Trinity Swimming and Diving

New Year, New Rival

2012-01-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Our Winter Training Camp is now in the rear view mirror. Trinity has been back in session for just over a week and we traveled by bus to Houston on Saturday, January 14th, to compete in a dual meet with Centenary College of Louisiana.

I loved the match up. Centenary is transitioning from NCAA DI to DIII, and will be joining the SCAC next year. They still have a couple of classes with swimmers on athletic scholarships, so they were tough. Great competition for our kids - it was fun!

FR Lydia Jones

The women's meet was close and with diving we'd have scored some big points. Centenary doesn't dive, so our board bouncers stayed in San Antonio and competed with State University of New York at Fredonia. Centenary opened and closed the meet with relay wins, which provided them with more than enough points to win the meet. Our women chased a close 200 medley relay loss with wins in the 1000 freestyle (Melanie Gustafson with a 10:54.43), the 200 freestyle (Lydia Jones with a 1:58.50), the 100 backstroke (Jennifer Ince with a 1:02.04), and the 100 breaststroke (Kelly Holton with a 1:11.24). Centenary then took three in a row before Sarah Miller captured the 500. Leslie Butts finished a close runner-up in the 100 butterfly and then Melanie Gustafson collected her second win in the 200 IM. The 400 freestyle relay was all Centenary, and the ladies from Louisiana captured a 131.5 to 115.5 win.

The men's meet wasn't as close and Centenary took both relays, but we kept things interesting with our fair share of individual wins. Andrew Battles was first in the 200 freestyle (1:48.59), Alex Miranda and Lucas Belury went 1 - 2 in the 200 butterfly, Battles fought his way to a 200 backstroke win (2:00.23), and Miranda got his "double" with a 4:53.21 500 freestyle, and Lucas Belury finished up the men's individual events with a 10:07.37 win in the 1000. While the score was 156 to 103, our guys won 5 of 12 individual races and most of our losses were to seniors on scholarships.

All in all, a pretty good day at the pool. Take-out pizza for the bus trip home helped improve our TU campus arrival time. we're now a little less than four weeks out of our conference championships.

BE A TIGER!!

-JR

Tigers Tangle and Trinity Triumphs

2011-11-14T12:47:00.001-08:00

The Colorado College Tigers visited San Antonio this past weekend for a conference dual meet with our own Trinity Tigers. The hometown team prevailed, winning the women's meet 171.5 to 62.5 and the men's competition by a score of 135 to 104. We saw some good racing and a bunch of season PR's so it was a fun afternoon.

Our women were provided with a little incentive to do well on Saturday after reading on Colorado College's webpage a quote that "...Trinity's strength in diving makes them almost untouchable. They're beatable on the swimming side...". We appreciated the respect given to our diving team, but felt our esteemed opponents were choosing to underestimate our swimmers and the pride we take in representing Trinity !

The diving competition took place at 12:00 noon and, as expected, Trinity went 1 - 2 - 3 on both boards. Katie Sheldon scored 224.70 on 1-meter, with Lynne Bettinger (222.60) and Ruth Hahn (218.30) right behind. Pretty impressive, given that Ruth was Honorable Mention All-American in this event last winter. She came back to win the 3-meter contest, finishing ahead of Katie and Lynne as the three posted scores of 246.40, 228.25, and 224.60 on the high board. Our divers did their job well and, at that point, it was up to the swimmers to prove that they were not as "beatable" as CC claimed us to be.

Christine Hoelfterhoff, Kelly Holton, Captain Mary Price, and Lydia Jones got the racing off to a good start with a win in the 200 medley relay. Three first-years and a junior - we like it when our rookies make an impact ! Trinity then went 1 - 2 in the 1000 freestyle (Melanie Gustafson and Marisa Olmo), the 200 freestyle (Lydia Jones and Rachel Berude), the 50 freestyle (Rachel Berude and Christine Hoelterhoff), the 200 IM (Lisa Tucci and Morgan Briggs), the 100 butterfly (Mary Price and Meghan Varner), the 100 freestyle (Lydia Jones and Rachel Berude), the 100 backstroke (Rachel Hure and Christine Hoelterhoff), and the 500 freestyle (Melanie Gustafson and Marisa Olmo again). The 100 breaststroke was the one and only individual event we didn't sweep 1 - 2, although Kelly Holton won it for us with a PR. We exhibitioned our 400 freestyle relay entries. There was no question as to which Tiger team trimmed the other's sails. Better yet, make that "tails". All puns aside, Trinity's women prevailed !

That said, the SCAC Championships are in February and there's a lot of training and racing to be done between now and then. Centre has to be this year's conference favorite, but we'll give them a good run for it once we're full strength. Saturday, first-year Sarah Miller sat out the meet sick. Keep in mind, too, the fact that our best sprinter (Ana Price), our best backstroker (Jennifer Ince), and our next best flyer (Leslie Butts) are all doing study abroad this fall. They'll be back for the SCAC's come February. We'll be doing some hard work in the upcoming weeks so as to do our best to try and capture our 9th straight SCAC title in Rockwall, TX, when the conference teams convene for our annual championship meet.

While not as dominant as our women, Trinity's Tigermen stepped up, raced hard, and put up their fair share of wins and good times on the way to a 31 point win over the CC team. Our divers got things off to a terrific start with Kevin Martin and Matt Hawley finishing 1 - 3 on both boards. Kevin took the 1 - meter with a score of 288.20 and the 3 - meter with a 263.85 tally, which put us up 24 to 14 going into the swimming events.

The meet opened with the 200 medley relay, where first-year Stephen Culberson got things started with a 25.95 backstroke split. Hunter Banister, Spencer Bard (22.94 on the fly), and Aaron Shaver then combined to win an exciting race by a 1:38.47 to 1:38.78 margin. The point spread jumped to 35 to 18 and the meet was maybe over at that point, as CC had committed four of their five big guns (including senior All-American Jordan DeGayner) to a losing cause, netting but 4 points. We then went 1 - 2 in the 1000 freestyle, with Lucas Belury (10:15.23) and Mike Brew doing the honors. CC countered with a 1 - 2 of their own in the 200, only to have Trinity first-year Kevin Thomas capture the 50, with Aaron Shaver and Adam Thomas taking 3rd and 4th overall. Alex Miranda and Matt Wey then raced neck and neck through the 200 IM with Alex leading yet another TU 1 - 2. The two were dead even at the 150 and finished with times of 2:01.75 and 2:02.17, respectively. All in all, we captured four out of the meets first five events.

The 100 fly was a barnburner. Junior Spencer Bard got out quick and reached the 50 with a slight lead over CC's DeGayner (24.07 to 24.16). They touched together at the 75, but then the Big Cat's best swimmer got home faster, stopping the clock at 51.56 to Spencer's 52.30. Great racing ! Aaron Shaver came back for us with a 49.57 win in the 100 freestyle, followed by Stephen Culberson and Zach Dielmann recording a 1 - 2 finish in the 100 backstroke (56.40 and 56.74). Lots of points for Trinity with that sweep. The broom came out again in the 500 when Miranda and Belury posted times of 4:53.65 and 4:58.58, giving us an insurmountable lead. Colorado's Tyler Larrabee nipped Hunter Banister in the 100 breaststroke and CC took the 400 freestyle relay, but the final score read Trinity 135 - Colorado College 104. It was a gratifying win, made sweeter by the fact that they are arguably one of the three best men's teams in the SCAC. We definitely look forward to DeGayner graduating this coming spring, as he is the kind of swimmer who can inspire an entire team when it counts.

The SCAC Championships will take place in Rockwall (TX) about three months from now, so it's evident that we have a lot of work to do between now and then. The past weekend provided us with a glimpse of the level of competitiveness we'll be facing come next February. If we're ready, it'll be fun !!

Next up is the Tiger Southwest Shootout in the DFW metroplex, where we'll be hosting an invitational meet at the Carroll ISD Natatorium on November 18 and 19. That too, should be fun. Apart from some good racing, everyone is looking forward to the fact that the meet is immediately chased by the Thanksgiving recess. Swimmers love food and Thanksgiving is all about that, not to mention family reunions and a few days of reprieve from academia. We hope everyone on our team and all of our fans enjoy the upcoming holiday !!

-Coach Ryan

Trinity Hits the Highway for an Afternoon of Racing with NCAA Division II Opponent University of Texas at Permian Basin

2011-11-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we traveled to Midland to compete with NCAA Division II in-state rival University of Texas at Permian Basin. We were on our bus at 6:00 AM and got home at 11:30 PM so it was a long drive out and a long drive back, but the meet was spirited and we swam pretty well. Some of our kids were really tired (training and academic testing last week) and that made our good swims even more pleasant to watch.

Our women topped UTPB by a score of 156 to 83. We won nine of eleven individual events and both relays, which pretty much tells the story of how the afternoon went. Christine Hoelterhoff, Kelly Holton, Mary Price, and Rachel Berude raced to a 1:54.85 win in the opening 200 medley relay and we never looked back.

We had three double even winners, including Melanie Gustafson (1000 and 500 freestyle), Lydia Jones (50 and 100 freestyle), and Ruth Hahn (1 and 3-meter diving). Mary Price won the 100 butterfly, Morgan Briggs took the 200 IM, and Kelly Holton captured the 100 breaststroke. TU closed out the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle relay. Christine Hoelterhoff, Meghan Varner, Mary Price, and Lydia Jones clocked a 1:42.64 - one of our best-ever November sprint relay times.

The Tiger men lost a in what was a heartbreaker, as UTPB slipped by us with a score of 121 to 116. They opened up the meet with a 1:38.87 to 1:38.97 win in the 200 medley relay. Close, but no cigar. The bummer is that FY sprinter Kevin Thomas went into the event's final wall with a body length lead, only to completely miss his turn. UTPB's anchor caught him and the flags coming off the wall and they raced neck and neck to the touch pads, only to have our team just get out touched. The 1/10 of a second margin between the two teams was actually determined by back-up buttons!

Alex Miranda and Lucas Belury then went 1 - 2 in the 1000 freestyle to even up the score. FY Stephen Culberson followed with a 1:48.79 200 freestyle, good enough for runner-up points. UTPB countered with a 1 - 2 finish in the 50 freestyle (we had Kevin Thomas and Aaron Shaver tie for 3rd with identical times of 22.31). The sweep pretty much sealed the deal as far as the meet score was concerned, but our guys definitely stepped it up and made things tough for the host team.

Matt Wey hit 2:02.80 to win the 200 IM and Kevin Martin won the 1-meter diving with a 310.35, before UTPB's Alex Ruata clipped Spencer Bard 51.97 to 52.87 in the 100 butterfly. Great race there! Permian Basin then won the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, followed by Lucas Belury's win for the good guys in the 500 freestyle. Martin then won the 3-meter diving contest with a score of 310-35. UTPB countered with a 1- 2 finish in the 100 breaststroke and we were cooked meat. Actually, Matt Wey finished but 6/100 of a second behind their runner-up in the breaststroke. Close but no cigar. Oh, wait! I said that earlier. Still true the second time around, unfortunately!

We finished the afternoon with a 1:28.12 to 1:29.34 finish in the 200 freestyle relay, so we went down swinging. I like that. Stephen Culberson, Adam Thomas, Aaron Shaver, and Kevin Thomas took honors there. All in all, a good day at the pool. I was proud of the way we competed.

