Wooster swimmers may be rebuilding, but talent is still there

  • By Brian Questel
  • November 19, 2010
  • 306
                        
112910 whsgirlsswim Promo: WHS swim team will have to do more with less Wooster may be rebuilding, but talent is still there By Brian Questel It won’t be hard for Wooster High swimming coach Chris Matthew to go one-on-one with her senior class this winter. That isn’t because Matthew has any super-woman talents, but because of the number of athletes in it. Senior Michelle Sczpanski is a class of one, which helps make for a thin swimming roster this winter. It’s a far cry from last year, when Matthew guided a senior-laden team to a 12-5 record and another Ohio Cardinal Conference title. “I had a huge senior class, most of whom were huge dual‐met scorers and this year I have a small freshman class (4 swimmers) and a smaller team in general,” said Matthew, who is entering her 17th year of coaching. Wooster graduated nine seniors, including Aly Weeman, Jamie Chipka, Angela Sibilia, Kate Bowers, Rebecca Pittard and Phoebe Long, who carried the bulk of the scoring load a year ago. “We had 26 girls and we’re down to 21,” said Matthew. “We had a senior class of 9-10 girls and a freshman class of four. This year is going to be a challenge. We don’t have a lot of depth. I’m going to play it by ear and do time trials before the first meet.” Wooster has seven returning letter winners, including Sczpanski, who will swimming freestyle and butterfly events this season. There is a trio of juniors who have earned letters -- Kara Dagley (diving), Katelyn Persinger (freestyle sprints) and Danielle Tooley (breaststroke) – while three sophomores picked up their initial monogram a year ago. That group included Emily Cornelius (free sprints/breaststoke/IM), Jillian Perry (backstroke/free) and Makena Rhodes (diving). Sophomore Mariah Whitman (freestyle/back) and four freshmen -- Madison Gingery (back/IM/free), Lauren Miller (breast/free), Natalie Nye (breaststroke/distance freestyle) and Gabrielle Sibilia (all strokes) – will augment that group. “I’m looking for a good year,” said Matthew. “It will be a work in progress for the first few meets definitely, but Michelle Sczpanski will be a force to be reckoned with. She’s been training with the Y since September and she’s a different girl. She’s one who has historically taken three months and in January is swimming good times. She looks fantastic right now. Kim Sibilia has been in the shadow of her sister (Angela), and now she is leading practices and looking super fast. Cornelius has gotten in fall work at the Y, and I think that will make a huge difference. “Tooley, Perry and Persinger are focused, and there is a lot of talent there. (A)s freshmen, swimmers are apprehensive, but as sophomores they are better. They are confident and know the routine. Plus with this freshman class, there is a lot of competitive experience. They know me and they have always been hard workers. It should be fun. “We lost a huge amount of points in Weeman, Bowers and Sibilia. They were in two events, which they generally won, plus both relays. The good thing is this is a hard-working group of girls.” The key will be doing more with less, as the smaller roster will limit Matthew’s ability to juggle her lineup. “Obviously with a smaller team, there is less depth. We will have to see where people fit in and fill in gaps,” said Matthew, who expects a strong challenge from Mansfield Senior in the OCC. “The plus to having a smaller team, though, is that all the girls will participate. “I don’t know about our win-loss record,” she added. “You can call this a rebuilding year, but we’re going to load up again next year. We have a huge freshman class coming in from the Y next year. This should be a fun year, and the good thing is we only have one senior.” Wooster opens the year at Youngstown State University in a quad meet Dec. 4 against Canfield, Warren Harding and Boardman.


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