The SUNY Potsdam swimming & diving team begins its 2011-12 campaign Saturday, Oct. 29, on the road against Skidmore. The Bears host four meets this season, including the multi-team North Country Invitational on Nov. 18-19. The State University of New York Athletic Conference meet takes place Feb. 8-11 at Erie CC in Buffalo, N.Y. Last season, both the Bears men and women finished the event in eighth place.
Ken McLaughlin enters his tenth year as head coach of the program, while Joshua Jock returns for his third season as an assistant. McLaughlin's team has two specific goals heading into the season.
“One goal is to succeed in the regular season dual meets,” said McLaughlin. “The second is to have a strong showing in the SUNYAC Championships at the end of the season. The competition is strong so we have our work cut out for us.”
Last season, the Men finished the year with a 7-1 record in dual meets with the women posting a 6-2 mark. Both teams finished in second place in the North Country Invitational.
Below is a breakdown of each team entering the upcoming season.
Men
Key Losses:
Chris Baker (FR) – captain on last year's team,
Dan Callahan (FR) SUNYAC meet finalist, and
Matt Meany
Key returners:
Alexander Taylor (Jr., IM/BR/FR, Port Ewen, N.Y./Kingston) – second team All-SUNYAC;
Ryan Wentz (Sr., FLY/FR, Pendleton, N.Y./Starpoint) – former second team All-SUNYAC; Richard Zimmerman (So., BR/IM/FR, Victor, N.Y./Victor)
Key newcomers:
Noah Berliner (Fr., BR/FR, Schenectady, N.Y./Schenectady);
Dylan Gritman (Fr., FR/IM, Kingston, N.Y./Kingston);
Adam McAuley (Fr., FR, Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills);
Matthew Natal (Fr., FLY, Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville);
Johnny Ramirez (Fr., FR, Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park);
Ken Schweizer (Fr., BK/FR, Beekman, N.Y./Arlington);
Taylor Vander Plaat (Fr., FR, Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley)
Outlook: The Bears have a large group of returners after only losing two swimmers to graduation. Potsdam has 12 swimmers back with at least year of experience under their belts led by two of the conference's top swimmers.
Wentz enters his senior season as a two-year captain and a member of the second team All-SUNYAC in 2009-10. He earned the SUNYAC swimmer of the week award for the week of Nov. 14-20, 2010, which saw him win three events in dominating fashion in a victory over Brockport. He took the freestyle event by more than 17 seconds, the 200 fly by nearly 12 seconds and the 100 fly by over three seconds.
Taylor is fresh off a strong sophomore campaign in which he garnered second team All-SUNYAC honors. Taylor was named swimmer of the week for the week of Jan. 17-23, 2011. He won five individual races and was a part of one victorious relay team in dual meet wins over North Country rivals Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
Women
Key losses:
Brittany Berrus (FR/BK/IM) – SUNYAC meet finalist;
Sarah Gutenmann (BK/IM) SUNYAC meet finalst;
Rosie Shrout (FLY/FR) captain of the team
Key returners:
Liz Ringer (Jr., FLY/IM, Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) SUNYAC meet finalist;
Paige Montroy (Jr., BK/FM, Cape Vincent, N.Y./Thousand Islands) SUNYAC meet finalist;
Laurissa Coombs (So., IM/FR/BK, Port Jefferson, N.Y./Ward Melville) SUNYAC meet finalist;
Ghena Binzer (So., BR, Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker)
Key newcomers:
Victoria Blakeslee (Fr., IM/FR, Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville);
Emily Kanoza (Fr., FR/BK, Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee),
Meredith Ludlow (Fr., FR/FLY, Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford)
Outlook: In contrast with the men, the women lost a good deal of experience and leadership from last year's squad. Eight Bears graduated, including a trio of captains. The team will rely on a mix of returners stepping up and a strong group of newcomers. Juniors Ringer and Montroy and sophomore Coombs are three-fourths of a relay team that set school records in the 200 freestyle (1:43:12) and 400 freestyle (3:47:22) at the SUNYAC Championships last year. Individually, Ringer and coombs placed eighth in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley, respectively.
