WSWIM: Top 20 Recruiting Class Ranks 2nd in Big Ten – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
COLUMBUS, Ohio Collegeswimming.com released its rankings of the top recruiting classes and Coach Bill Dorenkott’s initial class of recruits to Ohio State University was ranked as the second-best class in the Big Ten Conference and a Top 20 class overall.
Ohio State’s recruiting class was ranked 19th nationally, trailing only Minnesota’s recruiting class among Big Ten teams. The Golden Gophers’ incoming freshmen ranked No. 12 nationally. Here is an excerpt of what Collegeswimming.com had to say about the efforts of Dorenkott and assistant coach Stefanie Williams on the Buckeyes’ incoming recruits:
“Ohio State head coach Bill Dorenkott cares about results. He can afford to because he’s got a record of producing results. Some of those best results, in fact, have come not from the stars, but from the kids willing to outwork the stars. The importance of this Buckeye team goes beyond the sum of the points they’ll score. These are Dorenkott-type swimmers who will work hard, get better, and set the stage for even bigger things in Columbus.”
Nice praise and solid validation for Ohio State’s coaches, who vowed to put together a solid first recruiting class as soon as they arrived on the Ohio State campus in July 2008.
“I believe we exceeded our expectations with this class,” Dorenkott said in December. “These young ladies have the ability, potential and desire to be special.”
Dorenkott, who has coached three Big Ten Conference championship teams in just 11 seasons as a Big Ten coach, also said he believes this first Ohio State recruiting class is comparable to his prior classes that helped build championship teams.
“This class has as much in common as any group that I have ever been a part of recruiting,” Dorenkott said. “They are strong academically, boast a steep rate of improvement in the pool and value the power of a strong team dynamic.”
Williams, an All-American and national champion on three Georgia NCAA championship teams and who clearly knows what it takes to be a champion, echoed Dorenkott’s thoughts on the recruiting class.
“Bill and I couldn’t be happier with this class,” Williams said. “They are terrific young ladies who are very passionate about swimming. They will have an immediate impact on our team!”
Hopefully that immediate impact will reflect the immediate impact Dorenkott and Williams have already had on the Ohio State swimming program. Nearly twice as many swimmers scored at the 2009 Big Ten championships the first for Dorenkott and Williams as Ohio State coaches as compared to the 2008 point scorers and 12 school records were broken this past season.
“The measure of our season will be the pride, passion and resolve that was reestablished within the confines of the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion,” Dorenkott said. “Belief is a powerful thing and my gut tells me that our team is really starting to believe that anything is possible with the Buckeyes.”
Stay tuned. The incoming recruits and the rest of the team will see their first action of the 2009-10 season Nov. 23 with the annual Scarlet and Gray Meet at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. That will also be the first opportunity for the team to see…to believe that, with Dorenkott and Williams, the sky will be the limit for the Ohio State swimmers and anything will, indeed, be possible.
###OhioStateBuckeyes.com###
