Fresno State Athletics
1998-99 Season In Review
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Senior Holly Gravatt (Valinda, Calif.) earned honorable mention All-America honors after swimming in the consolation finals of the 200 breast at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. It was the fourth year in a row that Gravatt has been named an All-American.
Gravatt finished 12th in the preliminary round of the 200 breast with a time of 2:13.74. With the top eight times moving on to the finals, Gravatt swam in the consolation round, finishing 16th overall with a time of 2:18.33. The top eight finishers are named All-Americans, while those finishing 8th-16th are named honorable mention All-Americans.
Gravatt also qualified for the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships but finished 27th in the preliminary round with a time of 1:03.80 and did not make the final round. Gravatt was the only Bulldog participating at the meet. In 1998, Gravatt was named an All-American with an eighth-place finish in the 200 breast. She also earned the honor in 1996 with the highest finish of her career, seventh. In 1997 she was an honorable mention All-American with a 15th-place finish.
Dutkevitch Competes at Zones
Freshman Joanna Dutkevitch (Clovis, Calif.) competed in her first NCAA Zone "E" Championship meet, finishing 39th in the 1-meter springboard competition with 140.05 points. Dutkevitch qualified for the meet with a season-best performance in the 1 meter event with 375.90 points in the dual meet against UC Irvine.
Bulldogs Finish Seventh at WAC Championships
Senior Holly Gravatt captured second place in the 200 breast in a time of 2:14.96 as the Bulldogs finished in seventh place overall with 261.5 points at the WAC Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. SMU ran away with the title with 907.5 points, followed by BYU with 490.5 points.
Gravatts second-place finish was her second in two days as she set a new school record with her second place time of 1:03.12 in the 100 breast yesterday. Both are provisional qualifying times for the NCAA meet next month in Georgia.
Sophomore Summir Case set two new school records in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:02.98 and in the 100 back with a time of 57.04. Case finished 10th in the 200 back and ninth in the 100. The 400 free relay team of Jesie Lewis, Summir Case, Lena Darnell and Heidi Crompton swam a school-record time of 3:29.46 on their way to a eighth place finish. Crompton put her name in the Fresno State record books with a school-record time of 1:52.06 and a seven place finish in the 200 freestyle.
In all seven school records were broken at the meet, including the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay.
Another Bulldog who finished in the top eight on the final day of competition was Nicole Brushey (1650 Free-17:08.65).
Home Sweet Home
For the first time in over five years the Bulldogs had five home events this season. Along with the rescheduling of the UNLV meet at home, the Bulldogs hosted the Bulldog Diving Invitational, and dual meets against Pepperdine and Cal, Pacific and Cal Poly and San Jose State. The Dogs were 4-2 at home this season.
1999 Awards Banquet
Several Bulldogs were honored at the 1999 team awards banquet held March 7 at the Ramada Inn. Junior Heidi Crompton was named the Outstanding Swimmer of the Year, while freshman Joanna Dutkevitch was given Outstanding Diver of the Year honors. After a phenomenal freshman season, Jesie Lewis was named Newcomer of the Year.
Other winners included:
Most Improved Swimmer: Jamie Milburn
"Flex" Award: Lena Darnell
Academic Excellence Award: Amalia Gonzalez
Dog Notes
Sophomore Temple Cowden led all Bulldogs with 36 top-three finishes each this season ... last year she finished the season with 27-the best figure for any freshman senior Holly Gravatt led all Bulldogs in first-place finishes with 24 ... freshman diver Wendy Farris had her best 1-meter dual meet score of the season against Cal Poly and Pacific with 221.78 points four Bulldogs had season best times in the meet against San Jose State Heidi Crompton had season best times in the 100 and 200 Free and Kristen Miller had her best performances of the season in the 400 IM and 200 Free senior Dana Davis has won 14 1- and 3-meter events this year and was 10-5 in the 1-meter event ... Fresno State faced two teams in dual meets this season that were ranked in the CSCAA Top-25 poll: Cal (6th), UCLA (17th).
