Swim & dive teams gear up for 2016-17 season
CLAREMONT, Calif. – On the heels of successful seasons for both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in 2015-16, the Stags and Athenas are prepped for another competitive year in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and nationally. Both 2016 SCIAC Athletes of the Year, Stephanie Doi (CMC) and Matthew Williams (CMC), return for their senior years in the pool as the teams will compete for the potential 37th SCIAC Championship for the men and 18th for the women. Williams also swam a CMS record-breaking time of 47.57 in the 100-yard backstroke for the first place finish and the National Championship.
Three CMS women won SCIAC individual titles last season. Doi earned first in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly. Senior Emily McKinnon (CMC) took the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke while senior Kelly Ngo (CMC) won the 100-yard freestyle. Ngo was the lone Athena that qualified for nationals and competed in a trio of freestyle events: 50-, 100-, and 200-yard.
On the men's side, CMS returns four individual SCIAC champions. Williams was a three-time winner in the 100 fly, and 100- and 200-yard backstroke. He competed in all three of those events at the NCAA meet. Junior Noah Deer (CMC) was the winner of the 100 free race while rising sophomore Aaron Lutzker (HMC) turned some heads with his victory in 200 breast.
In diving, Carli Lessard (HMC) placed second in the conference championships on both boards and returns for her senior year in 2016-17. Lessard just set the CMS record on the 3-meter board in 2016. Junior Patrick Quarberg (CMC) took first on both boards at the SCIAC championship last season, winning the 3M board by more than 10 points.
CMS begins the 2016-17 campaign with a meet at UC San Diego tomorrow, Oct. 29 beginning at 12 p.m.
2016-17 SCIAC Preseason Polls: Men | Women
In an interview earlier this week, head coach Charlie Griffiths discussed the transition from last season and what he looks forward to in the year ahead. Coach Griffiths enters his 16thyear at the helm of both programs. In his 15 years, he has achieved a 202-12 dual meet record and his swimmers and divers have won 165 SCIAC individual titles.
The majority of your nationals team were seniors and you had a strong senior class. What did you most lose with the graduation of the class of 2016?
We graduated some outstanding swimmers and leaders. Alex Poltash (CMC '16) and Joey Hinton (CMC '16) were on nearly every important sprint relay over their four years. We also saw Matt Valentine (HMC '16) make NCAAs for the first time as a senior and score in multiple events. When more people in a class are All-SCIAC and All-Americans as seniors than as freshmen, we can be proud of their development. We will miss the class of 2016 for their points and personalities, but we want and expect the current team to build upon their legacy.
What do you hope that your rookies will bring to the table?
We are excited about the talent in the class of 2020 and it will be fun to see them compete throughout the year. It is time for the Stags to grow some antlers and for the Athenas to sharpen their spears.
The men had an exciting come-from-behind win at the SCIAC championships last year – talk about what affect that will have in preparation for this year?
SCIAC championships are earned. They do not come easily. We are ready to do the work necessary to fight for the top of the podium.
The women snapped their streak of consecutive SCIAC championships with a second place finish. What is going to be the biggest factor in getting back on top during the regular season and at the Championships?
As with the men's meet, we know that it will take a superlative effort for the Athenas to win a conference championship. We are certainly a deeper team than we were last year, so we have more swimmers and divers who have the opportunity to contribute. It is up to us to prepare well throughout the year and then embrace the moment when the time comes.
Let us talk about the schedule. You have not faced LMU in a number of years – what kind of competition will they be for the Athenas?
We like to test ourselves with our non-conference schedule, so we like adding D-I opponents when we can. I think that we will find some good races with LMU.
Diving has been a strength for CMS in a number of years. What will the cohort of divers bring to the 2016-17 season?
The divers have been a key to the CMS swim and dive team's success over the past decade. I can point to several dual and championship meets that we have won that we would not have won without strong diving contributions. Coach Fran Jobes and I believe that diving will be a team strength this year, as well.
By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director
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