2007-08 Women's Swimming & Diving Season Outlook

Scots Eager to Show Last Year Was an Aberration

Alice Case has the potential to earn all-conference honors in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.

Following an uncharacteristic 2006-07 season, in which The College of Wooster placed fifth at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships and did not have an individual qualifier for nationals, the Fighting Scots look to bounce back and prove that last year was an aberration. Wooster had finished among the top-three in the conference from 1998-2005 and scored at the NCAA Div. III Championships 21-straight seasons prior to last March.

The Scots endured injuries as well as a couple of top student-athletes studying abroad during the spring semester, which helped lead to last season’s atypical results, but they are all now healthy and back with the program, part of a 36-member roster.

One of those who missed last spring was Meggie Edwards, a junior who earned All-American honors as a freshman, placing 13th nationally in the 100 backstroke (59.11). A standout in the sprint freestyle races as well, she was top-10 in three events at the conference meet that year.

In addition to Edwards, senior co-captain Denise Koessler, senior Milena Mauric, senior Laura McHugh, junior Molly Bittner, sophomore Alice Case, and sophomore Allie Kibler-Campbell give Wooster returning talent and depth in the sprints. Case hopes to build on a pair of 10th-place finishes at the NCAC Championships, as she ended up in that position in both the 50 free (25.26) and the 100 butterfly (1:00.59). Bittner has been in six career consolation finals at NCAC’s, including 11th in the 100 fly (1:01.63), tied for 11th in the 50 free (25.34), and 12th in the 100 free (54.65) last season, while Kibler-Campbell, Koessler, and McHugh have also produced top-16 individual showings in the conference previously. Also of note, this group is expected to pay dividends in the form of relay teams, as they look to send the 200 freestyle and maybe more to nationals.

In the distance freestyle, senior co-captain Amanda Bailey will lead the way for the Scots again. She’s an eight-time scorer at the league meet, including 9th-place efforts in the 1650 free (18:35.70) and the 400 IM (4:46.64) last winter. Sophomore Lizzie Deringer and senior Natalya Rapundalo are also proven scorers at the conference level in the mile.

Looking at the other strokes, sophomores Rachel Bennett and Kate Kosenick will complement Edwards in the back. They advanced to the NCAC’s consolation heat in both the 100 and 200 as freshmen, with Kosenick touching 12th in the 100 (1:03.47) and Bennett matching that finish in the 200 (2:15.93).  

The breaststroke area appears to be a strength, too, where sophomore Syd Kelly looks to reach a championship heat after nearly doing so last year. She won the consolation in the 100 (1:10.11) and was    10th overall in the 200 breast (2:30.95), while Kibler-Campbell’s top NCAC efforts came in the 100 breast as she took 11th-place (1:10.64). Junior Lindsey Dorko, who finished as high as 11th in the 100 breast (1:12.36) at the 2006 conference meet before missing last February, returns healthy, as do senior Shea Davisson and Deringer.

Backing up Case and Bittner in the butterfly will be sophomores Elaine Coladarci and Kristine Mann among others. Mann was 12th-best in the NCAC in the 200 fly (2:17.66) last season, while Coladarci aims to build on her 19th-place finish in that event (2:23.98).

Also with the potential to score key points is the diving duo of junior Julie Pinzur and sophomore Caitlin McNulty. They were both all-NCAC during 2007 in the three-meter, with Pinzur finishing runner-up (310.55) and McNulty taking third (299.15).

Adding to Wooster’s array of talent is a nine-member first-year class, headlined by Jamaica native Tamari Farquharson, May Tobar, and Elizabeth Zucco.