Butler, SV look to overcome graduation losses

By SAM TALLARICO Eagle Staff Writer

December 06, 2007 Last Updated: December 06, 2007 12:54 PM High School

The Butler and Seneca Valley girls swimming teams lost some major contributors to their respective programs, but still have some talent back and a lot of new athletes waiting to take their places.

Butler lost three-fourths of its key foursome in Molly Evans, Sarah Clouse and Ellen Crummy, but Brittany Vogel returns to help mold a fresh class of swimmers, which include 24 freshman and sophomore male and female swimmers.

"I don't look for a lot of wins this year for the girls," said Butler coach Jeff Armstrong. "The section is way too competitive. We can still qualify some relays for WPIALs and try to be in the top 10."

The Raiders have lost, among others, Elyse Dobrick and Kelly Connelly, but return a pair of Penn State University recruits in Rose Snyder and Emily Wolfarth.

"They just signed with Penn State, so that's exciting news," said Donati. who has several swimmers from his program competing at Division I schools.

"Those two are experienced from our (400 freestyle) relay that finished second at states," said Donati. "The biggest part is their leadership and that will help the freshmen class."

The following are previews for the Butler County area teams:

Coach: Jeff Armstrong, third year2006-07 record: N/AKey returners: Girls-Senior Brittany Vogel (freestyle, backstroke, 200 IM); sophomore Brittany Grenet (diving). Boys-Senior Hans Bergh (IM, freestyle, breaststroke); junior Jason Clouse (free, back) and Erik Bergh (backstroke, freestyle); sophomore Heath Calhoun (diving)Outlook: The loss of Molly Evans, Sarah Clouse and Ellen Crummy will be felt, but Vogel, the team captain, will try to repeat as a WPIAL qualifier in the 200 IM, as will Grenet as a diver. Jason Clouse just missed qualifying for the WPIAL finals while Calhoun made it for the diving finals and joined the 200 Club as a freshman."We're quite young, which bodes well for the future. But, at this point, I think the term is 'rebuild.' The freshman girls are not at Brittany Vogel's level, but by the end of the year, they could be. ... I think we have more depth on the boys team that last year. The girls are a little bit deeper, but we'll still miss those three seniors."

Coach: Gregg McQueen, fourth year2006-07 record: Girls (2-10); boys (no record)Key returners: Girls-Seniors Andrea McQueen freestyle, breaststroke) and Gail Erickson (IM, backstroke); junior Katy Screen (freestyle); sophomore Keil Erickson (200 IM, freestyle). Boys-NoneOutlook: Andrea McQueen was a WPIAL Class AA champion in the 100 freestyle and runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (sixth and 14th, respectively at the PIAAfinals). The aforementioned girls are coming off impressive seasons and should continue to progress. They also made up the 200 freestyle relay team that qualified for the WPIALmeet."The ultimate goal is to get that 200 free relay team to states," said Gregg McQueen. "They should be able to do that. Katy and Keil should be stronger. Andrea's more hungry this year. Colleges are looking at her. She's being recruited by Pitt and (Mid-American Conference)schools."This year's team has nine girls and five boys, including a pair of freshman boys in Josh Karien and Ryan Sweeney."We have a lot of freshmen out, which is good," said McQueen. "It means the team can go on for a while."

Coach: Karen Wendelschaefer2006-07 record: Girls (6-8); boys (11-3)Key returners: Girls-Juniors Alyssa Forrest (backstroke, IM) and Mary McLachlan (middle distance, 200 and 500 free); sophomore Janele Baglia (freestyle, breaststroke). Boys-Juniors Seth Brooks (distance), Jacob Olson (IM, butterfly, freestyle) and Drew Archibald (breaststroke, freestyle); sophomore Chris Gregg (breaststroke)Outlook: The trio of girls made up part of the 400 freestyle relay that placed third at the District 10 meet and missed qualifying for states by three-tenths-of-a second. As a freshman, Baglia qualified for the district meet in every individual event, the first girl in the program's history to do so. She wound up seventh in the 500 freestyle and ninth in the 100 butterfly."We have 11 girls, so we're not very large. But I'm hoping we'll end up with a winning record," said Wendelschaefer. "We're looking for a lot more girls to qualify, which I think we will now that there's a two-day split in the district meet."We have 10 boys this year and this is probably the most experienced group of swimmers we've had. We have depth all the way through."

