Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks set to hit the pool for 2005-06 season
10/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
The Lehigh men return three all-League selections from a year ago, but must overcome the graduation of two-time Patriot League Champion Ross Green and All-Patriot League selection Joey Beagen.
Senior co-captains Grant Flothmeier and Jason O’Koren will be counted upon to lead the Mountain Hawks this season. Flothmeier has been an All-League selection each of the last two seasons and enters his second season as a team captain. At the Patriot League Championships Flothmeier placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke and sixth in the 200 yard IM, and was a member of Lehigh’s Patriot League Champion 400 yard medley relay team. O’Koren placed 12th in the 100 yard breaststroke as well.
Fellow seniors Dan Buschmann, Sean Herman and Andrew Valko will be counted upon to make significant contributions as well.
Junior Tom Gilbert and sophomore Jon Kearney were both All-Patriot League selections, who will be expected to make an impact once again in 2005-06. Gilbert is a two-time All-League selection, who joined Flothmeier on the Patriot League Champion 400 yard medley relay team. Individually, Gilbert placed fourth in the 100 yard backstroke and eighth in the 200 back. Kearney burst onto the scene as a freshman, winning the Patriot League title in the 1650 freestyle to go with an eighth place finish in the 500-yard free and a tenth place finish in the 200 yard fly.
Herb also has a talented group of freshmen led by sprinter Danny Johnson, breaststroker Brian Curci and Darren Podolak, who will swim the individual medley.
“All in all, the men continue to show a lot of promise,” Herb says. “We will be the fittest team in the Patriot League and I expect the guys to fly high with expectation.
On the women’s side, the Mountain Hawks will have to replace some incredibly talented swimmers, but Lehigh is lead by a trio of returning All-Patriot League first team selections, and a pair of captains who lead this hard-working unit.
“We lost some talented swimmers last year, so I see this as a weekly challenge for our team,” Herb says. “This may be the hardest working women’s program we’ve ever had and they’re going to sneak up on people when its least expected.”
Senior captains Laura Gray and Alyssa Zellner will lead the team in and out of the pool. Gray has been the Mountain Hawks top female diver the last two seasons, while Zellner swam five events last year at the Patriot League Championships, including a pair of sixth place finishes as part of the 200 and 400 yard free relay teams.
Senior Linda Hendrixson enters this season with what Herb calls “limitless possibilities.” A three-time All-League selection, Hendrixson won a Patriot League title as a freshman in 2003, and last season finished third in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 yard breaststroke at the Patriot League Championships.
Juniors Julie Mitchell and Betsy Balaguer are were both first team All-League selections a year ago and both are working extremely hard to take the next step – winning a Patriot League Championship. Both swimmers posted three top ten’s at the League Championships last year; Mitchell finishing second in both backstroke races and Balaguer finishing third in the 500 free and fifth in both the 200 and 1650 yard free.
Seniors Jenni Orellana and Heather Ford should also contribute to this relentless group, as will a talented sophomore class that includes Sherri Pickens, Allie Valasek, Terry Mongan, Kelsey Hunter, Courtney Smith and Jeannette Braun. This group of sophomores all got their feet wet at the Patriot League Championships and if they can put together some good swims this season, it will be a good season for the Brown and White.
A solid core of freshmen swimmers includes Amanda Dickson, Nicole Lorigan and Sara Carlson.
“This is a group that will stop at nothing,” Herb explains. “The League is tough but I think they will be in for a few surprises from this team.”
The Lehigh diving team enters the coming season with a mix of three veterans and two newcomers. Though small in numbers, this team has the talent and experience to make a splash in the Patriot League.
With former team Captain Pat Ryan graduated, top female diver Laura Gray will be a leader as a co-captain of the women’s team and the most experienced diver. A two-time Lehigh female Diver of the Year, Gray finished fifth in the one-meter dive at the Patriot League Championships and 11th in the three-meter. Freshman Nikki Perella is also in the mix.
On the men’s side senior David Edelstein and sophomore Clark Cohen return. Last season Cohen finished tenth in the three-meter dive and 11th in the one-meter, while Edelstein placed 12th in both diving competitions. Freshman Mac Tichner is also on board, as the men look to fill the void left by Ryan’s graduation.
The Mountain Hawks open the 2005-06 season on Saturday, October 23 when they travel to
