Couch Koukis
Springfield, Ohio — With the Wittenberg University men's and women's swimming and diving teams' sweep of visiting Centre College on Senior Recognition Day on Jan. 22, Head Coach Natalie Koukis became just the second individual in program history with 100 career dual meet victories.
She has led the Tiger men to a sparkling 9-3 record in the 2010-11 season, heading into the dual meet finale Saturday, Jan. 29, at perennial national powerhouse Kenyon. The 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, Koukis has guided that team to a 48-34 record since taking the reins prior to the 2004-05 season, with her win total standing behind only that of Dave Maurer, who posted a mark of 69-25-2 between 1955 and 1966.
On the women's side, Koukis' record stands at 52-25, including this year's 8-4 mark, also with one 2010-11 dual remaining at Kenyon. The 2006 NCAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year, Koukis ranks behind only Pat Holly (Clouse) in coaching victories — the program's founder is credited with a 127-64-1 overall record between 1972 and 1992.
Maurer and Clouse are both members of Wittenberg's Athletics Hall of Honor.
"This is a truly significant milestone for our men's and women's swimming and diving programs as we continue to have this program grow," said Director of Athletics and Recreation Garnett Purnell. "The continuity we have established with Natalie as the team's head coach and the success she has enjoyed have helped to lay the groundwork for us to challenge the established powers in the sport."
Under Koukis, a 1998 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, where she was a two-year letterwinner, both the Tiger men and women have finished as high as third place in the annual NCAC Championships, behind perennial conference and NCAA Division III title contenders Kenyon College and Denison University. No school other than Kenyon or Denison can lay claim to a top two finish in the final conference standings since the NCAC was formed in 1984.
"When I think of 100 coaching victories, I feel most proud of the great student-athletes and assistant coaches who I have worked with at Wittenberg," said Koukis, who previously served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan and Ithaca before spending two years as the head coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. "I couldn't even begin to list them all, and without their dedication, commitment and teamwork, I couldn't have won anything."