Coach: Stephanie Karwoski, third year2006-07 record: N/AKey returners: Girls-Senior Paula Pivaronas (sprints, distance); juniors Rachel Tano (breaststroke, freestyle) and Hannah Zibert (breaststroke, 200 IM); sophomore Jill Vogus (200 IM, butterfly). Boys-Seniors Doug Vogus (butterfly, 200 IM) and Justin Goehring (middle distance, backstroke); sophomores Cole Blaher (sprints, distance) and Aaron Goldman (breaststroke)Outlook: The Knights have a combined 32 swimmers on this year's team, which is three more than last season, as Karwoski continues to build the program.The team will be led by state qualifier Rachel Tano, who was third in the WPIAL in the 100 breaststroke. She also qualified for the PIAAmeet in the 200 freestyle."We have a huge team this year and it's very well balanced between boys and girls," said Karwoski. "This team has developed from where I started off. The boys team lost only one swimmer from last year and we picked up a whole new crop of boys."For the girls team, we have depth this year and the talent to compete. Against teams similar to ours, we could do fantastic. We have more depth on this team than we've ever had. I feel very confident," Karwoski added.

Coach: Heidi Brandon, first year2006-07 record: N/AKey returners: Girls-Seniors Chloe Pierre (breaststroke); juniors Rachel Szymkowiak (utility), Courtney Shields (butterfly, medleys) and Jenna Smialek (utility); sophomore Gabri Pierre (freestyle). Boys-Senior Andrew Wilhelm (breaststroke); junior Phil Pacey (backstroke, butterfly)Outlook: The girls squad, which numbers 30 swimmers, returns all four of its 200 medley relay team and a promising freshman in Corrina Luschini."I think we can compete for the section title," said Brandon. "I think we can take a number of kids to the WPIAL meet and some relays to states."Seniors Ed Yaw and Jake Brandon and junior Shawn Wharrey round out the boys team."I think we'll see improvement from Phil and Andy. I think they'll make the MAC and the WPIALmeet," Brandon said.

Coach: Tom Donati, 11th year2006-07 record: Girls (7-3); boys (9-5)Key returners: Girls-Seniors Rose Synder (freestyle), Emily Wolfarth (distance freestyle) and Diana Rocco (diving). Boys-Senior Bob Beahm (freestyle); junior Dan GutmannOutlook: Synder and Wolfarth are Penn State recruits and will bolster the Raiders girls squad. The duo were members of the 400 freestyle relay (fourth at WPIAL, second at PIAA) and 200 freestyle relay (third at WPIAL, fourth at PIAA) and will help the younger swimmers. Rocco placed third at the WPIAL meet and sixth at states."The biggest part is their leadership," said Donati. "We don't have a lot of girls, but we have a good team, a good championship team. We bring three back where it's 'been there, done that.' It's exciting to see what we can do."The boys squad has only seven competitors, so this season could be a bit lean."We'll take it on the chin, but these guys are committed to the program. We have a lot of seventh- and eighth-grade boys, so we're looking forward to that for the future," Donati said.

Coach: Kirby Burns, fifth year2006-07 record: Girls (4-10); Boys (7-7)Key returners: Girls-Seniors Alyssa Martinez (sprint freestyle, relays) and Whitney Snyder (freestyle, breaststroke); junior Hannah Parsons (IM, breaststroke); sophomore Katelyn Brozenic (freestyle, breaststroke). Boys-Seniors Nathan Eilenfeldt (100 breaststroke, school record holder); juniors Andrew Opalewski (freestyle) and Jacob Johnston (500 free school record holder); sophomores Kyle Hawk (100 backstroke, school record holder) and Caleb Sykora-Bodie (freestyle)Outlook: With eight boys on the team, Burns is anticipating to improve on last year's record. Both squads also include swimmers with valuable experience, as well as some newcomers looking to help solidify the teams.Martinez and Snyder are members of the school-record 200 freestyle relay record as well."Both teams are solid in attitude and work ethic," said Burns. "Our numbers are good to be competitive and well-balanced. I am excited to see the improvement we'll see this season. Our district 10 championship meet should bring a higher team placement from strengthened individual performances."