As we sit around on the New Year’s Holiday and drink our champagne (okay, it is Vermillion, so I should say beer…) the USD Swimming and Diving Team will be catching a lot of sun in San Diego. Ah my jealousy. I have already asked coach Jason Mahowald if they need any public address announcers in Cali, but I guess not. (I PA announce the S&D events here at USD).
As the team travels to Cali, I have to wonder, will they be warming up in Cali, or will they be making the state hotter? The team is on a roll lately. They pounded MSU-Moorehead and Northern State in a triple meet. Then they beat Nebraska-Omaha in dual meet. Yes, the score of the MSU-Moorehead meet may not be very impressive, but towards the end, some of the top scores were exhibitioned so the score wouldn’t look horrible.
In the meet with MSU-Moorehead and NSU, the Coyotes broke three school records. Then against UNO, the Coyotes broke five school records. That is a lot of records in just two meets.
The Coyotes were rewarded for all of those records as well. On Dec. 11th, Erin Wagoner earned NCC swimmer of the week and Jill Smolczyk earned her second NCC diver of the week award this year. Then last week, Leita Rolfe snagged her FOURTH NCC swimmer of the week award. That is 4 this year. Not career. This year alone. Emilie Kluth also earned her second NCC diver of the week this year as well.
The Coyotes are piling up the awards, records, and victories, and it isn’t even January. The NCC Conference Championships starts Feb. 21st. Scary since the Coyotes have a two week training trip yet. Coach Mahowald, assistant coach Anthony Harris, and diving coach Chris Hansman have done an amazing job with this team, and they all say they haven’t come close to reaching their potential.
In a year in which the Coyotes have already knocked off North Dakota, the perennial champs year in and year out, and their coaches say they can only get better, an NCC title should be in their future. Now the question is, how many people can make it to the NCAA championships? Well the way it is going, maybe half of the team.
–Justin Rust
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