Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Diving into Season Opener Friday
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 21, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- With a mixture of depth, talent and a lot of returning experience, Northwestern has the ability to make some noise in the Big Ten this season as well as send a healthy contingent to the NCAA Championships.
The Wildcats open their season tomorrow with a 4:30 p.m. home meet against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Last season the Wildcats swam to a seventh-place finish in the Big Ten. Most of that team returns, along with a strong freshman class that should provide some vital depth to the roster.
"We have more depth and talent spread over all of the events than we have had in a few years," NU Head Coach Jimmy Tierney said. "The fact that we have returning NCAA qualifiers is also important because we now have people who have been there and can help the young swimmers reach that level."
The 'Cats return two NCAA qualifiers in Christy Olin and Michelle Oeser. Olin is coming off her best year as a collegiate swimmer, earning runner-up in the 200 fly at the Big Ten Championships as well as qualifying for the NCAA's. Olin plans to try to add versatility to her repertoire this season, swimming the medley events along with the fly in order to help the Wildcats every way she can during her senior year.
Oeser is taking on another role as well, serving as a team co-captain even though she is only in her second year with the program.
"Michelle has an outstanding attitude and is a great leader training-wise," Tierney said.
Oeser swam all five relays at the Big Ten Championships, but will specialize in the 50 and 100 free for the 'Cats, the two events in which she qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Northwestern's other captain this year is Lori Schwanhausser, another team member who is coming off a career year. Schwanhausser earned a spot on the 400 free relay at the Big Ten Championships and set numerous career-best times.
Schwanhausser can swim a wide range of events, from the 50 free to the 500 free, making her an important piece of the Wildcats this season.
There are four other seniors on the Wildcats' roster, and all four will play an integral part on this year's squad. Brielle Bovee is back to swim the breaststroke as well as provide leadership and attempt to earn an NCAA berth to cap off a solid career for the Wildcats.
Michaela Restivo looks to challenge for a relay spot at the Big Ten Championships after the best year of her swimming career. She swam many personal bests last year and has gained valuable confidence.
"She has the ability to compete for a relay spot, which is huge because relay scoring is double the individual events," Tierney said.
Shuyan Phua will swim in the sprint free events for the 'Cats and provide a spark in the relay events.
The final senior is Rachel Tepe, who the Wildcats look to be sharp in the 100 and 200 back events. Both Phua and Tepe will add depth to some important areas to make NU a contender.
Northwestern also has another four juniors returning, showing how much experience this roster has. Tierney looks for Katie Paglini to be a queen-of-all-trades, swimming the backstroke, butterfly and IM events. Paglini's strength lies in the backstroke, though she has an excellent chance of earning an NCAA berth in several events.
One Wildcat who had a breakout season last year is Amy Mueller, who has proven to be a great leader in training and versatile in meets, swimming distance freestyle, the 400 IM and stroke events.
The other two juniors, Sara Petric and Marijana Surkovic, will be a part of what Tierney calls "the best sprint group we have had in a number of years."
Tierney looks for both Petric and Surkovic to be valuable scorers at the Big Ten Championships in sprint frees and relays.
The 'Cats have three sophomores returning, and all are leaders in their respective events. Leanne Dumais finished in the top-eight in two of the three diving events at the Big Ten Championships and came very close to making the NCAA's at diving zones.
"Leanne is the best diver we have ever had here," head diving coach Tom Michael said. "For her it is just the next level of maturing as an elite athlete."
Kristen Kilroy returns as the Wildcats' fastest 100 fly swimmer. She can also swim sprints and played a key role in the 200 medley relay last year.
Ashley Welnhofer provides the 'Cats with valuable points in the middle distance freestyle events and free relays. Tierney hopes to see Welnhofer in the finals at the Big Ten Championships.
New to the roster are seven freshmen, all of whom have a chance to provide immediate results for the team. Jessie Bailis is primarily a breaststroke swimmer and should form a good pair with Bovee.
Katie Braun, Laura Gart and Katie Welnhofer will all provide points in the butterfly. Braun can also swim the IM, while Welnhofer does double duty as a sprint freestyler.
Beth Campbell will join Dumais in the diving categories.
Carrera Harris adds some important backstroke ability to the 'Cats as well as swimming the 400 IM. Tierney looks for Harris to score at the conference championships and be a key player in many events.
Andrea Hupman will be a freestyle and backstroke sprinter, and can compete to be a top Wildcat freestyle sprinter in addition to helping some relays qualify for the NCAA Championships in the relays.
"All of our freshmen are capable of providing valuable points at the Big Ten Championships," Tierney said.
Tierney feels this team can do more than just qualify for the NCAA Championships--they can do well there, too.
"If we get people to the NCAA Championships, I want them not to just to be there, but I want them to score and get our name back up on the team scoring board," he said.
