Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Ivy Champ Women's Swimming/Diving Loads Up For Run At Record 18th League Championship
July 12, 2007 | Women's Swimming and Diving
You have to give head coach Susan Teeter credit. Following a run of six Ivy League titles in seven years, including both a Princeton record 47-meet win streak and a current two-year run that can match any in terms of both excitement and success, the Tiger women's swimming and diving head coach doesn't seem the least bit interested in resting on her impressive laurels. The program is loading up for a run at an unprecedented 18th Ivy League championship with a new co-captain, new volunteer assistant coach and yet another highly-touted incoming freshman class.
And that doesn't even factor in the current roster, which dominated the field at the 2007 Ivy League championships, hosted at Princeton's own DeNunzio Pool. Of the top 20 returning individual scorers at those championships, which Princeton won by more than 80 points over the second-best squad and more than 270 points over anybody else, the Tigers have seven of them. That is three more than any other team in the field, and it includes Ivy League Swimmer of the Meet Alicia Aemisegger, Ivy League Diver of the Meet Katie Giarra, No. 2 overall scorer Justina DiFazio, No. 7 overall scorer Courtney Kilkuts and the hero of the 2006 Ivy champion, Ellen Gray.
Another of those top-20 scorers will be the co-captain of the 2007-08 Tigers, Lisa Hamming, who joins Catherine Wolpe as the team leaders for the upcoming season. A versatile swimmer, Hamming has impressed Teeter with her competitiveness in and her leadership out of the pool. At the 2007 Ivy championships, she was part of the Ivy record-setting 800 free relay and finished with the top time of any returning competitor in the 400 IM.
Both Hamming and Wolpe's leadership will be instrumental with members of the Class of 2011, which Teeter believes can help contribute immediately. In alphabetical order, here are tidbits on each future Orange and Black competitor:
Lauren Benjamin (Ann Arbor, Mich.) is a distance competitor who went to the Greenhills School and swam for Club Wolverine. She was a contributing swimmer to a pair of national championship teams for her club and is a junior national qualifier.
Julie Kochman (Melville, N.Y.) will swim both back and IM for Princeton. She went to Half Hollow Hills East and swam for Team Suffolk. At the 2007 junior nationals, Kochman placed fifth in the 200 back and 11th in the 100 back, and she qualified for spring nationals in both events. She received several scholar-athlete awards from both her high school and her local area.
Carolyn Littlefield (St., Louis, Mo.) follows in the footsteps of big sister Maggie and will join a loaded diving corps. A graduate of Mary Institute St. Louis Country Day and a member of the St. Louis Diving Club, Littlefield was a district champion and a silver medalist at states. She qualified for the AAU nationals, where she will compete this summer.
Nicole McAndrew (Phoenix, Az.) is a distance and IM competitor who swam for Sun Devil Aquatics for the past eight years. A seven-time All-America, she won the 5A-I Arizona high school championship in the 500 free two times and the 200 free once. She helped Sun Devil Aquatics to several team titles and a third-place finish at the 2007 Spring Nationals.
Meredith Monroe (Dallas, Texas) is one of a handful of recruits who Teeter hopes can help score more points in the backstroke. A graduate of Lake Highlands and a member of the Dallas Mustangs, Monroe is a 10-time all-state and two-time All-America selection. She was a finalist at the 2007 Spring Nationals in the 200 back, as well as a summer national qualifier. Monroe is also a free swimmer, and she placed in the top eight in both the 800 free relay and the 400 medley relay at the 2007 Spring Nationals.
Ming Ong (Pymble, Australia) is a back and distance swimmer who recently competed in the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne for Malaysia, where she is also a citizen. She trains with the Carlile Swim Club and also competed at the Asian Games this past year. She is a graduate of Pymble Ladies College.
Oriana Poindexter (Laguna Beach, Calif.) earned the Student-Athlete of the Year honor at St. Margaret's High School who will swim breast and IM at Princeton. She was a three-time CIF champion in 2007 (100 breast, 500 free and 200 IM), as well as a National AP Scholar with Distinction.
Emily Trautner (Greenbrae. Calif.) is a sprinter who holds four records at Redwoods High School, where she also served as team captain. Her league MVP and a three-time team MVP, she attended the 2007 Spring Nationals. An eight-time All-America selection, she was also a two-time MVP for the Marin Pirates swim club and a former U.S. Junior Nationals finalist. Among her several academic honors was being named Redwoods class valedictorian last spring.
Megan Waters (Derwood, Md.) is another sprinter who earned All-Met honors by The Washington Post three consecutive years. The Metropolitan Area champion in both the 50 and 100 free this year, she qualified for Senior National in both events. Her high school team MVP, she placed sixth in the 50 at Junior Nationals to earn a spot on the all-star meet in Honolulu.
"We're excited about having the Class of 2011 join this family," Teeter said. "The addition of Meredith, Julie and Ming in the backstroke will help replace Kelly Hannigan and will be fun to watch over the next four years. We're also excited to see what Nicole McAndrew can do training in the great distance group that we have on board. Hopefully our 800 free relay can test themselves to earn a place at NCAAs in 2008. That 800 free group has 5 or 6 candidates, including this year's co-captain Lisa Hamming '08. Lisa doesn't even compete in the 200 free for us, which makes it all the more fun when she steps up at the end of the season to challenge her teammates for one of those four spots. It'll be great to see what Lisa can do this year with all her talent!"
Teeter and second-year assistant coach Phil Spiniello will be joined this year by volunteer assistant coach Charlie Dragon. A veteran coach with the Fanwood-Scotch Plains swim team, Dragon received an M.A. in Philosophy from the Graduate Center at CUNY in 2007, and a B.A. with high honors in philosophy from Rutgers in 2003. A member of Teeter's staff at the 2007 Princeton Swim Camp, he also served as an assistant coach at the Plainfield Country Club, where his team went 32-1 over three summers.
"Charlie's coaching philosophy centers on technique, quality, high-intensity practice, and mental training," Teeter said. "He'll be a great addition to Princeton's technique based philosophy."
Princeton is scheduled to open its season Nov. 9 at home in a men's and women's dual meet against Oakland University. The women will also compete against Rutgers, Penn State, Bucknell, Washington State, Columbia and Brown at the annual Big Al Invitational from Nov. 30-Dec.2, and they will host the 2008 Ivy League championships from Feb. 28-Mar. 1. When the complete schedule is finalized, it will be posted on GoPrincetonTigers.com.