May 16, 2000
Stony Brook, NY - As the Stony Brook men's and women's swimming and diving team began to prepare for the 1999-2000 season, the Seawolves faced more challenges than ever before. Not only was the program making its Division I debut, but the schedule contained seven brand-new opponents. In addition, the women's team had lost eight swimmers from the season before, while the men faced the task of measuring up to their best finish in 25 years in 1998-99.
As it turned out, the Seawolves would turn in a solid performance during the regular season. But nothing prepared the team or its coaches for the way Stony Brook swimming and diving would close its inaugural Division I season.
The women opened up their season with a 136-92 dual meet victory over Sacred Heart. The meet would set the tone for the entire season, as sophomore Laura Bartlett and freshman Sarah Doret would repeatedly lead the Seawolves in dual meet competition. Against the Pioneers, USB notched 12 first-place finishes, including Bartlett's win in the 100 butterfly and Doret's victory in the 400 freestyle.
The men hit the pool for the first time in 1999-2000 against Army, which defeated both the men and women, 137-99. Sophomore Tim Larkin led the men with a win in the 500 free. On the women's side, freshman diver Kristi Schubert won both the one- and three-meter diving events, while Doret captured the 500 freestyle.
The women scored two straight victories in their next meets, first against St. Peter's in the home opener at University Pool and then at Wagner. The USB women scored a 131-83 victory over St. Peter's, while the men narrowly lost, 117-112. The men's trend of close defeats would continue throughout the year, leading to a misleading final dual meet record.
Against St. Peter's, Bartlett and Doret each picked up two victories to pace Stony Brook. Larkin would again prove his worth as he won two events, while junior transfer Devin Bougie won the 200 IM.
The women picked up a close 109-94 win over Wagner, as Bartlett and Doret again led the way with Bartlett winning the 50 and 100 free and Doret placing first in the 100 breaststroke.
The men and women returned to University Pool to face Maine on Nov. 14. The Black Bears scored a double victory over USB, defeating the women 136-93, and the men by a score of 135-86. On the women's side, Doret notched the only first-place individual finish, and Schubert won on both boards. The meet would also reveal the outstanding performance of the women's 200 free relay. Junior Patty Prehm, freshman Sue Slepetz, sophomore Alyson Lamonte and Doret won the event for the first of many times during the year.
Larkin again led the men against the Bears, winning two events, while the men's 200 free relay--Bougie, freshman Scott Finn, junior Carlington Simms and freshman Yohann Littee--also won first place.
Next up for the Seawolves was a home tri-meet against Iona and St. Francis. The women picked up two more victories to improve to 5-2, while the men split. The women annihilated St. Francis 99-6 as the Seawolves finished first and second in every individual event. Against Iona, USB won 56-52, led once again by Bartlett and Doret.
The men picked up their first dual meet win as they notched a commanding 88-20 win over St. Francis. Senior Mike Chang, Bougie and Larkin each won two events to lead the way. Chang also won two events against Iona, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Gaels' six first-place finishes in individual events, leading to an 80-20 win.
The team then traveled to the Delaware Quad Invitational, where both the men and women finished fourth of four teams in a disappointing showing.
The men continued to struggle in their next three meets, losing to Fordham, Columbia and St. John's. Fordham defeated both the men and women, while just the men traveled to Columbia, where they suffered a 121-101 defeat.
The team traveled to St. John's on Jan. 29, where the Red Storm handed the men their seventh loss on the year and the women their fifth. However, Doret continued her domination in the 1000 free, winning the event in 10:59.87, a time that qualified her for the ECAC Championships.
The Seawolves then returned home for the season finale against Fairfield. The meet marked the last home competition for seniors Mike Chang, captain Liz Dannebaum and Ted Watabe. The women barely lost, falling 124-115 in a competition that was tied heading into the final event, the 400 free relay. The team of Prehm, freshman Kris Yturraspe, Lamonte and Doret finished just .6 seconds behind the Stags' relay team for the final score. Schubert won on both boards, while Doret again won the 1000 free. The men finally got back in the winning column, notching a 134-84 win behind eight first-place finishes, including victories by sophomore Igor Voloshin in the 200 IM and the 200 breast.
Heading into the METS Championships Feb. 18-20, Stony Brook had just two ECAC qualifiers--Sarah Doret and Kristi Schubert. The METS represented the last chance the Seawolves had to qualify any more athletes for the ECACs just four days later. After the Seawolves were through at METS, they had added nine more ECAC competitions for a total of 11.
The team broke seven school records en route to a second-place overall finish for the women, while the men finished third, just one point behind second-place Southern Connecticut.
On the women's side, Bartlett broke the school record in three events--the 50 free, 200 IM and 400 IM. She repeated as the 400 IM champion at METS as her time of 4:46.99 shaved two seconds off the old Stony Brook record. The women's 200 and 800 free relay team--Bartlett, Doret, Prehm and Slepetz--also set new school records in each event.
For the men, Voloshin broke the school record in the 200 breast, while the men's 200 medley relay team--Littee, Voloshin, Bougie and Chang--also etched a new USB mark in the record books. Chang also placed third in the 100 breast and fourth in the 50 free, and his spectacular performance awarded him the Dick Krempecki Most Outstanding Senior Award.
"The team's performance was outstanding," head coach Dave Alexander. "We had to break school records that have been around a long time in order to qualify for ECACs. We only had two qualifiers last year, and this year we had three relays and four individuals. That's a huge improvement."
The Seawolves fell short of matching their impressive performances at the ECACs, an event just one notch below the NCAAs in terms of the level of competition, as the team failed to place in any events.
"This was mostly a learning experience," Alexander said. "We need to qualify for ECACs earlier in the season. Most of our swimmers swam as hard as they could just four days before the event to qualify. Our legs were gone. But our swimmers still placed much higher than they did last year. We did very well."
The Seawolves proved their mettle with their outstanding performance at METS and showed they are capable of competing at a big-time level by qualifying 11 athletes for the ECAC Championships. Add that to the slew of school records broken this season, and you get a positive picture of things to come at Division I for Seawolves swimming and diving.
