2008-09 Season Preview: Huskers Look to Regain Top Big 12 Spot

The 2008-09 swimming and diving team is full of potential and promise, and is one that head coach Pablo Morales sees going far. After going 7-2 last season, including winning every home dual, the Huskers are aiming for new heights, including more top finishes at the Big 12 Championships this February.

Led by a group of five seniors, including four who have been in Lincoln since their freshman year, the Huskers have the benefit of a veteran foundation at the top of their lineup. C.J. Bray, Courtney Jolly, Jenna Stroud, Jenny Toler and Christina Yemm will all be counted on this year to provide leadership to the young Husker team, which features 17 underclassmen.

“It’s a strong class,” Morales said about his five seniors. “What’s great about this class is that they’ve worked hard, and they’ve been great examples for everybody else. It’s a good-sized class, which is what you hope for, and we’re looking for great things from them.”

Jolly, who hails from Plantation, Fla., has anchored the Nebraska diving team for the last couple seasons and will be counted on more than ever this year, as only her and sophomore Emily Burbach return from the 2007-08 diving squad.

“Courtney has developed extremely well in the time that she’s been here,” Morales said. “She’s been getting the most out of her talent, and taking that to a higher level every year. In the last couple seasons we’ve seen some real breakthroughs from a competitive standpoint. She had a great summer, and competed in U.S. Nationals. She’s ready to have a great year.”

C.J. Bray, out of Omaha, was recruited by Nebraska out of high school but committed to swim at Wyoming. She returned to her home-state Huskers in her sophomore season and will be entering her third and final season at Nebraska in 2008-09.

“It’s been great to see her enthusiasm and her development in the last couple years,” Morales said about Bray. “She put in a great year last year, and a great spring and summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing her wrap up her collegiate career on a high level. We’re going to lean on not only her swimming skills, but her leadership as well.”

Two of Nebraska’s seniors, Jenny Toler and Christina Yemm, came to Nebraska from Illinois. Both have contributed greatly to the team in their first three seasons and, like the rest of the senior class, will be relied on to perform even better in their final season. Toler, who has been a freestyle specialist for the Huskers during her time in Lincoln, set two career-best times in 2007-08, and has been showing signs of beating those marks as a senior with her improvements over the spring and summer.

“Jenny is certainly someone we’ve relied on very heavily in the sprints and the middle-distance freestyle,” Morales said. “She’s been consistent and has improved every year. She’s showed that focus and determination to get to a higher level, so we’re looking forward to seeing that come out her senior year.”

Yemm has been asked to swim in a myriad of events for Nebraska, and she has embraced every role she’s been asked to take on. After primarily swimming in the butterfly events her freshman and sophomore years, Yemm focused on the backstroke last season, in addition to the 200- and 400-yard Individual Medley.

“Christina has been tremendous for us,” Morales said. “She’s been willing to do anything asked of her to help improve the team. Last year we asked her to extend herself from the 200 IM all the way to the 400 IM, which is quite a big move for anybody. She’s stepped up in those roles and has done well and has improved, regardless of her role.”

Lincoln native Jenna Stroud rounds out the senior class for the Huskers. A product of LincolnEastHigh School, Stroud has been apart of Nebraska’s sprint-freestyle corps since she first stepped on campus as a freshman. Stroud had a fantastic sophomore season, but struggled at times to regain that form in her junior year. Morales is confident that Stroud can again meet and surpass the success she had as a sophomore.

“Jenna has sort of been our anchor in our sprint corps,” said Morales. “She’s been a great leader for our team. She’s a great person, and is well-liked by her teammates. Last year, she kind of hit a little bit of a plateau, and we’re wanting her very much to bounce back from that, and we know that she will. Knowing the person that she is and the character that she has, she’ll be able to bounce back and really finish out with the great senior year that she deserves, because she’s put so much in our program.”

The five seniors will be instrumental in helping Nebraska achieve its goals in the 2008-09 season. One of which is to secure the team’s spot atop the Big 12 North.

“We don’t feel it’s acceptable to have a lesser goal than being the top team in the North, and that has to be our objective,” Morales said. “Though by all accounts we had a pretty good performance at our conference meet (last year), we can’t accept being the sixth team in the conference. Nobody wants that. So certainly, first and foremost, what’s on our mind is doing whatever it takes to elevate ourselves from that sixth position and really have the objective of at the very least being the top North team.”

Morales also wants the team to return to the dominance it displayed in the 1990s, when it won seven out of nine conference meets from 1990-1998. Nebraska’s best finish in the 2000s in the conference meet has been third, most recently achieved four years ago in 2005.

“We hit a high point a few years ago with the third-place finish at conference,” Morales said. “That probably represents our biggest challenge - breaking through and going after those Texas teams is going to be tough. It’s a great challenge, one that we’re eager to face, but at the same time, to be on top of the North schools, who are all improving, is another challenge for us.”

