Beavers made big strides in 2000
June 2, 2000
Winning records, both overall and in Pacific-10 duals. A new home in an on-campus pool, with supportive crowds at meets. Improving veterans mixed with an outstanding freshman class. School records set 21 times, and in nine different events.
Oregon State (7-3 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) had its best women's swimming season in nearly a decade during 1999-2000, as the Beavers' improvement over recent years began to show in their results.
"There was a lot that contributed to it," OSU head coach Mariusz Podkoscielny said. "We had more maturity on the team, we've gotten better every year, having a facility on campus - that all played a role in it."
With Podkoscielny in his fourth season, the entire Beaver roster was brought to the school by the current coach.
"We finally got a group of kids on the team that were all recruited by us," Podkoscielny said. "They are buying into our train of thought and what we're trying to accomplish.
"Our freshmen came through tremendously. You look at our school records, and the majority of them came from freshmen, which looks great for the future. It highlights how quickly the team adapted to having such a competitive freshman class, and how quickly they made them part of the system we have set up. The reason the freshmen were successful was how the team took them in and helped them through the transition - that was the most important thing that happened this season."
OSU's roster this season included just one senior, Magda Modelska.
"Those swimmers coming back will get better and improve," Podkoscielny said. "We're looking forward to the future - it's a good situation for us. We were so close to going to the NCAA Championships in a couple of places, so the goals that some of the girls will have for next year aren't the goals we've had in the past. They'll be looking at going to the NCAAs, and that's awesome."
Oregon State opened the season with home victories over San Jose State and Utah at Stevens Natatorium. The non-league duals marked the start of the first season in 20 years in which OSU swam all its home meets on campus.
"It was great to be back on campus, and we enjoyed every bit of it," Podkoscielny said. "It was a great year from the standpoint of how much support we got from the community and the fans."
In its first big meet of the year, Oregon State placed third in the 23-team Speedo Cup Invitational in early December.
"We had a good meet," Podkoscielny said of the Speedo Cup. "We were able to compete and finish strong as a team. We had a lot of great individual performances and school records. That meet is usually a prognosis for the whole season, and we've kept getting better at that meet."
The Beavers clinched at least a .500 dual meet record by defeating Puget Sound in the final home meet of the season. OSU then went to Washington State to conclude the regular season with a pair of dual meets, the Beavers needed at least one victory to earn their first winning record since 1991.
Oregon State got that win in the first meet of the weekend, then completed a sweep of the Cougars the next day to also assure the Beavers of a winning record in Pacific-10 duals.
"The first meet at Washington State was a highlight of the year," Podkoscielny said. "It was going to be close no matter what, and we did everything we needed to do. We made no mistakes in that meet."
After the success of the regular season, the Beavers entered the Pacific-10 Championships with high hopes. OSU finished in ninth place, however, not quite able to overtake WSU.
"The Pac-10s brought us down to earth," Podkoscielny said. "We'd been flying high, emotionally. Part of it was because we were spent from the whole season. Expectations kept rising, and each meet was more and more important, and at the Pac-10 meet the girls came out flat a bit. We showed some weaknesses we have and what we need to improve and get better on."
Freshman Naya Higashijima was one of the Beavers' top performers during the season, turning in 21 event victories during regular-season meets and setting school records 12 times in four different events (200 butterfly, 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle). Paula Finlay, another freshman, had 15 event victories and set school records five times in three events (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley).
INJURY REPORT: Erica Stephens missed the season with shoulder problems.
PACIFIC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN REVIEW: Oregon State finished ninth at the Pacific-10 Championships, which were held Feb. 24-26 at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, Calif. Arizona won the team title with 1,325 points and Stanford was second with 1,197, OSU scored 291.5 points.
It was a weekend that had its highlights for the Beavers, as OSU closed to within 30.5 points of eighth-place Washington State. Paula Finlay provided the Beavers with their highest individual finish in 5 years when she placed eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke, her time of 1:04.39 seconds in the preliminaries was one of 7 school records set by OSU in the meet.
Also notching school records were Finlay in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.09, 13th place), Naya Higashijima in the 1,650 freestyle (16:55.87, 13th place) and 500 freestyle twice (4:54.99, 14th place, and 4:55.40, prelims), the 400 medley relay team of Magda Modelska, Finlay, Kristin Martinec and Arianna Higuera (3:51.22, 7th place), and the 200 medley relay team of Suzanne Starkey, Finlay, Martinec and Higuera (1:46.30, 7th place).
Others scoring points for the Beavers were Higuera in the 50 freestyle (14th place) and 100 freestyle (22nd place), Higashijima in the 200 butterfly (15th place), Kyla Bond in the 400 individual medley (17th place), Modelska in the 400 individual medley (18th place) and 100 backstroke (23rd place), Sheila Tehranchi in the 400 individual medley (22nd place), 100 breaststroke (22nd place) and 200 breaststroke (23rd place), Kristen Severance in the 200 breaststroke (20th place) and 100 breaststroke (21st place), Starkey in the 100 backstroke (22nd place).