-Coach Ryan

TU vs Southwestern

2011-11-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

FY Kelly Holton - 100 & 200 BR double event winner

November already - The fall semester continues to fly on by! Last weekend our swimmers competed with Southwestern University and came away with wins in both the men's and the women's meets.

SO Melanie Gustafson on her way to a
win in the 200 butterfly.

Trinity's women got the meet off to a good start with a win in the 200 medley relay. Christine Hoelterhoff, Kelly Holton, Mary Price, and Lydia Jones posted a 1:53.81 and looked good doing it. Three of the four are first-year Tigers, which is good news for the future. Sophomore Melanie Gustafson was a double event winner for us, taking the 1000 freestyle (10:57.37) and the 200 butterfly (2:14.16). First-Year Kelly Holton also captured a couple of wins, taking both the 100 and the 200 breaststroke races. She matched her own PR in the 100 and hit a lifetime best in the 200 - great job there!

The women's 400 freestyle relay.
Junior Co-Captain Rachel Berude anchoring.

Other TU women winners were FY Sarah Miller in the 200 freestyle, FY Christine Hoelterhoff in the 50 freestyle, FY Lydia Jones in the 100 freestyle, Sophomore Meghan Varner in the 500 freestyle, Junior Mary Price in the 100 butterfly, and Junior Lisa Tucci in the 200 IM. Lydia, Meghan, Mary, and Junior Rachel Berude finished things off with a win the 400 freestyle relay.

SO Katie Sheldon competing on the 3-meter.

Junior Ruth Hahn competing on 3-meter.

Because Southwestern has no divers, our diving team competed with the Universty of the Incarnate Word's diving team. Sophomore Katie Sheldon (SCAC Diver of the Week) slipped by TU All-American team-mate Ruth Hahn in the 1-meter contest, posting a score of 219.80. Ruth came back to win the 3-meter diving event with a score of 243.90. Ruth finished 3rd at last year's NCAA Division III Championships, and is looking great as she gets her 2011-2012 season in motion. We expect our women divers to be pretty awesome again this winter!!

FY Stephen Culberson leading the pack on the
backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay.

In the men's meet, we got things going with a 6 second win in the 200 medley relay. FY Stephen Culberson jumped us off to a quick start on the backstroke leg (26.18) and we never looked back. He gave Hunter Banister a lead going into breaststoke, and then Senior Drew Cauthorn and FY Kevin Thomas sealed the deal on the win. Southwestern didn't have anyone up for the 1000 freestyle so we passed on the event as well. That won't be the case in our upcoming meet with UT Permian Basin. While we swam a lot of guys in races other than their specialties, we did see some good performances in a number of races.

Senior Matt Wey during the 100 breaststroke.

Senior Kevin Martin competing in the
3-meter event.

Senior Matt Wey was a double winner, taking both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM. Junior Spencer Bard had the best single event performance for us, clocking a 52.67 in the 100 butterfly. Great swim for him this early! Other event winners were Sophomore Arthur Daigh (200 freestyle), Senior Zach Dielmann (100 backstroke), FY Kevin Thomas (50 freestyle), FY Stephen Culberson (200 backstroke), Sophomore Lucas Belury (200 breaststroke), and Junior Mike Brew (500 freestyle). The Tiger men won every individual event, which put smiles on a lot of faces. Not to be overlooked or under appreciated, our divers also stepped up against UIW and did a good job. Senior Kevin Martin earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Week honors with scores of 231.80 on the 1-meter and 238.80 on the 3-meter boards. He looked really, really good for it being October (and our opening meet).

We wrapped up the day with Michael Patton, Stephen Culberson, Kevin Thomas, and Zach Dielmann taking the 400 freestyle relay. Trinity men 143 - Southwestern 56. A good day at the pool!

-Coach Ryan

Senior Men Shine at the 16th Annual St. Croix Coral Reef Open Water Swim

2011-10-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Seniors in St. Croix.

This past weekend, Trinity's senior men traveled to the Caribbean to attend the 16th annual St. Croix Coral Reef 5 mile open water swim. This race has become a rite of passage for our senior Tigers, and both the trip and the race are one of the most memorable experiences of their collegiate swimming careers.
Alex Miranda was again TU's highest placing swimmer, recording a 1:54:15 - good enough for 4th in the men's open division. Matt Wey and Andrew Battles finished 5th and 7th overall, enabling the Tigers to again make their presence noticeable at the post-race luncheon/awards ceremony. The event winner was former Pan American Games 1500 meter freestyle winner Alex Kostick of Los Angeles, who clocked in at 1:41:18.

The 2 mile open water winner was Kieran Locke of St. Croix, followed closely by Trinity senior JJ Lubinski. Tiger seniors Zach Dielmann and Drew Cauthorn finished 5th and 6th respectively. Not bad for a couple of sprinters!

Senior Aaron Shaver, winner of the 1-mile swim, with
Misty Hyman.

Last but not least, TU senior Aaron Shaver proved that a 50 yard freestyle specialist can negotiate wind, tide, and currents as he swam to a swin the event's inaugural 1 mile race. Aaron finished ahead of Scott Hensley of the Virgn Islands and fellow TU Tiger Eric Bassett.

All in all, the trip was special - wonderful weather, great food, incredible snorkleing, picturesque beaches, and challenging races. Our seniors are now ready to get back to short course racing and will be out to make their mark at both the SCAC and the NCAA Championships come February and March of 2012.

- Coach Ryan

3/4 of the seniors took a puddle jumper from
Puerto Rico to St. Croix.

Exploring the island.

Snorkeling out at Buck Island.

Checking in before race day.

I think Drew and Zach are happy to be in St. Croix.

Andrew also very excited to be on the beaches of St. Croix.

Our seniors minus Andrew (he's probably taking the
picture) after the race.

Tigers Open Season with 2 Successful Open Water Races

2011-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

The start buoy.

On Saturday, October 1, the team traveled north by bus to Lake Travis to attend the ASA Open Water Swimming Collegiate National Championships. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and calm water - the 5K race went well and we had all sorts of fun (presuming you love swimming long straight-a-way courses with no lane lines)!

The Lady Tigers bring home the overall championship.

On the women's side of the competition, Texas A&M and Rice took the top four individual places. A&M's Cammile Adams was the 2011 winner clocking 1:02:46. Much to our suprise, team depth played in our favor and when the final points were tallied, Trinity ended up with 216 points to Texas A&M's 145 points. Savannah College of Art & Design finished 3rd with 74 points.

Sophomore Melanie Gustafson was the first Tiger to get home, clocking 1:10:56. First-years Sarah Miller and Rachel Hure were the next two Tigers to complete the 5K, with TU taking 11 of the top 21 places.

Alex!

Senior Alex miranda was the first TU swimmer to complete the men's race, finishing 3rd behind Alexander Grandine of SCAD and Taylor Smith of Ohio Wesleyan. The Savannah collegian, who hails from Australia, finished with a time of 58:48.4. Sophomore Arthur Daigh and senior Matt Wey were 4th and 5th, helping to lead Trinity to its third consecutive men's team victory. The Tigers scored 128 points, followed by Savannah College of Art and Design and Ohio Wesleyan. TU had 13 atheletes finish among the top 18 men, that being the key to the team win.

-Coach Ryan

The Season has Begun!

2011-09-21T12:26:00.001-07:00

Senior Zach Dielmann training at the indoor pool.

Our 2011-2012 season is now officially off and running. Love that! Both teams are optimistic and we intend to have a fun, successful season. That will require plenty of dedication and a lot of hard work. If positive attitudes prevail and we stay healthy, we'll have a great year!

Part of the pool is under an overhang that recesses into a
cave. Everyone climbed down/dove off the boulders to
take a dip in the cool waters.

This past Saturday, the team undertook a 90 minute journey to Hamilton Pool, a small Texas state park northwest of Austin. Known for its outdoorsy ambiance, its hiking trails, and a springfed pool complete with waterfall, Hamilton Pool proved to be a pleasant alternative to our traditional tubing trip along the Guadalupe River (near Gruene, TX). Suprisingly, the team experienced something we haven't seen in South Central Texas this summer - RAIN! A heavy shower cooled things off and probably hastened the teams return to San Antonio. All in all, it was time well spent - team fellowship is a great thing!

This week we are alternating 2 indoor short course days and an outdoor long course day. Saturday morning we'll go a long swim outdoors - the goal being to create a good mindset for the ASA Collegiate 5K Open Water event at Lake Travis, to be held on October 1st. Race director Dr. Keith Bell tells us that the race course is just fine despite the drought, so we're looking forward to a good competition. We are hopeful that Dr. Bell will be adding a 2K race to the program next fall (2012)--something for the sprinters!

Other than that, it's cool to note that Trinity's football, men's soccer, and women's soccer are all off to a good start this fall. Cross country is looking pretty good too. Add to all that the fact that diver Hayley Emerick (Class of 2011) is one of nine finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and it's clear that September has been a good month for TU athletics. I think it's the first time any woman from either Trnity or our conference (the SCAC) has been so honored. We are very proud of Hayley and grateful that diving coach Stan Randall so successfully helped her realize her potential here at Trinity.

- Coach John Ryan

We love our kick sets!

Sophomore Gabriella Caglieris.

Senior Lynne Bettinger.

FY Kelly Holton

Playing a little water polo at Hamilton Pool.

FY Rachel Hure and SO Marisa Olmo enjoy sitting on a
rock that happens to be under a natural waterfall.

FYs Lydia, Sarah and Christine.

Sophomore Arthur Daigh trying to climb back up. No easy
feat! Those rocks are covered in algae.

Swimmers enjoy the view overlooking the pool.

If you can't tell...it's raining! Some enjoyed the experience
of swimming in the rain and others gathered under the cave.
Even when it's not raining water streams off that cliff edge
in a natural waterfall.

Trinity Swimming and Diving Athlete Spotlight - Ruth Hahn

2011-08-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ruth on the awards stand at the 2011 DIII NCAA National meet.

Every so often we'll feature one of Trinity's swimmers or divers so that you can learn more about who we are. In the spotlight this week is Ruth Hahn.

Hometown: Knoxville, TN

Year: Junior

Major: Engineering with a minor in mathematics

Summer Job: Chemistry Reseach at Trinity

Diving Accomplishments at Trinity:
2011 Nationals - 3rd place on 3-meter and 12th on 1-meter, NCAA All-American
2011 SCAC Championships - 1st place on 1-meter and 2nd on 3-meter
2010 SCAC Championships - 4th place on 3-meter and 4th on 1-meter

Thoughts on last season's National meet?
"My main goal for last season was to make Nationals since they were in Knoxville and I really wanted to compete at that pool again. I was really surprised about how well I did on three meter. Getting 3rd was really cool. I went into nationals just hoping to not get last place, maybe if I was really lucky, to make finals. It was really fun being at Knoxville. I got to see a lot of my old teammates, I knew the life guards that were there while we were competing, and even one of my old coaches was there so I was really glad I did really well."