Helping the seniors achieve their goals will be a strong junior class, which includes three swimmers who were finalists in events at last year’s Big 12 Championships - Kaitlin Arntz, Hailey Dean and Mariah Hutchinson. Hutchinson turned in a terrific season in 2007-08 and capped it off by qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly.

“I think it’s safe to say that Mariah made a quantum jump last year,” Morales said. “It’s really a great example of showing that if you want it, and if you have the desire, and if you back up that desire with a tremendous work ethic in the water and consistency, then pretty much anything is possible. She went from never having swum at the national level before, to not only getting into the national level but going a step higher and getting into the Olympic Trials. Because of last summer, you could say that she really set herself up to be one of the elite swimmers in the conference, and that’s certainly something we’re looking forward to, along with her strong leadership, which she’s always shown.”

Hutchinson had a pair of top-10 finishes at the Big 12’s last season, including a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. She had the team’s fastest 100- and 200-yard butterfly times in 2007-08, and is primed to reach the elite class of swimmers in the Big 12 Conference in 2008-09.

Arntz has had a outstanding first two years as a Husker, finishing in the top 10 at the conference meet four times already. She and Hailey Dean have been anchors in the breaststroke for Nebraska and are the top returners in that event this season.

Four other juniors round out the seven-person class, including Colleen Criss, Karen Criss, Kelsey Ida and Sarah Ziegelmann. Karen Criss, twin sister of Colleen, transferred from Louisville and will be in her first season as a Husker in 2008-09.

The nine-person sophomore class was counted on to contribute immediately to the team in 2007-08, as they were apart of the biggest freshman class in school history. The experience that they gained from being thrown into the mix immediately last season will be extremely valuable to the development of this year’s Husker team.

Morales hopes that this year’s sophomores can perform like they did at the beginning of their freshmen season. He noted that they faded a bit at the end, but that wasn’t unexpected considering it was their first season at the collegiate level.

“Right around the outset they were really able to make a big impact, swim well, step up and be really big contributors in our dual meets,” Morales said. “I think what we’re looking for each one of that class is that now with a year of experience behind them, we’re looking for a really, really strong finish as well.”

Julie Giehl and Kelsey Grushecky tied for the team lead last season with nine victories a piece, while Jess Andrews was one of the team’s top sprint freestylers and Blaine Hoppenrath was one of the most versatile swimmers on the team. Emily Burbach is the only diver among the sophomore returnees, as she added quality depth to the diving squad last season and will be one of NU’s go-to divers this year. Claire Desormey, Brandie Kavalec, Meredith Matthies and Rachell McClain round out the outstanding sophomore class.

“It’s a very strong class and they’ve already proven that they can do a lot,” Morales said. “I think we’re just looking to see if maybe at the end of the season they are able to swim at the level we know they’re capable of swimming.”

Joining the 20 returning letterwinners this year are eight freshmen - two divers and six swimmers. Morales is excited about the potential and upside of this year’s freshman class.

“It’s a really great class, with good character with strong physical upside,” Morales said. “Surely their best swimming is ahead of them in each case. They all come from great programs, programs that developed them really well, and prepared them for even more improvement at the collegiate level.”

Bobbi Balogh, Bailey Bolinske, Mailene Leslie, Caroline Shea, Riley Siedel and Anna Wheeler join divers D’Arcy Schmidt and Tia Claps to make up the eight-person rookie class.

Each of the 29 Huskers on this year’s roster will look to play a vital role in reaching the team’s goals this season. While the team has shown steady improvement throughout spring and summer workouts, Morales said that the team understands that it must do more than just improve this year.

“I think our team realized that we just can’t have the objective of improving,” Morales said. “We really need to realize that with the increasing competitiveness of our conference, we need to bond as a team and really push each other to get to levels that each individual could not achieve on their own, and to really expand our thoughts and expand our thinking in terms of what is possible. We have to reach higher than what we’ve ever hit before in order to accomplish our goals.”

Whatever the season may bring, Morales sees the team as one full of potential and upside, and is really looking for each individual to make breakthroughs.

“Our girls are excited,” said Morales. “I think one of the strong attributes of our team is how they are as a team, and how supportive they are of each other, and I think that’s one of our main strengths and attributes that we definitely need to draw upon to make the sort of improvement that we need to reach the lofty goals we have.”

The Huskers By Event
Nebraska will have an incredibly deep freestyle group this season, both in the sprint and distance races. Twenty-one Huskers have the ability and potential to contribute this season in freestyle races. Seniors C.J. Bray, Jenna Stroud and Jenny Toler look to anchor the sprint freestyle group along with sophomores Jess Andrews and Kelsey Grushecky.

“The sprint group was one that we really relied on last year,” Morales said. “We lost Lynn (Siemert), but I think we’re still very strong in that area, and we’re looking for improvement from everyone.”

