Swimming Season Recap
The 2005-06 season for the women’s swimming team broke new ground in the on going struggle to raise the program to new competitive heights. Preseason hopes amounted to yet another seventh place finish at the Pacific-10 Championships and then a 31st place finish at the NCAA Championships.
While these achievements are alone worthy of merit, perhaps the biggest team accomplishment this season was the end of a 25-year losing streak to the
“Beating
For most of the season the Beavers were led by outstanding freshman Saori Haruguchi who swam to a team high 15 dual meet victories. Haruguchi went on to capture All-American honors at the NCAA Championships in the 200 butterfly where she finished 6th. Haruguchi also finished strong in the 100 butterfly (15th, 54.63) and the 200 individual medley (38th, 2:02.25). As the only OSU competitor at the NCAA Championships, Haruguchi tallied up a total of 14.5 points good enough for 31st place overall, and only 2.5 points down from
“Another highlight of the year has to be Saori’s performance at the NCAA Championships,” Liebowitz said. “She swam an outstanding meet and really represented
Saori was one of the 13 freshmen on this year’s squad that composed over half of the team. Many of those girls were able to come in right away and make an impact to help the team in meets. In fact, of the 12 swimmers that captured spots on OSU’s list of top performers this season, seven were freshman.
“They really lived up to most of my expectations,” Liebowitz said. “You really hope for the big breakthrough where someone qualifies for the NCAA’s in their first year. We didn’t have that, but we had some nice progress that I think paints a nice picture for the future of our program.”
The Beavers finished the season with a 4-8 overall dual meet record (1-5 Pacific-10). This mediocre record could be justified considering the daunting season schedule that featured four teams among the top 20 at the end of the season. However, settling for a losing record isn’t in the future plans for OSU swimming. Liebowitz believes this a temporary situation and in the long run it will help the program in more ways than just wins.
“We didn’t make the kind of progress in dual meets that I had hoped,” Liebowitz said. “In some of them, I just don’t think the girls had the confidence to step up against the competition. I am confident however, that if we keep scheduling this kind of competition, we will get better.”
The five vacating seniors from this year’s squad were the foundation of the program for several years and provided valuable leadership throughout their careers. Each of the five swimmers was a four year letterman and combined the group has a multitude of accomplishments. Ausra Pacebutaite is the school record holder in the 100 backstroke and is currently the career leader for dual meet wins in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Christina Kinney is a two year co-captain of the team is the career leader in dual meet wins in the 100 butterfly.
“This group of graduating seniors leaves the biggest hole on the team since I have been here,” Liebowitz said. “They were very enthusiastic, great students and essentially the backbone of the team for more than just their senior years. Their presence on this team will be missed.”
The Beavers turned in yet another successful season and showed signs of a changing culture with many accomplishments this season. Three school records were broken this year, two by Haruguchi and one by senior Ausra Pacebutaite. Swimmers on this year’s team captured 28 new spots on the OSU’s list of Top-10 Performers. Perhaps the most valuable differences in this year’s squad are the more subtle changes that indicate a bright future. Liebowitz believes that there is a growing aura interest around the program and emerging confidence from swimmers on the team.
“I think there are more people on the team that believe they can complete the goals our program has,” Liebowitz said. “If you look at the progress our team has made in the past couple years I think it is apparent that we are getting better and our swimmers are believe it.”
Liebowitz is proud of what the team accomplished this season and is looking forward to what the program at
“This was a great year,” Liebowitz said. “There were some things I would have liked to been done better, but I am proud of what we did this season. I think we accomplished a lot this season and I don’t think it would have been possible without the great group of women on our team. They are good students, they have solid goals, and they are moving in the right direction.”
Overall, OSU finished in 31st place at the NCAA Championships. The Beavers were the seventh Pac-10 school in the top 45 and finished only 2.5 points away from ASU.
1. Auburn 518.5
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3.
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5. Stanford 209
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20.