Dogs Finish Season Winning Three of Four
Fresno State was on a roll as they inched closer to the WAC Championship, winning three of their last four dual meets. They defeated San Jose State, 177-105, Cal Poly, 189.5-49.5, and Pacific, 134-71. Their loss came in the final meet of the season against UNLV, 132-162. They finished with a dual meet record of 8-4. The Dogs took first place in nine of 17 swimming and diving events against San Jose State. Leading the way with two wins each were Holly Gravatt (100 Breast, 200 Breast), Amalia Gonzalez (100 and 200 Back) and Dana Davis (1-meter and 3-meter diving). Against Cal Poly and Pacific the Dogs captured 10 of 13 events, including wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events by Dana Davis. Temple Cowden was a double winner in the 200 fly and 200 free, along with winners Kristen Miller (1650 Free), Heidi Crompton (200 IM), Amalia Gonzalez (200 Back), Nicole Brushey (500 Free) and Holly Gravatt (200 Breast).
Bulldogs Take Third at Speedo Cup
In a meet that is very similar to the WAC Championships, Fresno State placed third out of 21 teams in the Speedo Cup held in December at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif. WAC foe BYU took first place with 1075.5 points, followed by Oregon State, 833, and Fresno State, 809.5. Teams that Fresno State finished ahead of and will face at the conference meet included San Diego State, Wyoming, New Mexico and San Jose State. Senior Holly Gravatt (Valinda, Calif.) was the top individual finisher, taking first in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke. Others who finished in the top five include Temple Cowden (5th-500 freestyle, 4th-400 individual medley), Amalia Gonzalez (5th-100 fly) and Nicole Brushey (4th-1650 free).
Bulldogs Finish Second at Colorado State Invitational
The Fresno State swimming and diving team was able to take home second-place honors, this time at the Colorado State Invitational in Ft. Collins, Colo. The event was a sort of mini-preview of the WAC Championships, and the Bulldogs were pleased with the outcome. Fresno State earned 878 points, with top-finisher Colorado State earning 1137 points and third-place Wyoming getting 553 points. Nine teams participated in the meet, including four WAC schools. Four different Bulldogs earned first-place honors at the event, including senior Holly Gravatt, who took first in the 100 and 200 breast; senior Nicole Brushey was first in the 1650 free and 200 fly; senior Amalia Gonzalez was first in the 200 back, and senior Dana Davis came in first in the 1M diving event. Fresno State also had two relay teams, the 200 medley and 400 free, take top honors.
Five Bulldogs Compete at Summer Nationals
Four Bulldogs jumped into the pool with some of the countrys elite swimmers last summer as they competed in the U.S. Summer Nationals in Clovis. Summir Case, Kerri Poate, Deanna Voudouris, Heidi Crompton and Lena Darnell all qualified for this summers event. Voudouris qualified in an individual event, the 100-meter butterfly, along with the four others in relay events.
Swimmers Hit the Airwaves
The Fresno State swimming and diving team, along with the womens tennis team, was featured on October 20 on KJEO-47 CBS morning show. Host Kenny Crumpton participated in running and hitting drills with the tennis team, and while he did not jump into the pool, he did interview head coach Daniella Irle as the team was going through its morning workout. The show aired live from 5:45-7:30 that morning.
Zoltoski Named New Diving Coach
Chris Zoltoski joined the swimming and diving staff this fall as the head diving coach. From 1991-98 he was the head diving coach at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. During his tenure Ithaca won the New York State Womens Collegiate Athletic Association Conference Championship six times and there were at least three divers in the top eight for five out of his eight years at the school. From 1992-98 he was also the head diving coach at Dryden High School in Dryden, NY. Zoltoski graduated from the State University of New York-Cortland in 1987 with a degree in physical education and a concentration in coaching and aquatics.
Voudouris Out of the Pool and Into the Coaching Ranks
First-year student assistant Deanna Voudouris hung up her swim cap and has joined the coaching staff for the Bulldogs. During her tenure as a Fresno State swimmer Voudouris was a member of the schools record-setting 400 medley relay, holds top-5 times in the 100, 200 breast and 100, 200 fly, and competed at Nationals in the 100 fly in spring and summer 1998. She is also the holder of several strength records and was named an All-American in strength conditioning in 1998. Voudouris was a four-time Fresno State Scholar athlete and a WAC Scholar Athlete in 1995 and 96.
