Season Outlook

2001-02 Wittenberg University swimming seniors: (from left) Alicia Freed, Jana Steiger, Josh Schnacke, Kyle Dunaway

The Wittenberg University men's and women's swimming and diving program may have a great deal of youth on their teams in 2002-03, but don't mistake that for inexperience or a lack of talent. The Tigers, while they have now graduated seven of the eight swimmers who made school history at the NCAA Division III meet in 2001, field a deep squad this year capable of big things.

Junior Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/Cleveland St. Ignatius) was the only Tiger swimmer to win a North Coast Athletic Conference individual title and the only male to earn a trip to the NCAA Division III championship meet in 2002. Rader finished fourth in the nation in the 200-yard butterfly, 10th in the 100 fly and 11th in the 200 Individual Medley.

The junior class is both strong and deep for the Tiger men's team. Among the other stalwarts in that class who are again expected to make some noise at the conference and possibly even the national level in 2003 are Steven Barry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River), Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay), Scott Olmsted (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek) and Matt Werbach (Painesville, Ohio/Hawken). Joining them is a strong group of newcomers, led by sophomore transfer student Blake Troxel (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell.

The Tiger women don't have a returning swimmer as accomplished as Rader leading them, but they do have strength in numbers and several outstanding new recruits. The top returning swimmers figure to be juniors Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Alter) and Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan), both of whom earned all-conference designations in 2002. The diving experience of NCAC finalist Jen Ingwalson (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Highland) and new additionCatherine Gray (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands) will make a powerful combination throughout the NCAC season.

The recruiting class lends not only depth to a team that finished fourth in the NCAC a year ago (behind Kenyon, Denison and Wooster, three of the top 10 teams in the nation each of the last two years), it adds several swimmers who figure to challenge for conference honors before the season concludes. Among the leaders of this group are freshmen Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County Bloomington) and Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington).

Second-year Head Coach Leslie Ramsey, who was recently named one of the 50 greatest women's swimmers in the 50-year history of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has loaded up the schedule in 2002-03 with some of the best teams in the nation in hopes of preparing her team for new levels of national success. Among the dual meet opponents are defending national champion Kenyon, perennial conference powers Denison and Wooster and NCAA Division I Wright State.