Sept. 15, 2010
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
If you had to place a label or a catch phrase on the watery challenges facing the New Mexico Lobos swimming and diving team in 2010-11, it might be “Step Up.” And then swim like heck.
Lobo coach Tracy Ljone lost a boatload of points from 2009-10 and is looking for a number of her swimmers to improve on their times this season in the water.
“It’s a young team with three seniors,” said Ljone. “We lost only three seniors, but Jennifer Patterson, Bridget O’Hara and Ashley Grisdale were all heavy point scorers. We’ll feel their loss, but a lot of the girls coming in had their best summers of competing and I’m excited to see where they are at.”
The top returnee for UNM this season doesn’t exactly do her thing in the water. That’s her finish line. Aubrey Bush is one of the top divers in the West and proved that last season in winning the Mountain West Conference title on the platform last year and grabbing All-MWC honors on the 3-meter board.
Ljone’s diving coach, Abel Sanchez, also took a hit in points as he lost Sasha Evangulova and Alexandra Lusk to graduation. He returns another solid diver in Ashlee Erickson and also added newcomers in Megan Harper and Melissa Bollig.
“Aubrey is coming off a fantastic season of diving,” said Sanchez. “The sky is the limit for her and I expect Ashley to have a big junior year. Those two juniors have the experience and they will show our younger divers what it takes to succeed at this level and reach the NCAA zones.
“I expect both Melissa and Megan to have an immediate impact for us. They are beautiful divers to watch and everything indicates that they are ready for the challenges of Division I diving.”
The seniors in the water are Nanette Wittenberg, Sally Bellinger and Jennifer Burgess, who is fast approaching a couple of UNM school records.
“I want to go under five minutes in the 500 (meters) and I want to set the school record in the 1,000 and in the mile,” said Burgess. “My goal is to destroy those records and get my name on the (record) board.”
Ljone also said she is looking for her seniors to provide leadership this year. “Nan and Sally were leaders from day one,” said Ljone. “Jen is there now. She is probably the most positive outgoing girl I’ve ever coached. She is always pushing the girls.”
Said Burgess: “I think I’m shy, but people keep telling me I’m outgoing. I get nervous when I go to say stuff. I just try to go out and be positive and help my teammates.”
Burgess will compete in a variety of events including the 500, 1,000, mile and 800 freestyle. “She had a fantastic conference meet last year and had her best summer ever,” said Ljone.
Bellinger probably will pick up the slack in the freestyle and Wittenberg is primarily a breaststroke and backstroke specialist. Ljone also is looking for points from Lindsey Morris in the breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM and from Maria Dudley and Tonya Gramstad in distance events.
Lobo Aubrey Bush |
“They all made great strides last year and we’ll be looking for them to contribute right away,” said Ljone.
The Lobos also will be looking for sprint points from Tesse Maciejko, who also will compete in the breaststroke. “She is pretty much our lone sprinter right now,” said Ljone. “We are going to depend on her to fill some holes.
“We’ll be looking for a number of girls to step up and compete in the sprint freestyle, even though they might not be true sprinters.”
One of those Lobos sprinters should be Nicole Peirce, who also will compete in the breaststroke and butterfly. UNM returns Erica Stuart in IM and the backstroke. The Lobos also get depth from Maureen Abeita, Brittany Anderson, Ashleigh Lucero-Coon, Megan Gugerty, Alyssa Keill, Hayley Martin and Hannah Mercier,
Ljone is bringing in seven freshmen swimmers in Ashley Blanchette, Julia Carroll, Monica Dudley, Stelicia Flores, Jorgi Hobson, Jessica Montoya and Heidi Zeiger.
“We need some of those newcomers to contribute right away and they have the talent to do it,” said Ljone.
The Lobos open the season Saturday at the West Mesa pool in a dual relay event with the Utah Utes. “Utah is playing football here and the (swim) coach thought it would be fun to have a meet and then go over to football,” said Ljone, in her fifth year at UNM and a 2009 Ironman Triathlon competitor.
“I’m excited about this season,” said Ljone. “The girls are motivated and they have worked hard. Our goal is to continue to work hard, improve and get swimmers into the finals at conference.”
Said Burgess: “Swimming is a very hard sport. You either love it or you don’t do it. We are a young team, but this is a team that works its heart out whether it’s in the pool, the weight room or off running somewhere. We go.”
Education also is a huge emphasis in this Lobo program. The Lobos are one of the top academic programs in the conference and Ljone placed 17 swimmers on the 2010 Spring All-Mountain West Conference Academic Team.
“Tracy is such a great coach,” said Burgess. “And she doesn’t baby us. If we are not working, she gets on us. She motivates us to be our best in the pool and in the classroom. She has definite rules and expectations.”