How did you balance the demands of being a Trinity student with those of being a National level diver?
"It's always hard balancing school and a sport, but last year I just told myself that no matter what I was going to practice everyday. That didn't end up happening, but I went to a lot more practices last year than the year before. Last year was WAY harder than freshman year, but in a way it was good for my diving because I viewed diving more as a break from school than an obligation that kept me from everything else I was doing."

What makes Trinity diving so special for you?
"We have a really good and a really big team. I love the girls on this team so much. They're why I came here instead of Denison. We just have a lot of fun together and we really support, encourage each other, and push each other."

How has Stan developed your talent as a diver?
"Stan has been really great. Compared to other coaches he's really laid back and kind of leaves it up to us to push ourselves. I wasn't used to his coaching style freshman year and had a really hard time motivating myself, but I figured it out this year and it has really helped having to motivate myself instead of having someone else forcing me to do something. Stan is really understanding which is really good. He understands that bad days happen and sometimes school is too much. He really helped develop my confidence by believing in me. Confidence is one of the most important things as a diver.

What are your goals for this season?
I definitely want to make Nationals again and do a lot better on 1-meter. I also want to do harder dives on 3-meter.

We'll be rooting for Ruth and the rest of her team-mates as they strive to reach their goals this season. Check back here and on the Trinity Swimming and Diving homepage for updates on the season.

-Coach Leta

End of Year Banquet 2011

2011-05-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Leigh-Anne and Mary reflecting on the memories that
underclassmen shared with them in a scrapbook.

The team got together Tuesday night at Tycoon Flats to celebrate our seniors, our season, and the end of a school year (minus the finals they're all taking right now!). To sum it all up, the 2010-2011 season was a great year for us. We had 5 fabulous freshman women and 4 great guys join our team this year. They were definitely a group of difference makers at Conference. The season was packed full of team building swims, dual meets, and invitationals on our way to the Conference Championship. There, the women won their 8th consecutive team title and broke 5 school records in the process. The men came in second and shattered 4 school records of their own.

We had a great bunch of seniors this year. Kristen Zinser, Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Mary West, Hayley Emerick, Rebecca Parrish, Andrew Snead, and Jack Foreman will be hard to replace, but we're definitely excited for their futures outside of Trinity and we'll be cheering for them on their journeys! Personally, I've enjoyed getting to know these seniors as athletes and leaders, first as their teammate and then as their coach. More to their credit though, I've been impressed with them as students and people in general. They are fun, hard-working, irreplaceable members of our team. While the team will continue to grow without you, we're definitely going to miss you!

Marisa, Meghan, Leslie, and Melanie.

Divers and volunteer assistant Coach Randy gather together.

Michael, Andrew, Drew, Zach, Marisa and Spencer
thoughtfully coordinated their wardrobes.

Underclassmen presenting seniors with scrapbooks full of memories.

Mary West receiving her book from Leslie.

Lynne presenting books to Rebecca and Hayley.

The men's team gathers to thank the senior men.

Kristen reflecting on shared memories.

The men's team hugging it out.

Jack and Andrew with words of farewell.

Coach Randall with members of his dive team.

Senior divers!

The lovely, Leigh-Anne, Mary, and Kristen.
Senior swimmers we're going to miss!

-Coach Leta

2011 NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving Championships

2011-04-18T15:18:00.001-07:00

Hayley Emerick and Ruth Hahn capture 2nd and 3rd on the 3 - meter board at Nationals.

Trinity divers Hayley Emerick and Ruth Hahn competed at the NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving Championships March 23-26 in Knoxville, TN. Both divers represented Trinity well, contributing to a 17th place team finish overall. Hayley finished 2nd on both boards while Ruth followed her team-mate with a 3rd place finish on 3-meter and a 12th place finish on 1-meter.

Coach Randall with divers Hayley and Ruth.

Head Diving Coach Stan Randall was extremely proud of both his divers' accomplishments. "It was an emotional experience taking Hayley to her last NCAA Championship. She has been one of the more decorated divers in our sport, qualifying all four years and winning an NCAA title. Ruth's first trip to the Nationals was equally emotional. Having Ruth place in the top eight and be Academic All-American in her first year is an incredible success," said Coach Randall.

Hayley competing during finals of the 2011 NCAA 3 - meter competition.

Hayley is no stranger in the world of NCAA DIII diving. A competitor at the NCAA Championship for four consecutive years, Hayley has steadily improved from a 9th place finisher on both boards to a National Champion, DIII 3-meter record holder, and culminated her collegiate career with her highest combined finishes on both boards. In an interview with Hayley, she reflected on her experience at Nationals and her time at Trinity.

Coach Leta: Looking back, what was the key to your improving performances each year at Nationals?

Hayley: I think each year I got more and more serious about diving. I also started to trust myself more and realized that there were no superstars that were unbeatable out there. I also kept working on the mental aspect of diving and that improved each year as well. Pretty much as long as I listened to Stan, my diving kept improving each year. He never steered me wrong.

CL: As Stan has said, you are one of the more decorated divers in Trinity history. Did you have even the smallest idea your freshman year that this would happen?

H: No actually. I came into school thinking I would probably be the 3rd place girl on the team throughout my freshman year. It started off that way, but eventually, I worked my way up and was finally able to finish 1st at conference both boards that year. I was really excited for that alone, and making it to NCAAs was icing on the cake. When I went to NCAAs that year I put no expectations on my performance. I just wanted to see what place I would rank in the nation as a freshman. I was the only freshman there that year and I ended up 9th on both boards. After that, I made it my goal to be All-American (top 8) the next year, and after that I wanted to win a championship by my senior year. So really my goal was not to become the most decorated diver at Trinity, but it ended up that way because of the larger goals that I set for myself. Throughout my entire time at Trinity, Stan was very incouraging and instilled in me the idea that I could win NCAAs at some point. Once he told me I could win, and I started to believe it, my dedication to the sport grew even more. I definitely would not have been able to do it if he hadn't told me so.

CL: Trinity divers have a lot of fun and share some wonderful memories together. What are you going to miss most about Trinity diving?

H: Probably the team and all the fun trips. Puerto Rico is always great and you really get to know your teammates. Traveling with the team to different meets around the country is also a good bonding experience. We also have a lot of fun together when we aren't traveling. I will also miss the competitive nature of the sport. I've always been a very competitive person, and diving let me use that to my advantage. I guess I'll have to find a new sport now...

CL: What were some of the reasons you chose to come to Trinity? Academic and athletic...

H: Well I wanted a school that was really well known for its academics. When I came to college I loved diving but I wanted to be a student first. Stan is really good about making that happen. He says "School comes first, second, and third, and then diving." This is really nice when you have to miss some practices for a big test or project the next day. That really attracted me to trinity. I had also known stan for a few years before I started looking at colleges and I always had Trinity in the back of my mind. Once I started looking around, I knew I wouldnt find a better school for academics coupled with such a wonderful diving coach. Stan is so great. He loves coaching, he's great at it, and he'll do anything for his divers. He also makes diving practices pleasurable and will not push you past your mental and physical limits.

While there will be a lot for Hayley to miss here at Trinity and in San Antonio, she has a very promising future ahead of her. Hayley, the recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, already has a position lined up with Capgemini in Houston as an IT staff consultant. There will be plenty for her to look forward to during life after college.

We're definitely going to miss you though Hayley!

-Coach Leta

2011 SCAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

2011-02-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

Our 500 freestylers! Alex Miranda (SCAC and School Record Holder), Andrew Battles
(2011 Conference Champion), Michael Brew, and FYs Lucas Belury and Arthur Daigh
contributing to TU dominance in the 500.

Our men had an amazing meet. The goal coming into the 2011 SCAC Championships was to swim fast, dive well, and beat DePauw. We accomplished the first two of these and came really close to upsetting the defending champions.

Kevin Martin, 2011 Conference Diver
of the meet and Trinity's new 1-M
record holder.

The men's meet kicked off on Wednesday evening with 1-meter diving, where Kevin Martin and Andrew Snead went 1 - 2. Matt Hawley chipped in a 10th place finish, and TU jumped to a 40 - 25 lead over the Tigers from Indiana. It was a lead that was to jump back and forth for the next three days. Martin's was also the first of seven individual events captured by Trinity's men, nearly double that of any other team competing at the beautiful Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, TX. DePauw took home four individual wins and Colorado College won three. The difference maker for this year's SCAC team contest was DePauw's sprint depth, which racked up points in the 50 and 100 freestyle events and the five relays that combined to ante up 220 points to the winner's grand total. Hats off to DePauw for that accomplishment. The cool thing for Trinity is the fact that we will not graduate a single swimming point this coming spring. Snead has come to the "end of the trail" as a college diver, but our swimming team comes back intact. A good recruiting class will only make us more competitive.

On Thursday night, we did well. Our 200 freestyle relay team (Zach Dielmann, Aaron Shaver, Drew Cauthorn, and Spencer Bard) earned All-SCAC honors with a 3rd place finish. The TU men then "owned' the 500 freestyle. Junior Andrew Battles led a 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 8 - 9 Tiger finish as our men put 87 points on the scoreboard. Andrew got out quick on his way to a 4:35.95 finish, edging team mate Alex Miranda for the first time in three SCAC 500 "big final" swims. First-years Lucas Belury and Arthur Daigh finished 3 - 5 with personal best times (4:38.42 and 4:41.51), insuring that Trinity will continue its tradition of excellence in this event. Over the last 17 years, we've won every end-of-season Championship 500 freestyle event contested.

The 200 IM proved to be another good race for us, with Sean Fronczak coming in a very close second. DePauw's Matt Gleason had a torrid last 50 and edged past our guy, with the two of them clocking 1:55.28 to 1:55.47. Matt Wey was sixth, his first of three Championship final finishes. Aaron Shaver then clocked a PR 21.26 to capture 3rd place in the 50 freestyle. Zach Dielmann was 6th and both Drew Cauthorn and Spencer Bard picked up consolation final points. We closed off the night with a solid 3rd place in the 400 medley relay, finishing just 3 one hundredths of a second behind Sewanee's medley relay foursome. A year down the road, I think we'll make a run a the SCAC meet record of 3:25.13. Let's see what happens with that prediction!

200 Medley Relay: Zach Dielmann, Aaron Shaver, Spencer Bard,
and Audel Mehrinfar.The guys broke the pervious school record set just last year.

Friday afternoon opened up with 3 – meter diving where Kevin Martin, Andrew Snead, and Richard Hawley went 1 - 2 - 4, chalking up 52 points to help maintain Trinity’s lead over DePauw going into the swimming events that night. All three men improved upon their scores and overall place in the 3 – meter standings from last year’s performances. It’s exciting to imagine what our returning divers might accomplish next year.