HEAD COACH MARIUSZ PODKOSCIELNY: Mariusz Podkoscielny completed his fourth season as head coach at Oregon State. During that time, OSU has a dual meet record of 14-25 overall and 2-11 in the Pacific-10. Podkoscielny, 31, is a 9-time All-American and 2-time Olympian.
Prior to coming to OSU in the fall of 1996, Podkoscielny had been an assistant men's and women's coach at Arizona since 1993.
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.
OREGON STATE ALL-ACADEMIC PICKS: Oregon State had 7 swimmers earn honorable mention when the Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic team was announced. The Beavers who were honored were Kyla Bond, Suzanne Broda, Sarah Cohen, Melissa Hsieh, Amy Imwalle, Jill Personius and Bonnie Renwick.
STEVENS NATATORIUM: For the first time in 20 years, Oregon State scheduled all its home swim meets on campus as the Beavers moved into Stevens Natatorium. OSU had a 3-1 dual meet record in its new home this season.
Stevens Natatorium is adjacent to Dixon Recreation Center, near Gill Coliseum. The pool opened in 1994 but was not outfitted for competition until prior to this season.
OSU had scheduled its home meets at Corvallis' Osborn Aquatic Center since the community pool opened for the 1979-80 season. A few meets were still held on campus at Langton Pool.
OREGON STATE'S BEST DUAL MARK SINCE ... : Oregon State's 7-3 dual meet record this season gave the Beavers their first winning season since going 7-4 in 1991. The last time OSU won more than 7 dual meets in a season was 1983, when OSU finished 8-2. The Beavers' .700 winning percentage in dual meets was Oregon State's highest since a .750 mark while going 6-2 in 1990.
OREGON STATE'S WINNING STREAKS: Oregon State started and finished the season with a pair of 3-meet win streaks in dual meet competition. Those were the Beavers' longest winning streaks since taking 5 straight dual victories to finish the 1994 season.
OREGON STATE SCHOOL RECORDS: This season, Oregon State set school records 21 times with those marks coming in 9 different events. OSU's school records set during the 1999-2000 season:
200 butterfly - Naya Higashijima 2:07.44, Oct. 29 vs. SJSU 200 butterfly - Naya Higashijima 2:06.36, Nov. 11 vs. Utah 1,000 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 10:21.68, Nov. 11 vs. Utah 100 breaststroke - Paula Finlay 1:06.34, Nov. 11 vs. Utah 200 individual medley - Paula Finlay 2:05.46, Dec. 2 at Speedo Cup 400 medley relay - Starkey, Renwick, Finlay, Higuera 3:52.92, Dec. 2 at Speedo Cup 100 breaststroke - Paula Finlay 1:04.40, Dec. 3 at Speedo Cup 200 medley relay - Starkey, Renwick, Finlay, Higuera 1:46.99, Dec. 3 at Speedo Cup 200 butterfly - Naya Higashijima 2:05.80, Dec. 4 at Speedo Cup 200 butterfly - Naya Higashijima 2:05.11, Dec. 4 at Speedo Cup 1,000 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 10:19.63, Dec. 21 at Fla. Atlantic 200 butterfly - Naya Higashijima 2:04.50, Dec. 21 at Fla. Atlantic 1,650 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 17:09.84, Jan. 22 vs. Washington 500 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 4:59.78, Jan. 29 vs. Puget Sound 500 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 4:55.40, Feb. 24 at Pacific-10 500 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 4:54.99, Feb. 24 at Pacific-10 400 medley relay - Modelska, Martinec, Finlay, Higuera 3:51.22, Feb. 24 at Pacific-10 100 breaststroke - Paula Finlay 1:04.39, Feb. 25 at Pacific-10 200 medley relay - Starkey, Finlay, Martinec, Higuera 1:46.30, Feb. 25 at Pacific-10 1,650 freestyle - Naya Higashijima 16:55.87, Feb. 26 at Pacific-10 200 breaststroke - Paula Finlay 2:20.09, Feb. 26 at Pacific-10
OREGON STATE EVENT WINNERS: In the dual meet season, freshman Naya Higashijima led the Beavers in event victories. The final regular season standings:
(Wins while swimming as an exhibtion entry are in parentheses, those wins are not included in total) 1. Naya Higashijima (2) 21 2. Paula Finlay (1) 15 3. Magda Modelska (3) 7 4. Arianna Higuera (1) 7 5. Sheila Tehranchi 2 6. Kyla Bond 1 (tie) Amy Imwalle 1 (tie) Jill McMinn 1 9. Bonnie Renwick (1) 0
BEAVERS' PLACES ON SCHOOL TOP-10 LISTS: At the season's conclusion, swimmers on the 1999-2000 Oregon State team held 64 of the 140 places on the school's lists of the top 10 performers in each event. In fact, members of this season's Beaver squad held at least 3 spots in each event and 19 current OSU swimmers held at least 1 spot.
