Women's Swimming and Diving | January 14, 2020
PHILADELPHIA – La Salle swimming & diving is set to continue its 2019-20 campaign on Wednesday as it hosts Monmouth. The Hawks arrive at Kirk Pool led by former Explorers head coach Matt Nunnally, who spent 15 seasons at the helm of the Blue & Gold between 1999-2000 and 2014-15.
The rest of the second half follows with away meets at Fordham (Jan. 18) and Loyola (Jan. 20), before returning home for Senior Day vs. Seton Hall on January 25th. The Explorers will then look to get their speed up at the Villanova Sprint Fest on February 1st before the pinnacle of the season—the Atlantic 10 Championships—commence 18 days later.
COACH'S TAKE
- Here's what head coach Jamie Platt had to say on the upcoming spring semester: "The second half of the season is all about making the most of our competition opportunities. We spend the fall semester preparing for these competitions and plan on making the most out of our preparations!"
ABOUT THE EXPLORERS
- Where they stand: The women's team heads into 2020 with a 2-3 record, earning wins over Rider and Stony Brook. The men sit at 1-4 with a victory against NJIT.
- There were a number of standout performances to note over the course of first semester action. La Salle swimmers and divers combined for a total of 10 weekly conference awards.
- Freshman diver Sam Henninger burst onto the scene with three A-10 Rookie of the Week awards. He has already qualified for the NCAA Regional Diving Championships in the 1-meter and 3-meter.
- Sophomore Sara Rizzetto has surged in her second year, being named A-10 Performer of the Week twice. She concluded the first half in impressive fashion, breaking a pair of school records at the Bucknell Invitational (200 IM and 400 IM).
- The other La Salle record to fall in Lewisburg was the 200 Fly courtesy of senior Emily Wolbert. Wolbert, smashing her own record, broke it in the prelims and rebroke it with a finals time of 2:02.36.
- Speaking of the Wolberts, sophomore Zachary Wolbert followed up his scintillating debut year with a strong Fall semester. He took home two A-10 Performer of the Week awards.
- Senior Norm Gregory and sophomore Phoebe Shaya were also tabbed by the conference for Performer of the Week. Additionally, freshman Lauren Fenn earned A-10 Rookie of the Week.
- Keep an eye out for a new face in the pool this Spring. Arriving from Makhanda, South Africa, freshman Toni Rafferty joins the women's team and will swim the 50 and 100 Free, plus the 100 Fly.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS
- Monmouth's swimming program was formed under Nunnally in 2015-16 and has seen steady progress since its inception.
- The men's side was winless in its first two years (a combined 0-15), before going 2-8 in 2017-18. The following season, that record bumped up to 6-5. Now, the Hawks have begun the current campaign at 6-1.
- It was a similar upward trajectory for the women's team. 1-8 in 2015-16, 1-9 in 2016-17, 2-10 in 2017-18 and 5-8 in 2018-19. This season, the Hawks are already 5-3.
- Most recently, the men and women each took third at the ECAC Championships.
- Hawks to watch: Freshmen Tahlia Botha and Blake Reynolds both earned MAAC Swimmer of the Week in the Fall—Botha twice and Reynolds once.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
- Fordham's women's team had a pristine first half of the season, going 6-0 in the Fall. The Rams certainly have the potential to challenge in February after finishing third at the A-10 Championships in 2019.
- The men's team, which ended up 8th in Geneva last Spring, has a 3-3 record entering January.
- For the men, junior Patrick Wilson and sophomore Josh Stegen have earned A-10 Performer of the Week awards, while senior Amelia Bullock recently won it for the women.
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
- Both the men and women have started off brightly for Loyola. The men, especially, raced out to a 6-1 record, while the women tallied a 4-3 mark.
- To end the semester, both teams took first out of six squads at the H2ounds Invitational and second at the Copa Coqui.
