SWIMMING TO HOST VEALE CLASSIC ON NOV. 9 & 10...
CLEVELAND, OH (November 8, 2007) - The pool at the Veale Center is open and ready for competition. This weekend, the Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming and diving teams host the annual Veale Classic at the Veale Natatorium in Cleveland, Ohio.
Spartan swimming and diving has a history of success and head coach Chris Conlon believes both of his teams are ready to go.
“I'm really excited about the upcoming year for both teams,” Conlon said. “We've got a great group of talented freshman and both the men's and women's teams have experienced leaders returning.”
There are a multitude of captains who will help Conlon lead the Spartans and help mentor the incoming freshmen swimmers.
Senior Drew Kouri (Marysville, OH) and sophomores Ben Meck (Orwigsburg, PA - pictured) and Brian Grady (North Canton, OH) are captains for the men's team and seniors Lindsey Stahl (Bellbrook, OH), Heather Furman (Schenectady, NY) and junior Becca Winarski (Germantown, WI) will steer the ship for the women's team.
“We have a lot of captains, which is exciting because each one has a different strength that will help the program out,” Conlon said. “We feel that each captain has their own leadership qualities. Every captain is able to push their teammates to succeed in the pool and most important – to lead by example.”
Kouri is a two-time NCAA qualifier and was an All-UAA in 2006-2007. “Drew leads by example and is an extremely hard worker,” Conlon said. “He has great technique and is very dedicated to the sport.”
Sophomore Kevin Alland (Buffalo Grove, IL) is a huge new addition to the men's program. A transfer from the Syracuse University men's program, Alland placed fifth in the mile last season in the Big East Conference. He brings a whole new level of training and attitude to the team and truly wants to win every time he gets in the water.
Freshman Marine Gu (Longwood, FL) is very talented in the sprint, freestyle and butterfly races and has already won several events this year. “Marine is extremely coachable and really wants to win,” said Conlon. “We are looking for big things out of her this season.”
Kelsey Zeller (Cincinnati, OH) is another huge asset to the women's program. The distance and breaststroke swimmer brings great attitude to practice and trains hard. Zeller has the confidence it takes to really help the team. “Kelsey will win many individual events and should pick up key points for the team,” said Conlon.
The UAA boasts the top Division III swimming talent in the nation. Last season, the Case women's team was ranked 19th in the nation and yet finished seventh in the conference. Emory University won national championships on the women's side in 2005 and 2006.
“The UAA is the fastest Division III swimming conference in the nation, it boasts more individual NCAA national qualifiers than any other conference,” Conlon said. “The UAA is such a competitive conference that you will see anywhere from five to seven teams qualifying for nationals. Last year we set three individual conference records, which was more than any other team.”
Coach Conlon believes the mixture of experience from the returning swimmers and the youth and exuberance of the newcomers should put both squads in a position to be successful this season.
“Since I've been here at Case we've had a lot of success at the highest level,” Conlon said. “I'm really excited to kick the season off next week because for the first time in my five years leading this program, I feel we have swimmers on both teams that can win multiple relay events. We've always had top-swimmers breaking conference records, now not only do we still have the super-stars, but we have the right swimmers to win relay events and really contribute to the team when we get into UAA conference swimming.”
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