Traditionally two of the top programs among the highly successful athletic department at Mary Washington College, the 2001-2002 men's and women's swimming teams will again be striving for greatness. The men’s team returns a solid group after claiming its seventh Capital Athletic Conference title a year ago. The women look to continue their assault on all of NCAA Division III, as they again finished with a top-40 performance at the national championships after claiming their unprecedented eleventh straight conference title.
Success has traditionally been the standard for MWC swimming. A strong recruiting effort continues to bolster and strengthen the program, as does a highly competitive schedule and strong practice work ethic. These factors working together, along with MWC's strong tradition of improving performance throughout the season, give MWC swimmers a competitive edge. In Coach Kinney's six years, the Eagles have broken nearly every school and conference record. This is the direct result of hard work and season-long dedication to the training program.
The men’s squad will feature a returning group that propelled the Eagles to a conference title a year ago. Led by 2001 All-American Justin Snyder and all-conference performers Bryan Beary, Tim Jensen, Eric Miller, Colin Maher, Brent Kintzer, and Andre Lapar, the men will look to improve on last year’s 6-5 overall dual record and repeat as conference champions, with a long-term goal of sending multiple participants to the national championships. Another solid recruiting effort has yielded a top group of newcomers, which will have to replace five seniors who claimed two conference titles during their stay at MWC. Other returnees include Scott Baker, who was on his way to all conference honors before a broken arm sidelined him for most of last season; Bria Bradley, Joey Hess, Jason Lancaster, and Anthony Pederson, who all scored at the conference championships. The men took dual meets from Marymount University, St. Mary's College, York College, Goucher College, and Salisbury State University, as well as a thrilling 106-99 victory over Division One VMI in November. MWC overcame an early season loss to Catholic to claim the CAC title for the first time in three years.
The women claimed a top-40 finish at the NCAA Championships, sending multiple relays to the event for the second straight season. MWC won nine of ten dual meets a year ago, equaling the best record the team has achieved since Coach Kinney took over the program in 1995-96. The Eagles won four races, including a relay, in defeating national power Gettysburg College for the second time ever, and also picked up victories over Washington & Lee University and Franklin & Marshall College in addition to sweeping the conference schedule again. MWC also placed second at the F&M Invitational, finishing second only Johns Hopkins, who narrowly defeated the Eagles in their lone loss of the year. All-Americans Karin Riesenfeld, Lisa Marie Carlson, Tamara Jones, and Amanda Kohne will all return to action in 2001-02, as the Eagles lose just one senior from last year's squad. Other top returnees include all conference swimmers Emily Perkins, Beth Wagner, Ashley McCoy, Jessica Bielecki, as well as Leslie Morgan, Jen Wilson, Jessica Waggener, Whitney Raven, Jen Graboyes, Pam Nemeth, Emily McHenry, and Meghan Newcomer.
This winter will again feature an exciting schedule, with opponents like Virginia Military Institute, Radford University, Johns Hopkins University and Gettysburg College. These top competitions, in addition to the multiple-day events at Franklin arid Marshall College and the Capital Athletic Conference Championships, allow MWC swimmers to prepare for events such as national championships. The team also annually takes a week-long training trip to Florida, which kicks off the Spring training season.
Mary Washington has won eighteen of the combined twenty-two CAC titles since the start of the conference in 1991. The conference is comprised of Mary Washington College, Catholic University, Gallaudet University, Goucher College, Marymount University, St. Mary's College of MD, Salisbury State University, and York College of PA. Mary Washington has claimed the prestigious CAC All-Sports Award, given to the top overall athletic program, seven times in the ten year history of the award, proving MWC's philosophy of a broad-based program with equality for all programs has been an unqualified success.