Friday evening opened with the 200 medley relay. Dielmann, Audel Mehrinfar, Bard, and Shaver hit 1:34.71 and tallied silver, finishing just behind DePauw once again. We then rebounded with a win in the 400 IM, as Alex Miranda racked up his third straight title in that event. Matt Wey was 5th and TU held on to its lead in the team race. Next up was the 100 butterfly, where Spencer Bard and Zach Dielmann posted times of 50.73 and 51.65. Bard broke his own school record and Zach clocked a PR as they, along with Drew Cauthorn and JJ Lubinski in the consolation heat, racked up more 100 fly points than any team competing. Our win in the 400 IM and our school record in the 100 butterfly was then followed with yet another win, this time in the 200 freestyle. Andrew Battles swam a PR 1:42.29 on his way to his first-ever 200 title, while Aaron Shaver clocked a PR 1:43.27 and finished 4th and Arthur Daigh posted a 1:47.02 in his second big final swim of the weekend. DePauw then came back with a win in the 100 breaststroke, outscoring us 45-14 and showing us how important depth is in meets like this. Something to work on in the future. Audel Mehrinfar's 6th place was our only top 8 finish there. DePauw then went 1 - 3 to our 2 - 4 in the 100 backstroke, with Sean Fronczak and Zach Dielmann recording very competitive times in the dorsal sprint. Our 800 freestyle relay finished the evening with a 3rd place effort as Miranda, Belury, Battles, and Daigh came close to an NCAA "B" cut and gave DePauw a good run for their money in a race they were favored to win handily.

End of the night Friday, we had a 5 point lead in the men's team scoring race. Pretty cool. Saturday evening started well, as Miranda, Belury, Brew, and Lubinski, finished 1 - 2 - 4 - 10. Alex hit a 16:05.50 and Lucas went the mile with a 103 degree fever. Tough performances and 59 points. Andrew Battles, Sean Fronczak, and Arthur Daigh then went 1 - 2 - 6 to DePauw's 3 - 4 -7 and we inched ahead a bit on the scoreboard. Really cool.

Next up was the 100 freestyle and that's where the table got turned on us. Despite Aaron Shaver's 46.46, a PR and a runner-up effort. DePauw put five guys in the championship final and clobbered us point-wise (68 to 17 all told). We for sure need some more sprinters next season! However, nice that Aaron was able to beat all five of their guys in what was DePauw's best event of the meet.

Unfortunately, their depth was evident in the last two individual events of the evening, and by the time we got to the 400 freestyle relay the deal was sealed as far as the meet's outcome was concerned. DePauw outscored us in the 200 breaststroke, although Audel Mehrinfar set a new school record (2:09.12) on his way to a 5th place finish, and then put three men in the big final of the 200 butterfly to put us away. Lucas Belury was our only finals qualifier there, but had to scratch out of the race (down with the flu). Big bummer for us. The night closed with another DePauw relay win, while our guys finished 3rd with a solid effort. Shaver split a 46.00 and Battles showed some good speed with a 46.72 - not bad for a guy who holds our school record in the mile!

We left Houston very pleased with our meet. The men raced hard and we are looking forward to next February. A good recruiting class will make a very good team even better, so we're already excited about the future. The SCAC Championships are slated to return to Shenandoah in 2012, and Trinity will be ready to rumble when we get there. To wrap up this summary of our 2011 experience, team scoring went as follows:

Depauw - 987.5

Trinity - 891

Sewanee - 456

Centre - 441

Colorado - 407

Rhodes - 348

Hendrix - 284.5

Southwestern - 205

Austin - 167

- Coach Ryan

For results and news coverage check out:

2011 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships

Trinity Tigers

The sophomore men huddle at warm up on Wednesday.

3-M Awards Stand Photo
Junior Kevin Martin takes first, followed by team-mates
Andrew Snead (2nd), and Matt Hawley (4th).

The men's 200 Medley "A" and "B" Relays psych
themselves up before the race.

Senior Divers: Hayley Emerick, Rebecca Parrish,

Andrew Snead, and Jack Foreman.

The before. Grad Assistant, Sean Benton, about to take a celebratory
dip in the pool aided by Zach, Jake, JJ and Eric.

And after! It's tradition.

Senior Dinner, hosted by our wonderful senior parents!
I know I'm going to miss them :)

2011 SCAC Women's Championship Meet

2011-02-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Trinity Women: SCAC Conference Champions

Last week, Trinity's swimmers and divers enjoyed a great three days of competition at the Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas. The Tiger women won their 8th consecutive SCAC team title and set five new school records in the process. From start to finish, it was a fun, exciting weekend!

Ruth Hahn: Female Diver
of the Meet

The women's meet kicked off on Thursday, February 17th with a morning prelims swimming session, followed with the 1-meter diving final. Ruth Hahn slipped by NCAA All-America team-mate, Hayley Emerick (475.80 to 473.90), leading a Trinity 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 8 - 10 - 11 finish and giving our team a lead that they then held start to finish over the course of the three day meet. Katie Sheldon and Lynne Bettinger joined Ruth Hahn and Hayley Emerick on the awards stand, with all four divers exceeding the NCAA Championship consideration standard. The Thursday night finals started fast (Ana Price, Mary Price, Rachel Berude, and Jennifer Ince scored bronze with a 1:38.28 in the 200 freestyle relay) and proved exciting. First-year Meghan Varner set a school record while finishing runner-up in the 500 freestyle (5:06.34), followed closely by first-year training partner Marisa Olmo. Next came the 200 IM, where Leslie Butts scored top eight and hit a personal PR of 2:12.99 in prelims). Ana and Mary Price, Rachel Berude, and Jennifer Ince then came back from their relay finish and put individual points on the scoreboard in the 50 freestyle. We closed the night with a runner-up 400 medley relay finish (Kristen Zinser, Morgan Briggs, Leslie Butts, and Rachel Berude).

1st Place 200 MR Team: Ana Price, Morgan Briggs,
Kristen Zinser, and Mary Price!

Friday night opened with a big win! Kristen, Morgan, Mary Price, and Ana stepped up and posted a time of 1:48.95, edging DePauw and Sewanee for our swimmers' first gold medal of the meet in the 200 Medley Relay. Melanie Gustafson then hit a giant PR in the 400 IM, finishing runner-up with a 4:36.82. The 100 butterfly came next and kept the TU Tiger winning streak alive. Mary Price, Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Leslie Butts, and Lisa Tucci finished 3 - 4 - 5 - 8, with Price breaking the school record in prelims (58.94). Lisa's big final swim was especially gratifying, as she had missed over a month of training in December and January as she fought a personal battle with thyroid cancer. The 2010 Conference champion in the 400 IM hit a PR time of 1:00.73 in the fly - a win "for sure" in the hearts and minds of her team-mates. That was the turning point in my mind where I thought for the first time, "We're going to win this meet!" Varner and Olmo then went a solid 2 - 3 finish in the 200 freestyle, with Ana Price and Rachel Berude adding points to our team total. Our lack of depth in the women's 100 breaststroke was evident (Morgan was our only finalist, winning the consolation heat).

Jennifer Ince with Kristen Zinser, the new
school record holder in the 100 backstroke.

Kristen Zinser and Jennifer Ince finished 4 - 6 in the 100 backstroke, with Kristen establishing a school record (58.45) with her best swim ever. Pretty terrific for a gal with a 1:03 PR back in high school. She got better every year for four years in a row, and was a wonderful role model for our first-year athletes all season long. The evening closed with a 4th place finish in the 800 freestyle relay. That was probably the one disappointing race we had all weekend, as I thought our 7:53.78 was short of our potential. Next February, we need to set a new school record in this race! I hope our swimmers make breaking 7:50.50 their quest in 2011...

Trinity divers making a big impression on the awards stand.

We started Saturday with a 13 point lead over DePauw, and our divers quickly made that spread insurmountable by finishing 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 15 on the 3-meter board. Hayley beat Ruth by .05 points, the smallest margin imaginable (530.50 to 530.45). They were joined on the awards stand by Lynne Bettinger, Katie Sheldon, Madison Kahler, Kristin Nordstrom, and Gabriella Caglieris. Amazing! The evening then opened with the 1650 freestyle, where Melanie Gustafson set a school record (17:37.11) and finished runner-up. She also clipped the TU 1000 record, foot-touching with a time of 10:36.26 there. Kristen and Jennifer finished 3 - 6 in the 200 backstroke, Ana hit 53.78 and Rachel clocked a PR of 53.85 in the 100 freestyle, and Morgan scored 7th in the 200 breaststroke. The last individual race of the meet was the 200 Butterfly, and TU really showed it's stuff by going 2 - 3 - 5 - 8 - 11 - 12 in the long fly event. Meghan Varner and Melanie Gustafson led the way there. Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Leslie Butts, Megan O'Rell, and Marisa Olmo followed their team-mates and put big points on the board there for us. A huge race! We finished the meet with a 3:37.29 in the 400 freestyle relay, where Jennifer Ince opened with a lifetime PR of 53.98.

Final team scores at the 2011 SCAC Women's Championships were as follows:

Trinity - 876

DePauw - 817

Centre - 672

Sewanee - 437

Colorado - 399

Southwestern - 318

Rhodes - 310

Hendrix - 248

Austin - 113

- Coach Ryan
For results and news coverage check out:
2011 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships
Trinity Tigers

Ana Price celebrating the 200 MR win after
anchoring with a split of 23.93.

Leslie Butts and Mary Price before the
start of the 100 butterfly finals.

Trinity swimmers and divers form a tunnel as they prepare
to honor our seniors at their last SCAC Championship.

Mary West making her way through the Trinity tunnel
on her last night of SCAC Competition.

Seniors Mary West, Kristen Zinser, and Leigh-Anne
Ladymon: an awesome trio that will definitely be missed.

Senior divers Hayley Emerick and Rebecca Parrish.
We're going to miss them!

A big win takes hard work all season long.

The Fabulous Freshman Five await the final team scores:
Morgan Briggs, Melanie Gustafson, Marisa Olmo,
Megan O'Rell, and Meghan Varner.

The Trinity women celebrate their win with a dunk in the pool!

Click the link above to view the celebration.

UIW Invitational

2011-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

Sean Fronczak and Leslie Butts working on starts and sprints before competition.

This past weekend, our team traveled across town to Palo Alto Community College to participate in an invitational meet hosted by The University of The Incarnate Word. It was a good two days of racing in a terrific pool. Teams other than Trinity competing included UIW, University of Texas at Permian Basin. and Southwestern University.

We were pleased with the way we performed, both in the pool and on the boards. Our kids swam hard and recorded a bunch of season best times. Always cool! We also improved upon almost every 'same race' performance from this meet a year ago. We liked that!

Men's "A" 400 FR Relay (From left to right: Aaron Shaver,
Andrew Battles, Zach Dielmann, and CJ Robison.)

Alex Miranda's (SCAC Swimmer of the Week) 1650 freestyle time of 16:10 posted what was arguably our team's most impressive time of the weekend. We think it was the fastest unrested/unshaved SCAC 1650 time ever, and we know it was 20 seconds faster than his 2010 UIW Invite mile time. Other especially notable men's times were recorded by Lucas Belury (500 freestyle 4:43.07 / 200 butterfly 1:57.42) and Andrew Battles (200 freestyle 1:44.94 / 200 backstroke 1:56.79). Matt Wey, Aaron Shaver, Zach Dielmann, Drew Cauthorn, Arthur Daigh, and CJ Robinson all knocked out some fast swims as well.

Our women also swam especially well, with several of our first-year athletes stepping up and swimming fast. Meghan Varner and Melaine Gustafson both hit 2:12's in the 200 butterfly (good enough for 2nd and 3rd on the 2011 SCAC top times list). Marisa Olmo was just .02 off her PR in the 1650 (clocking 18:23.42), providing her with some confidence as we get closer to our Conference championship meet date. Both senior Kristen Zinser and sophomore Jennifer Ince had terrific backstroke swims in both distances, while sophomore Rachel Berude and Mary Price were quick in the sprints.

