the ability to help us with our relay teams as well. Kristina is a middle distance swimmer who can also swim in the backstroke events,”%^$
%^$Ashley Jennings is a junior transfer from Tufts University.%^$
%^$”Ashley is a sprint freestyler and will give our team added depth and experience,” Fleck said.%^$
%^$Ashley Rouston, Kerstin Hetrick, Ashley Beroske and Sara Lennartz will all walk-on to the 2001-02 team.%^$
%^$”These girls will give us great depth in all of our events,” Fleck said. “More importantly these girls will push our top swimmers in practice, which will only make this team better.%^$
%^$The Schedule
%^$The 2001-02 schedule is highlighted with three teams that appeared in the final Top 20 poll from a year ago.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes will have the home advantage in four of seven meets during the fall season. This portion of the season features two Big Ten opponents and two other top teams in Maryland and Virginia Tech.%^$
%^$”We start the season with some of our toughest opponents,” Fleck said%^$
%^$The second part of the season feature meets against seven more teams, including four from the Big Ten.%^$
%^$”We have a busy January, but not as bad as last year,” Fleck said. “Last year we had two meets on every weekend, this season we only do that twice.”%^$
%^$”Our schedule is tougher than the one we swam last year,” Fleck said. “However, we know we have the right mix of talent to do well against these tougher teams. Swimming against tougher competition will get us ready for the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.”%^$
%^$The Divers
%^$Now in his 24th season as the head diving coach, Vince Panzano returns yet another team loaded with talent. His teams will contribute a great number of points at dual meets and at the Big Ten Championships. Headlining this year’s group is All-American Natalia Diea.%^$
%^$Last year, Diea took home sixth place in the platform dive at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America status. She also is the reigning Big Ten Champion in the platform event.%^$
%^$Jillian Cicione, Melanie Johnson and Holy Underwood are expected to make big contributions as well.%^$
