Last year in Houston, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams placed second in the NCAA Championships. They look to improve that success this year in Canton, Ohio. Individuals like Ashley St. Andrew, women’s swimmer, and Cayce Bolt, men’s diver, look to be leaders this year for the Warriors.
According to the NCAA Division II handbook, each swimmer and diver can participate in a maximum of seven events, but cannot exceed four races as an individual. Wayne State has several swimmers that will be competing in their maximum number of individual races.
The Warriors have never finished better than last year’s second place for both the men’s and women’s teams. Even coach Sean Peters took home a personal accolade as Coach of the Meet.
However, the Warriors look to come back strong with a chip on their shoulder after being edged out last year by a surging Drury University, who are the defending men’s and women’s champions. The Wayne State men’s swimming and diving squad let a slight lead dissipate on the final day, which has not been forgotten by the coaches and athletes who are returning.
“We have something to prove this year. I feel good after having more than three weeks to prepare and get ready,” Peters said.
Sophomore Matthew Laschuk earned a national “A” cut in the 200 breaststroke and butterfly. He also earned “B” cuts in the 100 breaststroke and butterfly, and the 200 individual medley.
“Multi-day meets are different than single-day competitions because you have to get past a bad swim the previous day, and just move on and swim hard the next day. Every day is a new day, and every day is an important day,” Laschuk said.
Redshirt freshman Joaquin Abascal Gallegos qualified for several races with a national “A” cut which include the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and the 200 and 400 individual medley. His national “B” cuts are the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle events. To add to his list of events, Gallegos will be competing in both the 400 freestyle and medley relay events.
Senior Cauli Bedran will also be in the four-man relays with Gallegos and had two national “A” cuts in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle. He also earned a “B” cut in the 100 freestyle.
Senior Cayce Bolt qualified for two national “A” cuts, in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. He earned these cuts after a strong showing at the WSU Diving Invitational on Jan. 30.
Bolt is a four-time GLIAC champion, and last year finished with a third place finish on the one-meter board and sixth place on the three-meter board to qualify for First Team All-American honors.
The Wayne State women’s swimming and diving team is going into the NCAA Championship with a lot of confidence, having won the GLIAC championship just a few weeks prior.
St. Andrew and Elaina Hogle are being counted on for strong performances, and look to be leaders as veterans of national swimming competition.
Hogle, a senior, will have an eventful week in Canton with “A” cuts in the 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400 individual medley. Hogle, along with St. Andrew, will be participating in the 400 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay, in which “A” cuts were earned at the GLIACS in February. Hogle also has three “B” cuts which include the 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
St. Andrew has multiple automatic bids with her national “A” cut in the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle. Her “B” cut bid is the 1000 freestyle event. St. Andrew is a senior and has been a key component to the success of the team this year, but stays humble and team-oriented throughout the workouts leading up to the competition.
“It’s never really been the personal success that I want, rather the team performing well, and we can get a National Championship back to Wayne State. My personal goal is to beat my times from last year in Houston, but the ultimate goal is again for our team,” St. Andrew said.
Sophomore Stephanie Ekleberry performed extremely well this year and earned national “A” cuts in the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. She also earned “B” cuts in the 200 and 1000 freestyle races. Ekleberry will bring her talent of long distance ability to the 800 freestyle relay.
Cassie Chetosky, Carly Sevald, Lena Wileczek and Emily Mitzelfeld are the representatives for the Warriors diving program. All four divers earned national “A” cuts in both one- and three- meter dives after performing extremely well at the WSU Diving Invitational.
Chetosky will bring experience and veteran leadership to this group of divers, as Sevald, Wileczek and Mitzelfeld are freshman. Even though they are freshman, their ability level is not in question. It is just a new atmosphere facing top tier competition.
Peters, coach of the men’s and women’s teams, feels that the teams will be able to compete at an extremely high level, and after a few weeks of getting into the proper mindset, they will be in national championship form.
“I go into these championships with a blank opinion. At the conference meet, I see a lot of these swimmers, and I feel that it is unpredictable to pick a clear front-runner in a division with a ton of talent. However, I feel that we are unpredictable as well, and we will bring our best to Canton this year,” Peters said.
The Warriors will be competing in the Division II NCAA Championships from March 10-14 in Canton. Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania will be the host of the event, which is being held at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
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