Here are the members of the 1999-2000 Beavers with the most entries on the school's all-time leader lists at the end of the season:
1. Naya Higashijima 7 2. Paula Finlay 6 3. Arianna Higuera 5 4. Sarah Cohen 4 (tie) Amy Imwalle 4 (tie) Bonnie Renwick 4 (tie) Kristen Severance 4 (tie) Erica Stephens 4
WHERE THE BEAVERS RANK ON SCHOOL LISTS: Here are OSU's school records and where members of the 1999-2000 Beavers (listed in bold type) rank on the school's top-10 lists through the end of the season:
50 FREESTYLE 1. Amy van Loben Sels 23.11 1994 4. Arianna Higuera 23.99 2000 5. J.J. Townsend 24.11 1995 6. Bonnie Renwick 24.42 1999 9. Erin Buckley 24.57 1998 100 FREESTYLE 1. Amy van Loben Sels 50.64 1995 5. Arianna Higuera 52.31 1999 7. Bonnie Renwick 53.19 2000 9. Trista Hedlind 53.25 2000 200 FREESTYLE 1. Traci Lamoure 1:50.91 1998 3. Naya Higashijima 1:52.89 2000 4. Melissa Hsieh 1:54.28 1998 5. Arianna Higuera 1:54.57 2000 7. Paula Finlay 1:54.99 2000 8. Amy Imwalle 1:55.12 1999 9. Erin Buckley 1:55.19 1998 10. Trista Hedlind 1:55.52 2000 500 FREESTYLE 1. Naya Higashijima 4:54.99 2000 6. Amy Imwalle 5:06.95 1999 9. Jill Personius 5:10.63 2000 1,000 FREESTYLE 1. Naya Higashijima 10:19.63 2000 4. Jill McMinn 10:38.50 2000 5. Amy Imwalle 10:43.96 1999 6. Dana Stoddard 10:44.56 1999 1,650 FREESTYLE 1. Naya Higashijima 16:55.87 2000 4. Amy Imwalle 17:28.21 1999 5. Dana Stoddard 17:35.08 1999 7. Jill McMinn 17:51.30 2000 100 BACKSTROKE 1. Tori Eisenbeis 57.23 1995 3. Erica Stephens 57.74 1998 5. Magda Modelska 58.41 2000 6. Suzanne Starkey 58.56 2000 200 BACKSTROKE 1. Christy Ryerson 2:03.41 1994 3. Erica Stephens 2:04.60 1998 5. Magda Modelska 2:07.91 2000 6. Paula Finlay 2:08.25 2000 7. Suzanne Starkey 2:08.73 2000 8. Kyla Bond 2:09.38 1999 100 BUTTERFLY 1. Kristin Martinec 57.20 1999 2. Naya Higashijima 57.88 2000 3. Melissa Hsieh 58.03 1998 4. Bonnie Renwick 58.12 1999 9. Arianna Higuera 59.31 1999 200 BUTTERFLY 1. Naya Higashijima 2:02.08 2000 3. Melissa Hsieh 2:07.67 1998 5. Kristin Martinec 2:09.34 1999 10. Jill McMinn 2:11.28 2000 100 BREASTSTROKE 1. Paula Finlay 1:04.39 2000 2. Kristen Severance 1:06.45 2000 6. Sheila Tehranchi 1:07.35 1999 8. Sarah Cohen 1:07.81 1999 200 BREASTSTROKE 1. Tammy Scott 2:20.77 1991 2. Paula Finlay 2:21.23 2000 3. Sarah Cohen 2:21.70 1999 4. Kristen Severance 2:22.78 2000 6. Sheila Tehranchi 2:23.93 2000 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 1. Paula Finlay 2:05.46 2000 3. Arianna Higuera 2:08.10 1999 4. Erica Stephens 2:08.32 1998 5. Kyla Bond 2:09.40 1999 6. Sarah Cohen 2:10.96 1999 7. Kristen Severance 2:10.97 1999 8. Bonnie Renwick 2:11.20 2000 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY 1. Erica Stephens 4:28.16 1998 2. Kyla Bond 4:30.35 1999 3. Sarah Cohen 4:34.82 1999 4. Magda Modelska 4:34.99 2000 5. Paula Finlay 4:35.01 2000 7. Naya Higashijima 4:35.85 2000 9. Sheila Tehranchi 4:41.33 1999 10. Kristen Severance 4:41.52 1998
