OSU begins quest for winning dual meet season
October 20, 1998
FRIDAY, OCT. 23
Oregon State at San Jose State, 2:30 p.m.
Among the goals Oregon State has set this season is a winning dual meet record, and the Beavers will start working on that when they open the season at San Jose State. Last season, OSU took a 154-134 victory at Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis.
This season, OSU head coach Mariusz Podkoscielny thinks the Beavers could have their best swimming team ever - and perhaps the youngest, as well.
OSU has no seniors and just one junior this winter, but the Beavers will be capable of that winning dual record and improving on their ninth-place finish in the Pacific-10.
"I feel very good," Podkoscielny said. "We've got a very nice group of kids."
That includes junior Gina Giesbrecht, plus nine sophomores who accounted for two school records and 27 entries on OSU's all-time top-10 lists in individual events.
Team captain Erica Stephens, who owns the OSU record in the 400 individual medley, and Melissa Hsieh, who holds the school mark in the 100 butterfly, lead that sophomore class along with Kristen Severance, Arianna Higuera and Erin Buckley.
"They're all back and coming off a good summer," Podkoscielny said. "In our case, that's the key to success during the year. It's the nature of our sport that you can't take a summer off and be ready to improve."
To go with them, the Beavers have added two transfers and eight freshmen.
"The exciting thing is, they all have experience on some kind of a national level through U.S. Swimming," Podkoscielny said. "The transfers (Kyla Bond and Amy Imwalle) both were somebody we would have loved to have had last year ... the freshmen are full of energy and very exciting to watch in practice. So far, they've exceeded our expectations."
There are several Beavers who could qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"That's always the ultimate goal for us," Podkoscielny said. The top prospects for scoring big points at the Pacific-10 meet are Bond (back, IM), Buckley (sprint/middle free), Sarah Cohen (breast), Higuera (fly, sprint free), Hsieh (fly, middle free), Amy Imwalle (distance free), Danielle Lux (breast), Kristin Martinec (fly), Jill Personius (distance free), Bonnie Renwick (fly, sprint free), Severance (breast), Stephens (back, IM), Dana Stoddard (distance free) and Sheila Tehranchi (breast).
"But don't write anyone else off," Podkoscielny warned. "Our main goals are to keep improving through the whole season, have a winning dual meet record, and help the freshmen grow and get ready for the Pac-10 meet.
"We can't allow ourselves to write off a year for growing up. That needs to be done in the first two months before we start competing."
Podkoscielny is also excited about the addition of assistant coach Kelly Hubbard.
"Kelly brings a tremendous amount of experience and has made a very easy transition to OSU," Podkoscielny said. "In two months, she's become a very important part of the puzzle for our future success. The team has responded very well to her."
One more time
1997-98 IN REVIEW: When people look back on Oregon States 1997-98 season, theyll definitely see that the Beavers made their mark.
OSU (3-5 overall duals, 0-3 Pacific-10) put five new school records in the books and left 33 new entries in the all-time top 10 lists in individual events; that included at least one top 10 entry in every event.
Oregon State's three dual meet victories were the Beavers' most since the 1995 season, and their .375 winning percentage in duals was OSU's best since 1994.
"Looking at the expectations we had at the beginning of the season, we finished great and we finished right where we knew we were capable of finishing," OSU head coach Mariusz Podkoscielny said. "But as the year went on, our appetites grew and Im not sure we lived up to what wed shown in the middle of the season, mainly because of a couple unfortunate breaks."
Despite some late-season injuries, OSU had plenty to show for the season.
"You look at five school records, and really we had even more because some of those were broken two or three times in the season," Podkoscielny said.
Of the five school records, two came from senior Traci Lamoure - in the 200 freestyle at the Pacific-10 Championships (1:50.91) and the 200 individual medley at the Speedo Cup (2:07.72). The other marks were by freshman Melissa Hsieh in the 100 butterfly at the Pacific-10 meet (58.03), by freshman Erica Stephens in the 400 individual medley at the Pac-10 meet (4:28.16), and by the 800 freestyle relay of Lamoure, Hsieh, Stephens and senior Heidi Eslinger at the Pac-10 meet (7:37.63).
OSU had a big second day at the Pac-10 meet, setting four school records and having seven swimmers move up the top-10 lists.
"Overall, it was a great year from the standpoint of building and growing towards the goals we have for the future," Podkoscielny said. "We're definitely getting more competitive and looking forward to a winning dual season next year, scoring higher in the Pacific-10 and having as many people involved in that as possible."