Sophomore twins Ana and Mary Price.

If we can get Ana Price back in the water (she's been out with a knee injury), our relays will be a little more competitive - always important! Lisa Tucci is back and smiling after having her thyroid removed in December. We love having her back on deck at Hixon, and are delighted that she's faring well with her radiation treatment. She keeps telling me she wants "to race a 50 or something, anything..," at Conference. What an amazing attitude! Who knows? Stranger things have happened. We are definitely going to miss her competitiveness in the 200 fly and 400 IM (she won the individual medley last winter). Hopefully, she'll be back in the hunt next year.

Back to the UIW Invitational and our divers. Hayley Emerick (SCAC Diver of the week) led a 1-2-3-4 Trinity finish in both the women's 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Kevin Martin was our top dog in the men's 3-meter, while senior Andrew Snead (SCAC Diver of the week) slipped by Kevin for the first time ever on the low board. Coach Randall is pleased with how his divers look going into the last couple of weeks proceeding the SCAC Championships, We will be heading to Shenandoah, Texas to compete from February 16th-19th at the Conroe ISD Natatorium. We anticipate an exciting weekend of racing and diving!

-Coach John Ryan

Trinity vs Southwestern

2011-01-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Winter recess is over!

Who would think anyone would be relieved to hear that said? Truth is, our swimmers and divers are more than relieved. It means the Trinity campus community is back in full swing, and it means the team has survived the rigors associated with the season's toughest two weeks of training. All eyes are now fixed on February and March, as we prepare for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships and, in some cases, the NCAA's.

Everyone is psyched, but everyone is tired. Today we met at Hixon Natatorium at 8:00 am and tallied about 4,000 yards before catching a quick breakfast, jumping aboard a chartered bus, and trekking north to Georgetown to compete with Southwestern University.

Theirs is a notoriously "slow" pool, at least for us, and today proved to be no exception to that tradition. Bad weather slowed the bus ride a bit, and we only had about a 30 minute warm-up before the meet kicked off at 2:00 pm. Both our men and our women recorded wins in the 200 medley relay, nearly equaling our season best performances and competing the way we need to compete if we're going to be competitive a month from now. It was good to see!

Individually, sophomore Jennifer Ince was our "swimmer-of-the-day" and inspired everyone who was paying attention to our swims over the course of the afternoon. After nearly winning the 100 backstroke, Jennifer stroked to a two second lifetime best 2:12.85 in the 200 backstroke, beating Southwestern's Bailey Thompson for the first time ever and really exciting her team-mates with her win. She then came back to hit another PR late in the meet - this time with a win in the 200 IM. Pretty cool stuff given the work we've been doing!

Our women posted several other wins. FY Meghan Varner captured the 200 freestyle and the 200 butterfly - an impressive "double" with little rest and no warmdown swim between her two races. She then completed a "hat trick" individually by winning the 500 freestyle with a well paced negative split swim. Cudos go to her for some tough racing! FY Melanie Gustafson won the 100 freestyle, FY Morgan Briggs was first in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, and our 400 freestyle relay team of Meghan Varner, Mary Price, Rachel Berude, and Ana Price came from behind to steal a win from the Pirate's relay foursome.

Meanwhile, Hayley Emerick and her TU diving team-mates put on a terrific show on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Hayley, Lynne Bettinger, and Ruth Hahn all posted NCAA entry standard scores on the low board (560.95, 529.55, and 524.10) on their way to a 1 - 2 - 3 finish. The same threesome then finished the day with a sweep on the high board, with all again surpassing the NCAA qualifying score for that event. Hayley was the winner (621.45 points), but the time Ruth outscored Lynne for the runner-up spot.

Trinity's women outscored Southwestern 180 to 98 and we felt that the team competed well. Everyone is tired, so racing is what it's all about. Our women are getting ready for a good conference meet, despite the loss of Lisa Tucci (illness) and some illness with a couple of others. A little resilience now and a good taper down the road will put smiles on a lot of faces.

Our men, meanwhile, also had a pretty good afternoon. The Tigers topped the Pirates 220 to 46, winning both relays and every individual event contested. Double winners included Aaron Shaver (50 and 100 freestyles), Lucas Belury (200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke), Zach Dielmann (100 backstroke and 100 butterfly), Sean Fronczak (100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke), and Kevin Martin (1-meter and 3-meter diving). Individual event winners included Andrew Battles (1000 freestyle), Mike Brew (200 freestyle), Arthur Daigh (500 freestyle), and Alex Miranda (200 IM).

All in all, our men raced well and showed "good stuff" despite being really, really fatigued. We've seen some signs of good swimming during our practices, and those who have stayed healthy and put in the yardage should be ready for the SCACs in February. We have to fine tune a bunch of bodies between now and then, and then their minds will determine how well they do in Houston (the SCAC Championships will be held at the new Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, TX). Baseball player Ty Cobb once said "The most important part of a player's body is above his shoulders." Amen to that!

One additional point of interest for those following our team's season - our divers are improving. Coach Stan Randall is an incredible teacher, and I'm betting we score well on the boards at conference this year. Both Kevin Martin and Andrew Snead have hit the NCAA consideration standards for their discipline, and they now have four additional team-mates preparing with them for the 2011 SCAC title meet. Coach Stan is a master at getting his athletes ready to compete, and the team had a phenomenal training camp in Puerto Rico before starting classes this past Wednesday.

Two weeks from now, we'll be competing in an invitational meet at Palo Alto Community College. Look for some improvement between now and then when it comes to our performances in the pool. We won't be tapered, but we should be a little sharper and a bit faster than we were in Georgetown. In the meantime, the best advice I have for anyone wanting to excel down the line is to BE A TIGER every day between now and our championship meets.

-Coach Ryan

Divers train in Puerto Rico for the winter!

2011-01-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

Trinity divers doing what they do best.

Puerto Rico. Sunshine. Warm days. Lots of diving. Some really good times with great team-mates and conscientious coaches. An awesome experience and a bunch of really cool memories.

I would bet there is not another team in the United States training harder than the Trinity University divers, and we have the results to back it up. This year, as last year, the team traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico from January 2nd - 10th. We practiced 4 hours a day every day, and we had a good time together when we weren't training.

High caliber coaches: Ryan Cook, Angelique Rodriguez,
Jenn Hess, and Stan Randall.

Let's start off by talking about some of the perks that come with training in San Juan. We practiced at The National training facility at Parque Central in San Juan. With a world class diving facility, we couldn't ask for a better place to train. Along with the facility, our divers were treated to some high caliber coaching. Helping me with the team this year were Jenn Hess, Angelique Rodriguez, and Ryan Cook. Jenn Hess, currently the head coach at Mile High Dive Club in Denver, is one of the top diving coaches in the world. Angelique Rodriguez is a 3 time Olympic diver for Puerto Rico and one of Puerto Rico's National team coaches. Ryan Cook is a Trinity alumnus, All-American, and 4 time conference champion on both boards.

Trinity divers snorkeling and enjoying the water.

Apart from all the time we spent working out, our divers got to take a private catamaran cruise to a gorgeous desert island, where we dropped anchor, snorkeled, and worked on our suntans on the beach. The fun did not stop there. We cruised on over to another island, dropped anchor over a reef to snorkel and hand fed the fish left overs from our lunches. Toward the end of our training camp, shopping and dinner in Old San Juan was the kind of treat that makes an "international" trip extra special. Exploring El Moro and checking out the history was cool too.

Coach Randall preps the divers as they get ready for
a practice session.

In order to get ready for the Conference Championships and hopefully the NCAAs, we used this training camp to develop their very highest difficulty dives. All of our Trinity divers mastered their difficult dives in those 10 days at Puerto Rico.

Senior, Hayley Emerick has one of the most difficult women's diving lists in the United States. She is performing most of the dives the men do in competition. It should be noted, that Hayley was the only female diver performing a front three and a half somersaults at the NCAAs last year. Sophomore Ruth Hahn has added considerable difficulty to her list of dives this year. She too is performing a lot of the men's dives. One in particular is a back one and a half somersaults with two and one half twists. Sophomore diver Lynne Bettinger has the second most difficult women's list in the country. She is performing a back two and a half somersaults in the pike position, which carries a difficulty of 3.0. Freshman Katie Sheldon and Gabi Caglieris completed their competitive 3-meter lists and are ready for the Conference Championships. Junior Kristin Nordstrom learned a new double twisting one and a half somersaults from the 3-meter, and senior Rebecca Parrish, after one year of studying abroad has rejoined the team and put her competitive list back together. Sophomore Madison Kahler did an outstanding job polishing her already good 1-meter and 3-meter competitive lists.

Junior Kevin Martin working on fundamentals.

Senior Andrew Snead now has a very difficult NCAA list, competing back, reverse, and inward two and a half somersaults on the 3-meter. Senior Jack Foreman, after a lengthy injury, was able to concentrate on his list of dives at the training camp in preparation for Conference. Junior Kevin Martin, returning from Australia after studying abroad, has completely upgraded his competitive lists with the most difficulty we have seen thus far. Kevin is competing what is know as a full pike list, which translates into a very high degree of difficulty. Junior Matt Hawley did a fine job adding a back two and a half somersault to his 3-meter list. First-year team member, Jacob Meyer, who was a PE diving student at Trinity, has now completed a full list of dives on the 1 and 3-meter boards.

With all the hard work they put in at Puerto Rico this year, we're hoping for some great diving at Conference this year, and maybe a few National Qualifiers.

-Coach Stan Randall

Senior Andrew Snead and junior Kevin Martin
experimenting with synchro diving.

The girls before dinner :)

The team on it's way to practice.

Enjoying dinner out on the town.

Ryan Cook and junior Kevin Martin working
on their synchro. Just for fun.

Seniors Jack Foreman, Rebecca Parrish and junior Kristin Nordstrom
showing us just how awesome the sun, sand, and surf in Puerto Rico is!

Coach Randall stops to pose with some of the divers before dinner.

The team out on the town.

TU DIVING!

Divers Katie Sheldon, Ruth Hahn, Gabi Caglieris,
Madison Kahler and Rebecca Parrish in their snorkel gear.

Building a shelter on the desert island... You never know
when a little shade will come in handy!

Winter Training Camp: Swimming Week #1

2011-01-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

The swimming team returned to San Antonio just after Christmas to partake in our annual winter training camp, ready for a couple of weeks of intense practices as we rebound from finals and a short recess. Our first practice took place on the evening of Monday, January 27th, and was chased by a good meal at the Quarry Market California Pizza Kitchen. Morale was good, though everyone would have loved
a few more days at home (enjoying mom's cooking and all that).

The rest of the week was tough.
We run a single and then two days of doubles, and did that twice before taking Sunday off. Our kids were tired by end of practice on Saturday. We are swimming well, kicking hard, and eating a lot. A steady supply of bagels and fruit is on hand before, during, and after every practice. Our trainers keep a cooler full of cold water on the deck, and the pool sound system keeps us supplied with a steady stream of good tunes. Trinity has the best dorms in the nation and our administration has provided us with a generous food allowance. This WTC is about as economical as it can possibly get. The only investment our team has to make is time and energy and they are performing well on that count.

