Daily Egyptian F02
Women Water Dawgs restocking for another title run
Maureen JohnsonDaily Egyptian
As a sophomore on the SIU women‚s swim team, Karina Belache has been a butterflier, but now she‚s ready to become a leader.
„Since I‚m 22, I act like a mother to the girls,‰ said the Brazilian native. „They even call me Grandma.‰
Belache is prepared to take on a leadership role, particularly with the departure of nine seniors from the team.
Jeff Goelz, head coach of the SIU women‚s swimming and diving team, said leadership was one of the many contributions made by the seniors who helped strengthen the team. „Each one of them had been with the program during the lean years where we were in the rebuilding stage,‰ Goelz said.
Seniors included Courtney Corder, Breanne Hay, Carly Hemphill, Caty Kinnaman, Jenna Meckler, Dana Morrell, Adrianne Neal, Brooke Radostits and Mary Trailov.
„They were the kids who came and worked hard to get us back on the map,‰ Goelz said. „When we sign bigger, higher quality athletes, a lot of their hard work is the reason we‚re better. They not only did a good job in the pool and in the classroom, they also did a great job recruiting the next generation.‰
Belache said the departing seniors were very strong swimmers, but they also contributed a sense of solidarity among team members.
„We were very close, very friendly,‰ Belache said, „and we‚re going to miss them a lot.‰ Goelz praised his senior swimmers‚ ability to combine their talents for the benefit of the team.
„Some of the girls were really good in the pool, and others were good in the classroom,‰ Goelz said. „Other girls were social; they were the social directors. They had known each other for four years. They had worked together and had done some great things together.‰ Although the Salukis have lost nine seniors, Goelz sees promise in his new recruits. „Some of the kids that you get are already established as pretty good athletes and pretty good students, and other ones have potential,‰ Goelz said. „They‚re all exciting because it‚s the first step out of their club program, and it‚s a step up into the college ranks.‰
Newly recruited freestylers for the 2002-03 season include Briley Bergen from Jacksonville, Fla., and Kelsey Kinsella from Gridley. Recruits specializing in both freestyle and backstroke are Megan Simms from Phoenix, Ariz., and Elizabeth McGowan from Fort Worth, Texas. A transfer from the University of Minnesota, Suzanne Souders, hails from Belleville and specializes in the freestyle, backstroke and the individual medley. Goelz continues to be active recruiting talented women for the team.
„Some of the recruits are going to come in and be right on top of their events. They‚ll be some of the top two or three,‰ Goelz said. „Other girls are good depth kids, but they have potential to be big contributors at the end.‰
Belache said the new recruits would be able to make significant contributions to the team. „I think they‚re going to be very good,‰ Belache said. „We are bringing in very strong girls.‰ Although Goelz has confidence in his new recruits, he admits the team has many challenges ahead of them.
„Other teams have a lot of juniors or seniors, so they‚re at the peak of their careers and we have all of these young people,‰ Goelz said. „So they‚ll have to step it up a bit to compete with these swimmers with a little more experience.‰
Belache said she would encourage the new freshmen to work through the challenges they face.
„I will always try to help the new girls keep going and never give up,‰ Belache said. According to Goelz, the new season will start the week after school begins for the Fall 2003 semester, but the first meet is not scheduled until late September. The season finishes at the end of February.
This year, the women‚s swim team will be facing powerhouses such as Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and Missouri. They will also be shooting for their sixth consecutive Missouri Valley Conference title.
„We‚d love to win conference again, and this is the year the girls are really going to have to be at their best,‰ Goelz said. „It‚s a very young team, and we‚re going to need some people to step up and be leaders. I know we have the people to do it.‰
Reporter Maureen Johnson can be reached at mjohnson@dailyegyptian.com
This is a Manila site.
Information in the Daily Egyptian is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. This document may be distributed electronically for personal use only, provided it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. We encourage you to create links to our pages and ask that you do not duplicate our pages on your own site. Nothing from the Daily Egyptian can be reprinted without the express written permission of the Daily Egyptian.