Photo by:
DU’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are ready for Sun Belt Conference championships a month ahead of schedule.
The team hosted UNLV and Air Force this past weekend in El Pomar Natatorium. This was just the start of the month-long preparation until they compete on Feb. 23 in Dallas.
The Pioneer women dominated last weekend’s meet, beating Air Force 235-59, while topping UNLV 176-121. The men’s club performed well too, defeating Air Force and falling just shy of No. 16 UNLV.
The match marked the final home meet for DU seniors, who were honored before the competition.
“I’m really proud of all the efforts tonight,” said head coach Brian Schrader. “We had outstanding performances from Grace Kittle, Rachel Burns and Liz Yovich in diving on the women’s side of competition, and on the men’s side from Scott Madaras, Caleb Severns, Jeff Giddens and Seth McNew. They all contributed to winning events as seniors, and it was a fun way for them to end their dual meet careers.”
Next up is the Shamrock Invitational, another important meet that will be used as the final tune-up session for both squads.
“That invitational [the Shamrock] is always a good test for a growing program,” said Schrader. “We can absolutely win individual events there, but I really want it to be a good preparation, mentally, for us before we have our conference meet.”
Schrader notes that the upcoming meet on Jan. 28-29 in South Bend, Ind., will be the toughest for his women’s team as they will go up against nationally-ranked competition from the Big Ten, including Iowa, Northwestern and No. 21-ranked Ohio State, as well as host Notre Dame.
“It will really serve as a rehearsal for conference,” said Schrader. “We will be coming of the end of a training cycle, so the expectations are we can do well individually.”
As for the men’s team, much of the same, says Schrader, praising what both team’s have done this season.
The best moment for the women came in early December when they finished in first place during the University of Iowa Invite on Dec. 5.
“We won everything, every competition, in what was just a dominating performance over very good competition,” said Schrader.
The moment of the year for the men came even earlier, and in less dominant fashion when they lost to a strong BYU team by a small margin in a meet held in Provo, Utah, on Oct. 30.
“That was a really good moment for them even though it was in a losing effort,” Schrader recalls. “Overall, I’ve been really impressed and proud in how they have raced in dual meets.”
While the conference meet looms, the swimmers and divers on both teams have a lot to be proud of so far this season, including breaking several school records.
Freshman Kyle Millberg, a Littleton native, has swam well for the Pioneers this year, while breaking the program’s back-stroke record earlier in the season.
In addition, the girl’s team set a new school record for the 200M butterfly relay.
Individual performers for the women include seniors Kittle, Katy Motsinger and Hayley Ettleson.
“Grace [Kittle] has just been great for us in and out of the pool, always bringing a positive attitude and great work ethic to practice,” said Schrader.
Against UNLV and Air Force, Kittle beat her competition in the 100M breaststroke by more than five full seconds. The team went on to collect 10 first-place finishes.
Motsinger was named Sun Belt Conference Female Swimmer of the week on Jan. 11. and also drew praise from her coaching.
Following in the seniors’ footsteps, several underclassmen have had big seasons on the women’s side. Juniors Kristin Schmid and Michelle Needham along with sophomores Bailey Beins and Burns, have enjoyed strong season, according to Schrader.
On the men’s side, the swimming team has been anchored the combined senior leadership of Giddens, Madaras, Severns and Garth Summers.
In addition, juniors Clayton Myers and Tyler Pennington have enjoyed strong campaigns, while sophomores Robert Barrett and Jorge Palma have emerged with Millberg to provide the team with much-needed young blood.
While both swimming teams have found success across the board, the diving teams have had to rely strictly on the senior leadership of men’s diver Seth McNew and women’s diver Elizabeth Yovich.
“It’s never easy replacing a pair of conference champions in Cody [Stambaugh] and Aaron [Feight], but Seth has done so and has done a great job for us,” said Schrader.
McNew was named SBC Male Diver of the Week on Jan. 11 and followed the award by sweeping the diving events last weekend.
While the swimming and diving teams look ahead toward their end of the month meet, the conference championships in February remain the focus. In the past, both teams have dominated the meet and seem capable of doing so once again.
