YSUsports.com - Swimming & Diving: Deeper Penguins Squad to Begin 2006-07 Campaign Tomorrow at Bowling Green

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Oct. 13, 2006

Deeper Penguins Squad Looks to Improve in 2006-07

Last season the Youngstown State swimming and diving team was one of the more talented squads to patrol the decks of the Beeghly Natatorium in recent years. Despite losing 10 seniors from the previous year, the group of 14 rewrote the school’s top performers chart and racked up an impressive list of individual accomplishments.

There was a problem, though. There were only 11 swimmers to fill 19 events at the Horizon League Championship, and dual meets even stretched the squad thin.

    Depth won’t be a problem this season.
    All but one of those 14 members of last season’s squad return, and with the addition of seven talented newcomers, head coach Matt Anderson is looking toward a bright future.
    “We’re returning all of our point scorers [from the conference meet], and the addition of seven freshmen gives us the much-needed depth we lacked last year,” Anderson said. “If we continue to bring in these kinds of classes in terms of talent and size, we’ll continue to improve. We have an outstanding foundation for the future of the program with the 15 freshmen we’ve brought in over the past two years.”

Last year’s lone upperclassmen Becky Bertuzzi, Kim Hanley and Cortney Harless return for their second stint as team captains to headline the squad. They and three juniors bring some valued experience to a team that is still relatively young with 14 freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s definitely an advantage for us to have those three captains returning,” Anderson said. “They did a great job leading us last year, but they’ll be even better this year.”

Junior breaststroker Julia Darling returns as a school-record holder in four events, and sophomore Olivia Arnold is coming off a record-setting season in the distance freestyle. Arnold and diver Kelly Reese were named the squad’s MVP’s in their freshman campaigns.

The squad faces a challenging schedule that features regular-season meets against five of the Horizon League’s six opponents. The Penguins will also compete against Conference USA foe Marshall, a deep Illinois State team and two teams from the Mid-American Conference.

“Swimming the faster teams allows us to raise our level and gives us the opportunity to see how we match up with teams from some tougher conferences,” Anderson said.

    “The building blocks are here for us to do some good things and move the program up among the top in the Horizon League.”

Freestyle
    Freestyle was the strongest stroke for YSU last season, and, with an extra year of training and the addition of solid newcomers, Anderson said the Penguins have a group that is potentially as solid as any team in the conference.
    Bertuzzi and Senn headline the sprint freestylers as both rank among the top sprinters in school history.
    Bertuzzi closed out last season strong and finished 12th in the 200 free and 14th in the 100 free at the Horizon League Championship. As a sophomore, she missed breaking the 23-year-old school record in the 200 free by .4 seconds, and she also ranks second all-time in the 100 free. Senn ranks third all-time in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free, and she placed 12th in the 50 at the league meet.
    Sophomore Leigh Bareman ranks fifth all-time in the 50 free and will add depth to the sprints and relays along with middle distance swimmers Erin-Michelle Gordon and Jessica Front. Gordon showed tremendous range by competing in every length last season, and Front was among the squad’s top swimmers in four events.

    Freshman Megan Rupe has posted impressive times in preseason workouts and will boost to the sprint group.
    Arnold will anchor the distance freestyle group after a freshman campaign in which she set the school record in the 1,000-yard freestyle and posted the second-best times in the 500 and 1,650. Along with Front and Gordon, Natasha Bray and Amanda Ladd will join newcomers Leah Krout and Hilary Barrett to add depth.

Butterfly
    The Penguins will also be strong and deep in the fly with Bertuzzi, Bray, Senn and Ladd joining newcomers Lara Munro and TIffany Leszunov.
    Senn was the top swimmer in the 100 fly last season and posted a 15th-place time at the Horizon League Championship. Bertuzzi placed 14th at the league meet ranks fourth all-time in the 200 fly, and she ranks eighth in the 100 fly.
    Ladd and Bray rank sixth and seventh all-time in the 200 fly, and Bray placed 16th at the league meet as a freshman.

Backstroke
    The Penguins are without a backstroke specialist, but Senn, Bray and Bareman were all solid contributors last season in limited work.
    Senn has posted the fastest 100 back time of the returners and ranks eighth all-time in the event, but she’ll continue to focus more on the free and fly. Bareman placed 14th in the 100 back at the Horizon League Championship.
    Barrett and Nicole Smith will also add depth, especially in the medley relays.

Breaststroke
    Darling returns as the leader in the breaststroke and joins Arnold, Hanley and freshman Jennifer Johnstone.
    Darling set both breaststroke records as a freshman, and finished ninth in the 100 breast and 12th 200 breast at the Horizon League Championship last season. She also swam the breaststroke leg of the school-record 200 and 400-medley relays.

    Arnold swam the second-fastest times in the breaststroke, and Hanley added depth late in the season.

Individual Medley
    Darling was also the top swimmer in the 200 IM and placed 15th in the event at the Horizon League Championship. She ranks third all-time, and she’ll be joined by Arnold, Bray and Ladd.
    Arnold did not swim the IM at the conference meet, but she won the 200 IM twice during the year and was YSU’s second-fastest swimmer. Bray finished 15th in the 400 IM at the conference meet and Ladd placed 16th.

Diving
    Reese had a solid freshman season and showed the potential to continue YSU’s tradition of solid divers. She finished 11th in the 1-meter and 13th in the 3-meter at the Horizon League Championship after being named the league’s diver of the week twice. She earned 11 victories on the season, and just missed qualifying for the NCAA Zone C Championships.
    Harless also posted sound performances in her junior season. She earned her first collegiate victory against Cal (Pa.), and she finished 18th in the 1-meter and 19th in the 3-meter at the Horizon League Championship in February.