A bit of noteworthy news for our fans. Sophomore, Lisa Tucci, last year's SCAC 400 IM champion and our team's conference meet high point athlete, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer just after exams. She struggled with fatigue all this past fall, but had a good attitude and did an excellent job with her academic course work. She had surgery on New Year's Eve and is now recovering at home. We miss her and hope she'll be back with us soon. A tough kid, no doubt! That's what we mean by BE A TIGER!!

Here's wishing each and every person reading our Trinity University Swimming and Diving Blog a very Happy New Year. We hope 2011 is great in every way and wish you success in all your endeavors!!

-Coach Ryan

Image #1 Ana Price, Kristen Zinser, and Andrew Battles at California Pizza Kitchen the first night of Winter Training.
Image #2 Members of the women's swim team before closing out the night's workout with an abdominal set.

Andrew Battles, Eric Bassett, and Zach Dielmann pose for a picture before stretching out after practice.

Lucas Belury, Michael Brew, and Matt Wey just before stretching out after practice. You may think Brew posed for this picture, but I caught Brew doing what he does 90% of the time!

The women's team going through their abdominals after practice. It may not be fun now, but they'll be thankful they did it later!

A few weight lifting die hards, Jennifer Ince, Melanie Gustafson, Morgan Briggs, and Leslie Butts at Tomatillos on New Year's Eve.

Members of the men's team enjoying a New Year's Eve dinner at Tomatillos after a hard practice!

Rose Hulman Diving Invitational

2010-12-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

Trinity's diving team traveled to Terra Haute, Indiana on the weekend of December 3 - 4 to compete with six colleges and universities in an invitational diving meet at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. They left sunny San Antonio Friday morning and were treated to 3 inches of snow in the shilly northern plain of Indiana. They did not, however, get cold feet - the team competed well and represented Trinity in fine fashion with some "hot" diving.

The Lady Tigers opened Friday's 3 - meter session with a 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 9 finish, with defending NCAA 3 - meter champion Hayley Emericak leading the way 510.5 points. Hot on her trail were Katie Sheldon (436.6) and Ruth Hahn (427.85).
All three divers exceeded the NCAA entry consideration point standard. Madison Kahler had a great night, and was chased closely throughout the session by Krsitin Nordstrom, Gabi Caglieris, and Rebecca Parrish.

The next day, the Tigers continued to dominate the field. Hayley, Katie, and Ruth again went 1 - 2 - 3 by scoring 451.6, 409.75, and 405.85 points respectively. Gabi finished 5th with 334.75 points, while Kristin just edged out Madison and Rebecca to take the 9 - 10 - 11 spots. Look for all three of them to move up the totem pole in February when they attend the SCAC Championships. Ten days of great training in Puerto Rico will sharpen the entire team's skills, and the addition of Amy Oliver and Lynn Bettinger will make the Tiger diving team even more formidable when they travel to Shenandoah, Texas for their 2010 Conference meet.

The Tiger men had a good weekend, as well, with Andrew Snead and Jack Foreman representing TU with a good bit of flair. Tyler Clingerman of Lincoln College, the NAIA National Champion, won both boards with more than 100 points to spare and definitely showed the men's field how it's done. Andrew finished 5th on 1 - meter with 342.1 points and duplicated that finish during Saturday's 3 - meter competition when he hit 347.2 points. Meanwhile, Jack hit 300.6 points in the 1 - meter event and then followed that by tallying 329.25 points on the 3 - meter board. Both are on track for a solid conference championship meet, where they will be joined by junior Kevin Martin (who was studying abroad in Australia this fun).

Next stop, Puerto Rico - lots of sun and no snowball fights there!

-Coach Ryan

Image #1 Members of the TU Diving Team
Image #2 Kristin Nordstrom shaking off the remnants of a snowball!

Sophomore Madison Kahler checking out the snow.

Getting ready to hurl a few snowballs...

...at Coach Randall! He narrowly missed a few well aimed snowballs.

Members of the women's diving team!

Building snowmen. Such a winter treat!

First Year Katie Sheldon enjoying the snow :)

Tiger Southwest Shootout Invitational

2010-11-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

We traveled to the DFW metroplex this past Friday morning in order to attend the TU Southwestern Shootout Invitational, an event we invented a bunch of years ago to give us a good competitive meet just before Thanksgiving. This year, we hosted eleven schools representing six different states at the Carroll ISD Natatorium in Southlake, TX. Coach Bill Christensen (North Texas Nadadores) served as meet director, and again did an outstanding job coordinating all facets of the meet.

We swam pretty well. Not great, but a pretty solid collection of performances after several weeks of hard training. Our women took top team honors, outscoring Mesa State, Grand Canyon University, and Centenary by a 814.5 - 740.5 - 673.5 - 601.5 margin. Mesa State took the men's meet, by outgunning Centenary, Trinity, and Grand Canyon to the tune of 827 - 796 - 582 - 572.5.

FY Melanie Gustafson had another good weekend of racing. She recorded a 5:19.22 in the 500, putting her in the runner-up spot on the SCAC best times list. Her 4:50.15 in the 400 IM is the SCAC's 4th best performance, while her evenly paced 18:29.73 in the mile has her the current SCAC runner-up there. Meghan Varner and Morgan Briggs hit several season PRs, with Varner now in the three spot among conference 500 competitors and Briggs jumping to 5th in the SCAC in the 200 breaststroke. Jennifer Ince keeps dropping time in the backstroke events. Rachel Berude posted several good freestyle times, and Lisa Tucci is looking and racing better with each passing week. Not to be overlooked, Ana Price hit a 25.35 in the 50 freestyle and is now on the top of the SCAC leaderboard in the short sprint. More training will hopefully help everybody keep getting better.

Our divers performed quite well both days and on both boards. Competing against both NCAA Division I and II athletes, All-American Hayley Emerick won both the 1-meter six dive and the 1-meter 11 dive events, both with NCAA entry scores (273.65 and 464.85 points). Katie Sheldon and Ruth Hahn finished 2 - 3 in the 1-meter eleven dive contest, each hitting the NCAA entry point total in the process. Ruth finished runner-up to Mary Beth Gesse of North Texas in the 3-meter six dive event, and then edged by Hayley (457.1 to 440.0) to win the 3-meter eleven dive competition. The scores put both on the NCAA entry list.

Most of our men competed with a lot of pizazz, and some had top 5 finishes in several of their races. FY Lucas Belury came to race, and was the sole TU event winner for the weekend. After posting good times in the 500 and 400 IM, he got disqualified in the 200 fly after posting a 1:57.77 (which would have ranked him 3rd in the SCAC top times chart). To his credit, he came back an hour later with a 16:26.38 in the 1650 freestyle to win the event. He had to reel in team-mates Alex Miranda (16:33.01) and Andrew Battles (16:38.19) over the last 700 yards of the race, no easy feat as Alex is the SCAC 500 freestyle record holder and Battles holds the best-ever SCAC mile time. Mirand, Battles, and Belury went 2 - 3 - 4 in the Southwestern Shootout 500, posting the season's top 3 conference times in that event (4:46.00, 4:46.38, and 4:47.61). Miranda was runner-up in the 400 IM (4:13.21), Battles hit 1:59.10 in the 200 backstroke, and Aaron Shaver had improved performances in his freestyle races (22.39, 49.39, and 1:48.91). Sophomore Sean Fronczak had his best meet of the fall, finishing 3rd in the 200 IM (1:57.87) and 3rd in the 200 backstroke (1:57.23). Those put him at the top of the SCAC leaderboard in both of those events.

Andrew Snead and Richard Hawley led the TU men's diving team this weekend, finishing 3 - 5 in the 1-meter six dive and 3 - 4 in the 1-meter eleven dive events. They scored out the same in the men's 3-meter six dive and the 3-meter eleven dive contests, tallying 391.55 and 329.35 points in the latter event. Coach Randall had an interesting observation about the team's diving over the weekend. "We were awful in the warm-up and then dove great in the meet. I like that better than the reverse. By the end of the season, we want to dive great both ways!"

-Coach Ryan

Images:
#1 Leigh-Anne Ladymon prepares to anchor the 400 FR Relay.
#2 Senior swimmers Kristen Zinser, Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Sara Griffis and Mary West before the last session of the night.
#3 A few of the mile swimmers from left to right: Michael Brew, Lucas Belury (Event Winner), and Andrew Battles.

FY Swimmers Meghan Varner, Lucas Belury, and Marisa Olmo. Leigh-Anne Ladymon and Mary Price make sure to jump in the picture too!

Junior Eric Bassett preparing for his exchange on the men's "B" 400 FR Relay.

CJ Robison preparing to anchor the men's "A" 400 FR Relay!

Sean Fronzcak and CJ Robison celebrating after the 400 FR Relay.

It's high fives all around with FY Meghan Varner!

CJ Robison pictured with Mary West after swimming the anchor leg in the men's "A" 400 FR Relay.

Seniors Kristen Zinser and Mary West before warm-up Saturday night, both ready to compete!

Swimmers and divers catching some zzz's in between events. (From l to r: Andrew Snead, Hayley Emerick, and Eric Bassett)

Leigh-Anne Ladymon and Mary West, swimming buddies :)

Andrew Battles and Michael Brew, psyching up for the mile that night.

Michael Brew, Lucas Belury, and Andrew Battles, a few of our toughest milers!

TWSD Carbo Loads for the Shootout

2010-11-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

No swim team is complete without a little team bonding, and no team bonding experience is complete without a little pasta. Or in this case, a lot of pasta! Senior swimmers Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Mary West, Kristen Zinser, and Sara Griffis hosted a pasta dinner for the women's swim team the night before leaving for the Trinity University Southwestern Shootout.
-Assistant Coach Leta

Seniors Kristen Zinser and Leigh-Anne Ladymon display some of the eats!

Morgan Briggs, Mary Price, and Ana Price as they await the call to dinner.

FYs Marisa Olmo, Melanie Gustafson, and Meghan Varner.

Mary Price digs into the yummy lasagna that Leigh-Anne and Mary made for the first time ever.

Who wants a cookie? Rachel Berude, Marisa, and Melanie do!

Lisa Tucci using her muscles to get a little dessert.

Trinity vs McMurry University

2010-11-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a good day. We put in a tough, challenging week of training and then finished that off with a dual meet against McMurry of Abilene. Everyone was up early for a 90 minute practice, enjoyed a good breakfast, and then caught some rest prior to the meet’s 1:30 pm start time. Admissions had a “Trinity-In-Focus” session for prospective students going all morning and up through mid-afternoon, so we had several recruits from both Texas and around the country here visiting. That was cool!

We moved some swimmers around a little bit and got to see some close races, with a number of our entries counting as exhibition swims rather than maxing out the point tally. Final score for the women’s meet was 129 to 90, while our men tallied a 144 to 62 point win.

Event winners for our women’s team included Morgan Briggs, Mary Price, Rachel Berude, Marisa Olmo, Leslie Butts, Lisa Tucci, Melanie Gustafson, Leigh-Anne Ladymon and Ana Price. Sophomore Madison Kahler captured wins in both diving events, her first collegiate “double” as a Tiger.

