Season Preview: Women’s Swimming & Diving hoping to return to top-2 status in OAC in 2021-22 season
By Wes Mayberry
| 2021-22 Women's Swimming & Diving Schedule |
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's swimming & diving team enjoyed a long run of success from 2007 to 2016 with seven Ohio Athletic Conference championships and three runner-up finishes.
Looking to return to those heights, fourth-year head coach Austin Veltman boasts a talented, senior-laden roster for the 2021-22 season.
"We finished third in the conference last season, and we definitely want to move up in the standings this year," Veltman said.
The Polar Bears return 13 letter winners, including two OAC champions and six All-OAC honorees from last season's team that went 2-2 in a conference-only dual meet schedule en route to placing third at the OAC Championships meet.
ONU lost Abby Leatherwood and 11-time All-OAC performer Marissa Taylor to graduation after last season but have plenty of talent and experience on this year's roster, which features a veteran core of six seniors and three juniors.
Seniors Megan Lubinski (Loveland/Brighton), Lauren Shaw (Port Clinton) and Karli Katterle (Rocky River) join junior Shelby Starkey (Bellefontaine) as team captains for this year's squad.
Lubinski is the reigning OAC champion in the 50 free and 100 free events, and she earned All-OAC accolades as part of the 200 and 400 medley relay teams while also placing fourth in the 200 free last season. Now a nine-time All-OAC performer, her times in the 100 free, 50 free and 200 free currently rank third, fourth and ninth, respectively, on the program's all-time list.
"This is Megan's second season as a captain, so that speaks for itself," Veltman said. "Her teammates respect her, and she is an effective leader."
Starkey earned All-OAC honors in the 200 back and 200 medley and 400 medley relays last season and placed fourth in the 100 back and seventh in the 100 fly at the OACs. She ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, on ONU's all-time fastest swimmers in the 100 and 200 back events.
"Shelby is such a hard worker who is so consistent," Veltman said. "Days when you're not feeling well or swimming well are normal. If Shelby has bad days, she hides it really well. She always pushes herself each day with a great attitude."
Shaw was part of the All-OAC 200 medley relay team with Lubinski and Starkey and was an Academic All-OAC selection last season. She specializes in the sprints, breast and fly events.
Katterle is coming off finishes of seventh in the 1,650 free, 10th in the 500 free and 16th in the 200 free at last season's OAC Championships and was named Academic All-OAC. Her top times in the 1,650 free and 1,000 free rank eighth and 10th, respectively, in program history.
The remaining upperclassmen include seniors Kaylee Fair (Bowling Green), Mya Parsons (Castle Rock, Colo./Arapahoe) and Sydney Augspurger (Dalton) and juniors Gabbie Grant (Saint Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) and Abby Schauer (Beavercreek).
Schauer headlines that group as the reigning OAC champion in the 200 back event and an All-Conference swimmer in the 400 I.M. and 400 medley relay. An Academic All-OAC selection a season ago, her times in the 200 back and 400 I.M. rank fourth and 10th, respectively, in program history.
Parsons joined Schauer on last season's All-OAC 400 medley relay squad and is a fly and back specialist. Her top times in the 100 and 200 fly events rank eighth and fifth, respectively, all-time at ONU.
Fair will compete in the I.M., fly and breast events, Augspurger swims the free and fly events, and Grant is a sprinter.
As a returning All-OAC performer, Katie Bend (Carmel, Ind.) highlights the team's sophomore class, which also includes Elise Boudreau (Kankakee, Ill.), Logan Pippenger (Goshen, Ind./Northridge), Kaitlyn Sullivan (Kettering/Fairmont) and Jastin Edinger (Montpelier).
Bend placed third in the 1,650 free, fifth in the 500 free and seventh in the 200 free at last season's OACs and ranks eighth all-time at ONU with her time in the 500 free.
The program has also welcomed the addition of eight freshmen, including Hayley Solomon, who joins Edinger as a diver for the Polar Bears.
In that freshman group, Veltman is especially intrigued with the potential of Mara Brown (Fremont/Ross) and Annie Richters (Troy/Miami East).
"Mara is so versatile. She can swim all four strokes really well, can do a number of different distances, and she works hard on the details to improve. If there is a correction to make, she makes it," Veltman said. "Annie is a sprinter and butterflyer and is very diligent and consistent each day as well. She doesn't back down to the challenge of hard sets. She goes after them hard."
Veltman added that several freshmen will have the opportunity to contribute early on, especially with many of them being sprint freestyle swimmers.
"We have a lot of opportunity this year for freshman contributions," he said. "There are some opportunities for them to come in and make an impact both individually and on relays."
This season marks a return to normalcy in terms of schedule length, as the Polar Bears will compete in 10 meets from October through January after seeing action in just four regular-season meets in 2020-21.
"Meets during the season are like rehearsals. Learning how to pace races well and compete hard comes with experience," Veltman said. "Last year, we just didn't have as many opportunities as we normally do because we only had four dual meets. So we went into the conference meet last season with limited experience in certain events. That was just the hand COVID dealt us. This year, with a full slate of events, we'll get more experience, which is invaluable for the end of the year."
The 2021-22 season gets underway on Oct. 16 at the Kenyon Relays. Also on the schedule are the two-day Calvin (Mich.) Quad on Nov. 5-6 and the three-day Wooster Invitational on Dec. 2-4.
The Polar Bears' conference schedule includes their first home meet of the season against John Carroll on Oct. 30 and a home meet against Mount Union on Jan. 15. ONU will travel to face OAC foes Wilmington (Oct. 22) and Baldwin Wallace (Jan. 29).
The OAC Championships are scheduled for Feb. 17-19 in Akron, and the NCAA Division III Championships are set for March 16-19 in Indianapolis, Ind.