Fresno State Athletics
1998-99 Swimming & Diving Season Outlook
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
FRESNO, Calif. - Young but talented squad will have to step up early as they face a challenging schedule in 1998-99.
Head coach Daniella Irle looks up and down the 1998 roster and likes what she sees. Although some quality swimmers were lost to graduation in 1997, Irle believes the combination of returners and a strong group of incoming freshmen will be prepared for the challenge.
"A lot of the schools we will be competing against had really strong recruiting years and larger recruiting classes, so we have a bit of a challenge there," Irle said. "But these are good, solid freshmen and the upperclassmen will just have to take charge and learn to be leaders."
"I think we are going to be just as strong a team as we were a year ago."
Nineteen swimmers return from a team that finished fourth at the WAC Championships and 29th at the NCAA meet. Five of them finished in the top-10 at the WAC either individually or as part of a relay team.
"This is the last year of the large conference and so it will be our last chance to compete against some of our rivals in a conference setting. The team is really looking forward to the challenge."
Freestyle
Although this area was hit hard by graduation, a strong mix of veterans and freshmen look to make Fresno State a competitive group.
Senior Nicole Brushey returns as the top distance freestyler. Last season Brushey set school records in the 500, 1000 and 1650 free events at the WAC Championships and was an NCAA provisional qualifier in the 500 and 1650. Joining her will be Kristi Rietzel who ranks third on Fresno State's all-time top-5 list in the 1650 free (17:14.20). Freshman Julie Enright will practice with the squad this year and freshman Tami Bazacos, who swims anything from the 50 to the mile, could see time in all those events this year. Irle also expects sophomore Jennifer Brown to be a great addition in the 500.
Sophomore Temple Cowden will be looked upon to fill the shoes of graduated seniors in the middle distance events. Specializing in the 500 free and 400 IM, Cowden may be called upon to swim the 1000 or 1650 as her third event, and possibly even the 200.
Sophomore Lena Darnell and junior Heidi Crompton will be mainstays in the sprint races, competing in the 50 and 100. Freshman Jesie Lewis is a sprint specialist that Irle believes will develop into a top-level sprinter for the Bulldogs, along with junior Keri Poate and sophomore Summer Case.
"This will be the first time in the last three years that we have had four really solid sprinters in the program," Irle said.
Four swimmers that have made great improvements over the last year and will add quality depth to the freestyle events are sophomore Heidi Olsen, senior Hollie Olsen, junior Angie Paige and sophomore Jamie Milburn.
Back Stroke
Senior Amalia Gonzalez leads a group of backstrokers that has been tested and is ready to bring that experience into competition. Gonzalez is the school record holder in the 200 (2:03.45) and ranks third all-time in the 100 (57.71). Sophomore Summir Case had the fastest times in the 100 and 200 last year and ranks second on the all-time list in the 100 (57.65). Case also swam at Nationals this summer.
"Summir had a tremendous summer of training," Irle said, "so I believe that she is going to be more of a power in-season this year because of her experience."
"As always, Amalia is tried and true. She is a senior and school record holder and will be in there fighting it out."
Crompton, sophomore Laurel Frisinger and junior Suzanne Dieriex will also be called upon to contribute.
"We really need Laurel and Heidi to improve this year and help us out," Irle said. "I think they will continue to step up and I am looking for them to fill some gaps."
Breast Stroke
All-American Holly Gravatt will lead a small but talented group that will have to fill the shoes of departed senior Deanna Voudouris. Gravatt is the school record holder in the 100 (1:03.14) and 200 (2:12.60) and finished second at the WAC Championships in both events and eighth at the NCAA Championships in the 200. Brown and Kristi Markiewitz will have to step into their new roles as leaders in this event to give the Bulldogs a formidable lineup.
"Those two collectively will have to work to fill the void left by Deanna," Irle said. "There is no question about it."
"We have a small breaststroke group, but I think they are talented." Irle said. "These are very hard-working women."
Butterfly
This is probably one of the deepest positions for the Bulldogs. Although they lost their number one butterflyer in Voudouris, Rietzel seems to be the heir apparent and is backed up by an experienced group. Rietzel ranks 5th all-time in the 200 (2:05.90) and will be joined by Brushey (2:04.10) in this event. Kristen Miller is a freshman that Irle expects to develop early on into a solid performer. Gonzalez, who had the second-fastest time in the 100 last year and Poate will be the mainstay in the sprint races, with senior Joslyn Shigematsu and Frisinger filling in any open gaps. Also expected to swim these events is junior Lori Winn.