Our men scored a number of wins as well. Andrew Battles, Sean Fronczak, Drew Cauthorn, Michael Patton, Lucas Belury, Aaron shaver, Alex Miranda, CJ Robison, Mike Brew, Matt Wey, and Zach Dielmann al earned first place finishes in one or more races. Miranda’s 9:54.35 time in the 1000 freestyle may have been the best men’s swim of the day, with Battle’s conference leading 100 backstroke (54.32), and Fronczak’s 200 IM (2:02.83) as well as his two fast relay legs right there contending. Senior Andrew Snead led the diving field on both the 1-meter and the 3-meter boards.

This next weekend we travel to Dallas to attend an invitational meet we “invented” several years ago. Hosted by Carroll ISD in Southlake (TX), the 2010 Trinity Southwest Shootout will include 11 colleges and universities from, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The three session affair will be both fun and fast!!

-Coach Ryan

TU - UTPB - UIW Dual Meets

2010-11-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a tough one. We've been training hard, most of the  team is pretty tired, and almost everyone has been dealing with  tests/exams/papers/etc. Such is college life. Weeks like this are unavoidable.  How swimmers handle them is important. Managing one's time well and staying on  task is critical to having a good season (September to February or March).  Sometimes it's no picnic - but it is important to keep trying to do things  RIGHT, no matter what.

Yesterday, we swam at 9am (4,300 yds) and then met at the University of the  Incarnate Word Natatorium at 1:30 pm for an afternoon double dual meet with the  UIW Cardinals and the University of Texas at Permian Basin. Both of our  opponents are NCAA Division II programs, and the host's men are going to have a  shot at an NCAA team title this year. We knew we would see some fast swimming.  Our women outscored UTPB 153 to 109, while coming up on the short end of the  scoring with UIW (96 to 179). UTPB clipped our guys 146 to 120 and UIW did  likewise to the tune of 200 to 76. We had a couple of conference champions  absent from our men's line-up (Andrew Battles and Spencer Bard), but it was  still a pretty good shellacking.

We had some good racing and some noteable performances. Melanie Gustafson  had three good races (200 fly, 500 free, and the 400 IM) and is proving herself  to be a tough cookie, both in practices and meets. Morgan Briggs, Jennifer Ince,  Rachel Berude, Kristen Zinser, and Lisa Tucci have been working hard and raced  well on Saturday, contributing to our win over UTPB. Leigh-Anne Ladymon, who has  been struggling with injury this fall, is rehabilitating well and getting  stronger week by week. She recorded a 1:01.59 in the 100 butterfly yesterday,  which is exciting to see. She and Mary West are going to be crtitical pieces in  our conference meet line-up this coming February. Meghan Varner's times didn't  reflect the training speed we've seen in practice, and her timing was off on a  couple of her finishes, but we are confident she's going to help us big time at  season's end. Ditto Leslie Butts, who has been down with illness, but who has  been working hard in practice. Our divers, of course, did their thing and did it  pretty well. First-year Kathryn Sheldon beat senior All-American Hayley Emerick  and sophomore Ruth Hahn on the 1-meter board, leading TU to a 1 - 2 - 3 finish.  Hayley then snagged the 3-meter win, with a solid 285.85 point performance. We  went 1 - 2 - 3 there as well, with Ruth and Katie trailing Trinity's defending  NCAA champion on her best board.

Lucas Belury was the top Trinity performer in the men's meet yesterday -  hitting a 10:01.67 in the 1000 freestyle and recording a 4:50.10 in the 500  freestyle. Both are conference-best performances to date. Too bad Andrew Battles  wasn't here to race him, although UIW men were plenty fast in both events. With  the exception of Matt Wey's 100 breaststroke and Alex Miranda's 200 butterfly  (1:57.42), we were pretty uninspiring with our racing going into the meet's  first diving break. On the bright side, Aaron Shaver, CJ Robison, Michael  Patton, Eric Bassett, and company have been training well. They're tired, but we  still need to see them step up and RACE on game day. Aaron and CJ came back in  the 100 and did just that, which was good to see. Sean Fronczak's 200 backstroke  (2:02.46) was a better race than his 100, and Arthur Daigh chased him home to  record a 2:05.77. Alex followed his solid 200 fly with good performances in both  the 200 back and the 400 IM (4:18.18). Matt hit a season PR in the 200  breaststroke, and both Zach and Drew Cauthorn popped good 100 fly swims. We got  better as the evening progressed. Andrew Snead and Matt Hawley led our divers,  with Andrew twice taking runner-up honors to UIW's All-American Justin  McDonald.

Next meet up is McMurry University on Saturday the 13th. Our admissions  office is conducting a Trinity-in-Focus session that day, so we will be hosting  several prospective student-athletes who have elected to visit our campus and  spend time getting to know our team and the whole Trinity scene. The weather has  been beautiful lately. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be  blessed with another glorious weekend. GO TIGERS!

-Coach Ryan

Trinity University vs. University of New Orleans

2010-10-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

Last night our men and women competed in a dual meet with the University of New Orleans, an NCAA Division I program that is currently "transitioning" to Division III. Our men outscored the Pirates 135 to 75, and our women's team topped our visitors 128 to 66.

We put in a very solid week of training after last weekend’s Florida travel trip, so we were plenty tired going into this meet. Despite that, many of our swims were faster than our Rollins/Tampa ventures.

Andrew Battles won three freestyle races (1:48.43 in the 200, 4:53.90 in the 500, and 10:04.03 in the 1000) to lead the way for our home boys. Alex Miranda captured a win in the 200IM (2:02.74) and swam a good “exhibition” time in the 1000 (10:08.86). Team co-captain Matt Wey posted an excellent early season time in the 200 freestyle (1:50.20) and won the 100 breaststroke (1:03.91). Sean Fronczak took the 100 backstroke (56.01), as Trinity won the majority of the individual events contested. Lucas Belury, Aaron Shaver, CJ Robinson, Zach Dielmann, and rookie Michael Patton all swam well while contributing to Trinity‘s win. In addition, Andrew Snead and Matt Hawley showed good form on both boards in a diving match-up with the University of Incarnate word.

On the women’s side, freshman Melanie Gustafson had another weekend of good racing. Her wins were in the 200 free (2:03.82) and the 1000 free (11:09.53) we all but expected after completing a week of impressive training sessions. Morgan Briggs was a double event winner, taking the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Jennifer Ince has been showing more speed in practice (good news after knee surgery in May) and did well in her 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke races. Ana Price’s 55.77 in the 100 freestyle was faster than any of her early season swims in the fall of 2009, so she’s off to a great start for our current campaign. Kristen Zinser, Mary Price, Marisa Olmo, Leslie Butts, and Meghan Varner all followed a hard week of training with good competitive swims against the ladies from UNO. NCAA 3-Meter diving champion Hayley Emerick topped the field in the 1-Meter event, while sophomore Ruth Hahn showed she has plenty of talent by outscoring TU’s All-American on the 3-Meter board (231.55 to 226.70). Coach Stan Randall’s diving team is deep and talented, as proven by the performances delivered by Gabriella Caglieris, Rebecca Parrish, and Kristin Nordstrom.

We had four women out of our Friday night line-up for one reason or another, so we anticipate putting a stronger team in the water two weeks from now when we go at it with the University of Texas at Permian Basin here in San Antonio.

-Coach Ryan

Florida Trip

2010-10-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! We just finished a very busy weekend of traveling and competing in central Florida. Our Tiger team flew over to Orlando on the 14th, a day before TU's Friday "Fall Break" holiday. We got an afternoon training session in at Rollins College, and had a relaxing evening hanging out at a Courtyard by Marriot. The next day and a half was anything but relaxing!

Friday morning we swam a long warm-up session at the Lake Highland Prep's beautiful long course outdoor pool. We followed that with a late afternoon meet with Rollins, posting plenty of good performances on the way to two team wins (TU's men outscored Rollins 120 to 84 and the Tiger women took their meet by a score of 115 to 89).

After getting nipped in a tight 200 medley relay race to open the meet, Trinity ran off a string of six straight wins to take control of the meet early. Melanie Gustafson (1000 freestyle 11:00.76), Meghan Varner (200 freestyle 2:01.99), Ana Price (50 freestyle 25.48), Morgan Briggs (200 IM 2:18.31), and Leslie Butts (100 butterfly 1:00.72) combined to win enough races to assure the Tigers of a win in Orlando. While Rollins then won the 100 backstroke and the 500 freestyle, Morgan Briggs came back to win the 100 breaststroke and the TU 200 freestyle relay stepped up to win a tight race in the meet's final event. It was a good evening for Trinity's women, who will be seeking an 8th consecutive SCAC team title in Houston this coming February.

Our men opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay (Sean Fronczak, Matt Wey, Zach Dielmann, and Spencer Bard taking honors), giving TU a lead we would never surrender over the course of the evening. Andrew Battles and Lucas Belury then posted solid times while finishing 1 - 2 in the 1000 (10:03.27 and 10:08.73), reinforcing the winning tradition that Trinity has established in the men's distance swimming. While Rollins won the 200, TU then reeled off 3 straight wins to pretty much put the meet away. Aaron Shaver took the 50 with a 22.54, Alex Miranda won the 200 IM clocking a 2:02.61, and Spencer Bard captured the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.83. Miranda and Belury later went 1 - 2 in the 500 (4:52.96 and 4:56.25) and Matt Wey captured the 100 breaststroke (1:03.67) to put the frosting on the cake for the Tigers. A win on the road is always nice!

That same night we aimed our bus toward Florida's west coast and made the drive to Tampa. Late to bed and early to rise makes the team healthy, wealthy, and tired. We weren't truly ready for a meet with one of the NCAA's best Division II programs. Our swimmers were positive about the challenge, but we were weary and our performances reflected that fact. Melanie Gustafson's 2:12.57 was the winning time in the 200 butterfly and was Trinity's best swim of the day. Melanie recorded a win in the 500 freestyle, as well, but she was just about as fast on her way to the 1000 against Rollins the previous night. Mary Price (100 butterfly) and Lisa Tucci (400 IM) also posted wins, and Jennifer Ince finished runner-up in both backstrokes.

Our men fared a little better against the Spartan men than our women did versus their counterparts. Alex Miranda won the 200 butterfly (1:59.68) and the 400 IM (4:21.55), both good early season times. Andrew Battles took the 500 (4:59.86) and led TU to a 1 - 2 - 3 finish in the 1000 (10:21.78) - just edging first-year Arthur Daigh's 10:23.93 (JJ Lubinski was third overall). Sean Fronczak competed well in the backstrokes, winning the 200 with a 2:02.27, and both Matt Wey and Aaron Shaver showed they are preparing for a good season by virtue of their competitiveness on a day when most of their team-mates were looking tired. Two meets within a 20 hour stretch with a long bus ride will do that to you. Builds character, right??

We'll need a little of that (character), as well as speed and toughness if we are going to be ready to swim fast at the end of the season. We have a meet next weekend at home (University of New Orleans), and then three in a row come November. Hopefully, we'll post some good times in Dallas on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Time flies, so we'll get to that point in the season quicker than you might think. Go Tigers!!!