The middle-distance and distance freestylers also have nearly all of their key performers from last year returning. Sophomores Julie Giehl, Brandie Kavalec and Blaine Hoppenrath proved last year that they are more than capable of holding their own in the middle-distance and distance freestyle races. Junior Mariah Hutchinson also showed her value in the freestyle, as she had the team’s fastest 500-yard freestyle time last season. Nearly every swimmer on the 2008-09 roster has the potential to contribute in some capacity in the freestyle events.

The butterfly is arguably Nebraska’s strongest stroke this season, with several difference makers returning from last year’s team, including Grushecky, Hoppenrath and Hutchinson.

“We’re strong in the butterfly, especially with Mariah’s development,” Morales said. “But Kelsey and Blaine are every bit as talented, and I think we’re going to have a tremendous fly group this year.”

Meredith Matthies and Christina Yemm also had fantastic seasons in 2007-08 in the butterfly, and along with Andrews, Kelsey Ida, Anna Wheeler and Sarah Ziegelmann give Morales an extremely deep butterfly group to work with.

After being somewhat of a question mark the past couple seasons for Nebraska, the backstroke has the potential along with the butterfly to be one of the strengths of the 2008-09 team. Senior C.J. Bray leads the team in the 100-yard backstroke, and has the top returning time from last season. Sophomore Brandie Kavalec excelled in the backstroke as well last season, finishing with NU’s third-fastest 100-yard time and fastest 200-yard time. Transfer Karen Criss also has talent and experience in the backstroke. Morales is also looking to utilize seniors Stroud, Toler and Yemm in this event as well.

“The backstroke can potentially be a real strength for us, with bringing Karen on board, with a healthy Kelsey, and seeing Brandie and Rachell perform at a level we know they’re capable of. I think that the backstroke can potentially be a real strong event for us,” Morales said.

The breaststroke is NU’s smallest event in terms of the number of swimmers slated to participate regularly. That’s not to say there’s a shortage of talent, however. Although the Huskers lost Adrienne Goodman, one of their top breaststrokers from a year ago, they return Kaitlin Arntz and Hailey Dean, finalists in the 200-yard and 100-yard breaststroke, respectively, at last season’s Big 12 Championships. Rounding out the list of breaststrokers for NU is freshman Bailey Bolinske, sophomore Julie Giehl and junior Colleen Criss.

The individual medley group is again not short on experience and talent. Only Goodman won’t return to the team this season, as nine IMers from last year are set to swim in the event again this year. Yemm was asked last season to extend herself in the 400-yard IM in addition to her regular role in the 200-yard IM, and she flourished. Yemm ended last season with the team’s fastest 400-yard IM time by over three seconds despite it being her first season competing regularly in the event. Bolinske and fellow freshmen Mailene Leslie and Caroline Shea will join the nine returners in the individual medley events.

Diving coach Natasha Chikina will once again have to work with a relatively inexperienced diving group, as last season she had three freshmen and a junior on her diving squad. Two freshmen - Tia Claps and D’Arcy Schmidt - will join two returning divers from a year ago - sophomore Emily Burbach and senior Courtney Jolly.

Jolly will once again be the diving team’s unquestioned leader. She’s been an anchor for the diving squad in each of her four seasons at Nebraska, and the experience she brings to the young diving team will be invaluable. Morales sees this year’s divers as one of the team’s strong points.

“Our divers were strong last year, and this year we expect even more, especially with Courtney coming back,” Morales said. “We think that will be a real strong point for us.”

Morales has stressed to the team that it needs balance and needs to be strong in all the events to be successful this season. He doesn’t think the team can rely on just one or two events to carry it through the year.

“We can only be successful if every area steps up,” Morales said. “We appear strong on paper on most events, but it doesn’t really mean anything unless we get the job done in those areas. Everybody else needs to step up.”

The 2008-09 Huskers will need to step up if they want to secure the team’s sixth straight winning season. After having seven of their nine duals at home last year, the Huskers hit the road for five of the their seven dual meets this year. Nebraska will compete at home against Big 12 opponents Kansas (Jan. 17) and Missouri (Feb. 7), with road meets at Illinois (Oct. 10), Iowa (Nov. 1), South Dakota State (Dec. 12), Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 30) and Iowa State (Jan. 31).

Despite several road meets, there will still be great action at the Devaney Natatorium this season. Nebraska will host the Husker Invitational for the second straight season from Nov. 20-23. The four-day meet will tie for the longest meet in school history along with last year’s Husker Invitational.

Nebraska will participate in three other meets in addition to its seven dual meets and the Husker Invitational. NU will travel to Lawrence, Kan., on Oct. 24 for the Big 12 Relays. The Husker divers will head north to Minneapolis, Minn., from Nov. 14-16 for the Minneapolis Diving Invitational. Nebraska will also head to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Invitational from Dec. 4-6. The Huskers will wrap up their season in Columbia, Mo., for the Big 12 Championships from Feb. 25-28.