Lehigh University Athletics
2001-02 Swimming and Diving Preview
9/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Year after year, the Lehigh men continues to be near the head of the pack come Patriot League Championship time and this year should be no different. The Mountain Hawks have recorded ten top three finishes but have tasted the sweetness of victory just once in those ten times. Hit hard by graduation, this year’s team has the talent to return to their dominant form but will be searching for leadership to take them toward the promise land. "Whenever you graduate seven seniors it can create some holes in your lineup. However when you have a solid group of experienced and proven underclassmen that can fill those holes and a very talented group of incoming freshmen to help fill in here and there, it makes the challenge a lot less cumbersome," says Marshall. With fourteen letterwinners returning including last year’s Patriot League Swimmer of the Meet Lou Bosurgi, and four other All-Patriot League selections, the Mountain Hawks are primed to make a run at this year’s championship once again. While only a junior, Bosurgi will be looked to for leadership, as will captains Ian Gillen and Owen Samuelsen. Bosurgi, a two-time All-League selection powered the Mountain Hawks’ run at last year’s title as he captured two individual gold medals (500 free and 1650 free) and grabbed one silver (400 IM). Gillen is also a two-time All-League performer and holds the school record in the 200 backstroke and is a member of three school record holding relay teams (200 medley, 400 medley, 400 freestyle). The Mountain Hawks also return All-League selections Rocco Colabella, Bing Padmasankha, and Brian Golebiewski. All three are freestylers that love the fast water. Colabella and Padmasankha have both competed in the Olympic trials for their respective countries and bring a wealth of experience to the table. Padmasankha earned medals in three individual events during the Championships and is an integral part of the relay teams. Golebiewski earned freshman of the year honors after finishing third and fourth in the 1650 free and 200 back respectively. Women Back to back Patriot League Championships, depth, experience, a winning attitude, thirteen returning letterwinners, and two great recruiting classes on top of each other is all that is needed to describe this year’s women’s team. "I expect us to be young, fast, and hard to beat this season," says Marshall. "We’ve got two great leaders in Lauren Ayres and Laura Gabrynowicz and a bunch of underclassmen that already know how to win." A three-time All-League selection and a member of the All-Decade team, Lauren Ayres returns for her senior campaign as a co-captain on a mission. Her mission: To lead the Mountain Hawks to their third straight Patriot League Championship and fourth in five years. Ayres has dominated the pool since diving in her freshman season. She holds school records in the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events and is a member of the record holding 800 free relay team. Joining Ayres in the leadership role will be junior Laura Gabrynowicz. The team’s most improved swimmer last season, she recorded the most top five performances on the team. Gabrynowicz earned five medals at last year’s championships, two individual medals and three relay medals. Junior Katy Hunchar and sophomores Linsey Kokal, Kelly Bouchard, Sarah Langan, and Caitlin Fiedler were instrumental in last season’s success and will be key components to this year’s team. Kokal was the leading freshman point scorer at the Patriot League Championships. She set a school record in the 200 breaststroke and came home with quite a bit of hardware winning seven medals, one for each event she competed in. Kokal won gold medals in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke and a bronze in the 200 individual medley. She also was a member of four bronze medal relay teams.