-Coach Ryan

Images:

#1 SR Sara Griffis warming up at Lake Highland Prep

#2 JR Andrew Battles after the meet with Rollins

#3 FYs Morgan Briggs, Meghan Varner, Marisa Olmo, Melanie Gustafson, & Megan O'Rell from l to r
#4 Members of TMSD

#5 Members of TWSD

St. Croix Coral Reef 5 Mile Open Water Race

2010-10-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Trinity seniors Mary West, Sara Griffis, Kristen Zinser, and Leigh-Anne Ladymon are back on campus today after spending a long weekend in St. Croix, where they each competed yesterday in one of two spectacular open water races held annually to in order to fundraise for The Nature Conservancy’s program to protect the coral reefs of the Virgin Islands.

The TU women traveled to St. Croix with assistant coach Leta Gatton. The day before the races, our travel party enjoyed a snorkeling venture at Buck Island’s National Coral Reef Underwater Park – a truly unique experience that they’ll all remember as one of the highlights to their Trinity swimming experience.

Mary and Sara competed in the Coral Reef 5-mile Open Water Race. Mary was the first swimmer out of the ocean at the Buccaneer Hotel’s Mermaid Beach, but lost a short dash to the finish line to Meredith Jones of Pennsylvania. Mary recorded a time of 2:15.11. Sara finished 9^th overall with a time of 2:28.28. In the Coral Reef 2-Mile Open Water Race, Kristen Zinser finished 2^nd overall with a time of 58:17 and Leigh-Anne Ladymon placed 4^th overall with a time of 1:03.02.

-Coach Ryan

Images:

#1 Celebrating some great TU finishes with Misty Hyman. From l to r: Kristen Zinser, Sara Griffis, Misty Hyman, Leigh-Anne Ladymon, Leta Gatton, and Mary West

#2 Just before snorkeling off Buck Island.

#3 Buck Island, the only underwater national park in the US. Definitely a must see.

#4 Sara Griffis and Mary West, representing TU in the 5 mile race.

For more information on the race visit: www.swimrace.com

ASA Collegiate National 5K Open Water Championships

2010-10-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today we took the team up to Lake Travis, just a bit to the west of Austin, to compete in the ASA Collegiate National 5K Open Water Championships. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and the water was relatively calm and not cold (as it was in November of 2009). Perfect conditions for an open water competition!

Our women finished 3^rd overall, behind Texas A&M and Rice. Rita Medrano of Texas A&M was the event winner. Leading the way for our Tiger team was Melanie Gustafson, posting a time of 1:09:36.47. Trinity’s next four fastest women were Meghan Varner, Morgan Briggs, Marisa Olmo, and Lisa Tucci. All were happy to finish and relieved to have had no encounters with any of the unusual Lake Travis ‘critters’ such as piranhas, barracudas, water moccasins, etc. (Just kidding)

The men’s race was a cake-walk, as Trinity was the only men’s team signed up for the 5K venture. Alex Miranda captured the men’s win, clocking 1:06:12.93. He was followed by Arthur Daigh and Sean Fronczak.

ASA founder and race director Dr. Keith Bell is hopeful that more schools will discover this race and add it to their schedule. It’s a great way to start the "indoor" season and provides all participants with an opportunity to try something “out of the box” (make that “pool”). It’s cool!

-Coach Ryan

Images:

#1 The start of the 5K

#2 The Trinity Women's team before the start of the 5K

#3 The top 3 male finishers: Arthur Daigh (2nd), Alex Miranda (1st), and Sean Fronczak (3rd)

Marisa Olmo, Mary Price, and Lisa Tucci test out the waters before beginning the race.

The team, after finishing the 5K!

FY Morgan Briggs...The 5K didn't stand a chance. She looks like she could take on another!

FY Meghan Varner commenting about how she kept swimming, but the little orange buoy never got any closer!

The men's team, looking a little tired after the 5K.

FY Megan O'Rell and SO Michael Patton after completing their first open water swim.

Trinity men's swimming team: the first place team on the men's side!

Tubing the Guadalupe

2010-09-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Like to go tubing down a south central Texas river? Most of our swimmers and divers made the short trip up to Gruene, Texas, late yesterday morning so that they could go tubing together on the scenic Guadalupe River.

The weather was pleasant throughout the early part of the afternoon, and the ride was relatively quiet and quite enjoyable. A couple of stops along the way to swing on ropes hanging off some of the tall cypress trees that line the Guadalupe’s shore gave some of the team a chance to show their stuff. There were also several short stretches of rapids, which livened things up a bit as our swimmers and divers meandered their way towards New Braunfels. Things got even livelier near the end of the day, as a storm blew in and the team was treated to some torrential rain and some strong winds – an amazing experience!

After exiting the river at the Rockin’ R’s pick-up point, the team returned to Gruene and then headed for Rudy’s Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels to chub on grub before heading back to San Antonio. They were on the T.U. campus before 6:00 pm, which still left everyone with some play time Saturday night.

The time spent tubing was fun and the ‘team bonding’ made the experience even better.

-Coach Ryan

Trinity University vs. McMurry

2010-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Trinity’s men and women swimmers trekked up I-10 to Abilene on Saturday afternoon to compete in dual meets with McMurry University. The Tigers returned home twice winners (men 113 – 83 and women 112 – 56) after posting some good results despite being relatively wiped out following three weeks of intense post-holiday training.

Trinity opened the meet with wins in both the women’s 200 medley relay (Kristen Zinser, Sara Griffis, Leslie Butts, and Renee Ulrich) and the men’s 200 medley relay (Sean Fronczak, Audel Mehrinfar, Spencer Bard, and Sean Benton). T.U. jumped to a quick lead after the opening bell and never looked back. Event winners for the Tiger women included Lisa Tucci (200 freestyle), Kristen Zinser (100 backstroke), Kate O’Brien (500 freestyle), Sara Griffis (100 breaststroke), Ana Price (50 and 100 freestyle), and Renee Ulrich (200 IM and 100 freestyle).

T.U. had six men rack up 7 wins over the course of the afternoon meet. Alex Miranda (200 IM), Zach Dielmann (100 backstroke), Matt Wey (500 freestyle), Audel Mehrinfar (100 breaststroke), Andrew Battles (1000 freestyle), and Graham Mullings (100 and 200 freestyle) all captured races in Abilene.

On the diving boards, Trinity’s Ruth Hahn won the 1-meter competition with a score of 291.55 by outscoring team-mate Lynne Bettinger (285.15). They then reversed that finish in the 3-meter event, with Bettinger putting up a 311.20 point total against Hahn’s 291.20. Both hit the NCAA championship consideration score and both finished ahead of two NCAA All-Americans in the process (the Tigers own Lindsay Martin and Hailey Emerick). Andrew Snead led the T.U. men with solid performances on both boards.

-Coach Ryan

Trinity University vs. Southwestern

2009-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was highlighted by Trinity's first dual meet of the year. All in all, things went well - although many of our kids were a little tired from our training sessions, the usual rigors of academia, and the occasional "bugs" that put college students on their tail ends for a day or two (dorm life and/or lack of sleep).

Our women outscored Southwestern 167 - 81, and our men tallied a 181 - 57 win in a meet that witnessed some of the SCAC's leading performances of the season. We didn't score diving, but All-Americans Hayley Emerick and Lindsay Martin both tallied NCAA "reportable" entry scores.
Swimmers achieving top-of-conference times (for the fall of 2009 to date) included sophomore Alex Miranda (1:59.20 in the 200 butterfly), sophomore Andrew Battles (4:49.14 in the 500 freestyle), FY Sean Fronczak (55.87 in the 100 backstroke), and FY Lisa Tucci (5:21.43 in the 500 freestyle and 2:13.53 in the 200 butterfly).

Other event winners for Trinity's women were junior Mary West (1000 freestyle), FY Rachel Berude (200 freestyle), FY Leslie Butts (200 IM), junior Kristin Zinser (100 backstroke), junior Leigh-Anne Ladymon (100 butterfly), and FY Ana Price (50 and 100 freestyle). Men winning races for the Tigers included senior Graham Mullings (50 freestyle), FY CJ Robison (100 freestyle), FY Spencer Bard (100 butterfly), and FY Audel Mehrinfar (100 and 200 breaststroke). In addition to their aforementioned wins, Andrew Battles also won the 200 freestyle, Sean Fronczak took the 200 backstroke, and Alex Miranda captured the 200 IM.

This coming weekend, we will travel to the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex to compete in an eight team invitational meet at the Carroll ISD Natatorium in Southlake. The three session meet always offers up terrific competition for our athletes, so we are looking forward to some exciting racing. We'll warm up at home on Friday morning and then bus north on I-35 so that we are ready for the meet's opening session at 7:00. We'll be staying at the Marriott-Solana in Westlake.

Aside from swimming and diving, we want to offer a hearty congratulations to Trinity's volleyball team for accomplishing two upset victories (defending NCAA champion Emory and 2009 SCAC Champions Southwestern) on their way to the NCAA Regional title this past weekend. The Tigers are practicing and competing as a team. By working together, they are accomplishing great things. Way to go Tigers!!!

-Coach Ryan

ASA Collegiate 5K 2009

2009-11-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, November 7th, our swimmers arrived at Hixon Natatorium at 7:30 AM, swam a one hour warm-up, made a fast stop at Mabee Dining Hall, and then boarded a 55 passenger Star Shuttle Bus for a leisurely drive up I-35 to Lake Travis (northwest of Austin).

That was the prelude to our 11:00 AM starting horn for the ASA Collegiate 5-Kilometer Open Water Championships. The weather was mild, the lake was mostly calm, and the water a bit cool - awesome conditions for open water racing. Andrew Battles successfully defended his 2008 men's crown, winning the 2009 title over what proved to be a slightly longer course (3.6 miles) with a time of 1:00.23. Runner-up honors went to JJ Lubinski (1:04.59), with Sean Fronczak (1:05.15) finishing in the number three spot. The winner of the women's race was Mary West, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1:05.55. She was followed by Lisa Tucci (1:06.21) and Vanessa Scaringi of UT (1:06.23). Leslie Butts finished fourth with a time of 1:10.44.

This marks Trinity's second appearance at this event, which will likely be moved to early October next fall. That will hopefully encourage more college coaches to consider bringing some or all of their teams to this "out of the box" event. Trinity's swimmers had a fun and memorable experience, and we didn't experience any shark or barracuda attacks during the event (although 2 or 3 swimmers swam a little off course during the first half of the race). A good meal courtesy of Chik-Fil-A and a fast ride home (back in San Antonio at 4:30PM) made a good trip even better. Next up is a dual meet on the 14th with Southwestern University!

-Coach Ryan

The Month of November...

2009-11-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Our teams have been training hard and are ready to jump in the pool and compete. This weekend (November 7) we’ll be at Lake Travis, (northwest of Austin) for the ASA collegiate 5 kilometer Open Water Swim. The forecast is for sunny weather and our swimmers are going to be challenged by the fact that there are no lane lines on the bottom of the lake. We then host Southwestern on November 14th, followed by a weekend invitational on November 20th – 21st in Southlake, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth). There will be 8 or 9 schools attending that meet, so our swimmers and divers will both see lots of good competition. This is going to be a busy month!

-Coach Ryan