"This is a deep event for us, but we lost a dynamic flyer in Deanna and I need some people to jump into that role," Irle said. "We have a lot of people to choose from so I donit see that as being a problem."
Individual Medly
In the 400 IM, Cowden returns after setting the school record (4:26.26) in the event as a freshman and finishing seventh at the WAC Championships. Backing up Cowden in this event will be Rietzel, who ranks third all-time (4:28.80), and Miller.
"This is a small but deadly group of 400 IM swimmers," Irle said.
Returning to swim the 200 IM is Gravatt, who holds the school record (2:05.62) set last year at the WAC Championships. Crompton, who had the second-fastest time in the 200 IM last year, Miller and Markiewitz will also swim IM events this year.
"We have a lot of quality and a good amount of depth in the IM contingent," Irle said.
Relay Events
The Bulldogs are stronger than ever in the relay department as they return three members of the 400 Medley relay team that set the school record last year (3:51.02) and two members of the record-setting 800 free relay squad.
Competing for spots on the 200 and 400 medley team will be Gonzalez and Case in the backstroke, Gravatt and Brown in the breaststroke, and Rietzel and Poate in the fly. Crompton will be the cornerstone of all the relay teams, swimming the freestyle leg, but Darnell and Lewis could be nipping at her heels.
"We have strong strokers and freestylers," Irle said. "I anticipate our medley relays being as strong or stronger than a year ago."
The 200 and 400 free relays may be even better than a year ago with the addition of Lewis, Bazacos and the return of Darnell, Crompton, Poate and Case.
"We look really tough in the shorter free relays," Irle said. "Those are normally our weaker relays, but this year they are better than ever."
The 800 free relay is wide open. Darnell and Brushey swam on the record-setting team last season and Crompton will likely swim this event.
Diving
Along with new coach Chris Zoltoski the Bulldogs welcome two new divers who will join senior Dana Davis. Davis, a former junior college All-American, qualified for the 1998 Zone E Championships in the 1M and 3M springboard events and placed 15th at the WAC Championships in both events. Joining her will be freshmen Joanna Dutkevitch and Wendy Farris. Both competed at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif. and are experienced divers whom Irle expects to make important contributions to the team.
"I think they understand the role they play this year," Irle said. "We are going to have to count on them heavily to fill some voids left by graduated seniors."
Meet Schedule
The Bulldogs will be tested once again this season as they have loaded up their schedule with tough competition to prepare for the championships at the end of the year.
i"y philosophy is that you swim your in-season meets to prepare you for the conference and NCAA meets," Irle said. "If you go with soft, easy competition all year, then you can end up with soft racing when you get to the big meets."
The season begins with the University of Pacific relay and individual meets on October 16-17. This will give Irle and her staff a chance to see everyone swim and to see where they are at in their training.
The Colorado State Invitational on October 22-24 will feature a large number of WAC teams and will be one of the best meets in the country in October. Also in October the team will make their annual trip to the USC Invitational (Oct. 30-31).
November begins with a meet against Pepperdine and Cal at home (Nov. 8) and a dual meet at San Diego State (Nov. 14). On Nov. 20-22 the Bulldog divers will face some of the nation's best at the USC Diving Invitational.
The fall season closes out on December 3-5 with the Speedo Cup in Long Beach, Calif. This is a duplicate of the conference meet and gives the team a chance to get a preview of who will be competing at the conference championships.
The 1999 portion of the season begins with the UCI Relay Meet (Jan. 3) and continues with meets against UC Irvine (Jan. 6), San Diego (Jan. 6) and UCLA and Washington State (Jan. 16). The divers will compete at the UC Davis Diving Invitational on January 22-24 and the team will finally return home for action against UOP and Cal Poly (Jan. 23) and San Jose State (Jan. 30).
The Bulldogs meet up with one of their biggest rivals, UNLV, on February 6 in Las Vegas. The 'Dogs have won two of the last three meetings, including last year's 152-148 win, and all three have been decided on the last relay swim of the meet.
The season will end with the WAC Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. from February 25-27 and the March 18-20 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. This year's USA Nationals will be held March 28-April 1 in Long Island, N.Y. The divers will conclude their season with the Zone "E" Championships in Tempe, Ariz., as well as the NCAA Championships.