29.
31.
40.
Led by freshman Saori Haruguchi, OSU garnered five top ten finishes. Haruguchi finished fourth in both the 100 (53.85) and 200 (1:58.84) butterfly, then sixth in the 200 (2:01.81) individual medley. Senior Monika Miroslaw captured eighth in the 400 (4:27.52) individual medley. Freshman Kayla Rawlings helped the OSU effort in the 200 butterfly with a ninth place finish.
OSU had four swimmers score in both the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly events. This was the first time in
Haruguchi: 6th - 200 IM, 4th – 100 fly, 4th – 200 fly
Wirth: 21st – 100 free, 13th – 50 free, 12th – 100 fly
Miroslaw: 8th – 400 IM, 11th – 200 fly
Schaab: 16th – 400 IM
Rawlings: 11th – 100 fly, 9th – 200 fly, 24th – 200 free
Kinney: 21st – 200 fly, 17th – 100 fly
Castaneda: 14th – 100 breast
Pacebutaite: 13th – 100 back, 14th – 200 back
Hong: 12th – 1650 free
Burrow: 24th – 200 breast
Academic Honors: Maintaining a high level of academic quality, OSU Swimming had 12 athletes earn Pacific-10 All-Academic accolades. received first team Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic honors, fellow senior and sophomore earned second team honors.
Both Schaab and Pacebutaite are three-time honorees of the award. Schaab had received honorable mention status twice before this year’s first team selection, while Pacebutaite is a three-time second team honoree. For Castaneda, her second team honor is her first All-Academic honor in her OSU career.
Junior , senior , senior , sophomore , sophomore , sophomore , senior , and junior all earned honorable mention honors.
Event Winners: Freshman Saori Haruguchi led the Beavers in individual event victories this season with 15. Sophomore Felicia Castaneda and senior Christina Kinney tied for second with six season victories. In sum, the Beavers won 51 events this season, which is down from 78 during the 2004 season.
1. Saori Haruguchi..................................... 15
2. Felicia Castaneda..................................... 6
(tie) Christina Kinney.................................... 6
3. Ausra Pacebutaite 5
(tie) Sandy Hong......................................... 5
4. Monika Miroslaw..................................... 4
(tie) Erika Wirth............................................ 4
5. Kayla Rawlings....................................... 3
OREGON STATE 2004-05 SINGLE SEASON WINS ON ALL-TIME LIST: Saori Haruguchi recorded enough dual meet victories this season to place in the list top 25 single-season event winners in the Pacific-10 era (1987 to present).
1. Naya Higashijima, 2003.......................... 31
2. Naya Higashijima, 2002.......................... 30
3. Birte Steven, 2003.................................. 28
14. Paula Finlay, 2000................................ 15
(tie) Kristin Huston, 2003............................. 15
(tie) Lisa van Loben Sels, 1991.................... 15
(tie) Saori Haruguchi, 2005....................... 15
BEAVERS’ PLACES ON SCHOOL WIN LISTS: Several current
1. Naya Higashijima, 2000-03.................... 104
2. Birte Steven, 2001-04.............................. 96
6. Ausra Pacebutaite, 2003-05................... 34
14. Sandy Hong, 2004-05......................... 22
(tie). Christina Kinney, 2003-05................. 22
19. Saori Haruguchi................................. 15
20. Felicia Castaneda, 2005-06................... 13
BEAVERS’ SCHOOL RECORDS IN 2004-05: During the 2005-06 season, Oregon State Swimmers Ausra Pacebutaite and Saori Haruguchi set a combined three new school records events.
§ 200 BACKSTROKE: Saori Haruguchi; Oct. 28, Dual - UBC and
§ 100 BUTTERFLY: Saori Haruguchi; Feb. 22, Pac-10 Championships; 53.85.
§ 100 BACKSTROKE: Ausra Pacebutaite; Dec. 1, Husky Invitational; 55.43.