OSU placed ninth at the Pacific-10 meet, but was missing Erin Buckley due to back problems. That left OSU juggling its lineups for relays and cost the Beavers points.
Third times the charm
HEAD COACH MARIUSZ PODKOSCIELNY: Mariusz Podkoscielny is in his third season as head coach at Oregon State. He has a career dual meet record of 5-15 with the Beavers, 0-7 in the Pacific-10.
Podkoscielny, 30, is a nine-time All-American and two-time Olympian.
Prior to coming to OSU in the fall of 1996, Podkoscielny had served as an assistant men's and women's coach at Arizona, his alma mater, since 1993. Prior to becoming a full-time assistant, he had worked as a volunteer assistant for the Wildcats and as an assistant with Hillenbrand Aquatics in Tucson, Ariz.
A native of Gdansk, Poland, Podkoscielny was a member of the Arizona swim team from 1988-92 was one of the fastest distance swimmers in UA history. He was also on the Polish National Team from 1980-92 and competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
Going for seconds
BEAVER SOPHOMORES: The swimmers in their second year in Oregon States program are well on their way to being the Beavers best class of swimmers ever.
The nine returning sophomores on OSUs roster have already combined for two school records and 26 entries on the schools all-time top 10 lists in various events. The top performances came from Erica Stephens and Melissa Hsieh.
Stephens set the school record in the 400-yard individual medley against Washington on Nov. 22 in 4:34.27, then lowered it to 4:28.16 in the Pacific-10 Championships on Feb. 27. Hsieh also set a school record at the Pac-10 meet, breaking the 100 butterfly mark in 58.03 seconds.
Climbing the career ladder
BEAVERS ON SCHOOL TOP-10 LISTS: Swimmers on this years Oregon State team hold many places on the schools all-time leaders lists. Here are the OSU school records and where members of the 1998-99 Beavers (listed in bold) rate on OSUs all-time top 10s at the start of this season:
50 FREESTYLE 1. Amy van Loben Sels 23.11 1994 7. Erin Buckley 24.57 1998 9. Arianna Higuera 24.79 1998 (tie) Melissa Hsieh 24.79 1998 100 FREESTYLE 1. Amy van Loben Sels 50.64 1995 7. Arianna Higuera 53.57 1998 9. Melissa Hsieh 53.70 1998 200 FREESTYLE 1. Traci Lamoure 1:50.91 1998 3. Melissa Hsieh 1:54.28 1998 5. Erin Buckley 1:55.19 1998 10. Jennifer Saunders 1:57.28 1998 500 FREESTYLE 1. Tammy Scott 5:00.00 1989 8. Melissa Hsieh 5:12.99 1998 10. Jennifer Saunders 5:14.41 1998 1,000 FREESTYLE 1. Kelly Kaplan 10:23.50 1990 1,650 FREESTYLE 1. Holly Andrus 17:10.16 1981 100 BACKSTROKE 1. Tori Eisenbeis 57.23 1995 3. Erica Stephens 57.74 1998 200 BACKSTROKE 1. Christy Ryerson 2:03.41 1994 3. Erica Stephens 2:04.60 1998 100 BUTTERFLY 1. Melissa Hsieh 58.03 1998 6. Arianna Higuera 59.55 1998 200 BUTTERFLY 1. Julie Skowhede 2:07.65 1982 2. Melissa Hsieh 2:07.67 1998 9. Kristal Castillo 2:12.51 1998 100 BREASTSTROKE 1. Becky Curtis 1:06.83 1991 7. Kristen Severance 1:08.87 1998 10. Julie Lewis 1:09.59 1998 200 BREASTSTROKE 1. Tammy Scott 2:20.77 1991 5. Kristen Severance 2:27.40 1998 7. Sarah Cohen 2:28.49 1998 8. Gina Giesbrecht 2:28.57 1997 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 1. Traci Lamoure 2:07.72 1998 2. Erica Stephens 2:08.32 1998 4. Arianna Higuera 2:11.82 1998 7. Kristen Severance 2:12.48 1998 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 1. Erica Stephens 4:28.16 1998 4. Kristen Severance 4:41.52 1998 6. Sarah Cohen 4:42.56 1998Information, please ...
BEAVER SPORTS INFORMATION: Oregon State womens swimming sports information director Kip Carlson can be reached at (541) 737-3072. OSU womens swimming information is also on the athletic department website at www.osubeavers.com
