"Not too many people are probably going to be adding a lot of events. As the team gets better, and we progress, we have the ability to be a little more set in what we want to do. So in situations, like having Kirstin (Walker), as a good 500-freestyler come in as a freshman that may mean we can move Olivia (Arnold) out of the IM and into the breaststroke or something like that. We may see some stuff like that, but probably not too many major changes. The nice part is we just don’t have to throw people in places they don’t belong quite as often. Even though, size wise we’re almost exactly the same size as last year, depth wise as far as ability levels we’re way better."

What do you expect out of the large sophomore group after they got their feet wet last year?

    "That’s an interesting group because part of the trouble we had there was with some injuries. Caitlin Cook was out all last year basically with a hip injury. She seems to be getting better. She’s one that we’re really looking forward to see what she can do when she’s healthy. Kari Tridle was the other one that last year, she ended up having shoulder surgery in January and still has not recovered from that. So you’re probably not going to see a lot out of her this year. We’re just hoping that she can basically get back into it this year so that we can really see some progress next year. That’s a big chunk of the class right there. Alana Kane I think is going to continue to develop as a pretty good sprint to middle distance freestyler. I think her 200 free is going to be a pretty good event this year. Laura Hanley was another one where we had some minor injury trouble. She had a cyst removed from her ankle over the summer. Right now she’s training better than ever and we are looking forward to seeing what she can do in the breaststroke events. Obviously, Ashley Williamson is the impact of that class. She came in and finished second in the fly at the conference meet in her first year is a pretty big deal. And being top five in all three of her events was awesome. So we’re looking for her to have the potential to maybe pull out a championship or two this year and over the next three years for sure. That alone is a big help, but then adding that to the relays and things like that is going to be huge."

Diving has been a strong suit, but the past couple of years have seen a lull in production, what can Sarah and Amanda do to turn that around?

    "Sarah is another one of our injury people that we’ve been trying to get healthy. She had ankle surgery over the summer to repair some cartilage in there. So again we’re not sure what’s going to happen with her. She’s rehabbing and hopefully going to be back on track by the end of the semester here and be able to compete at least on one board, if not both, at the championship meet. Just having her in there is a big plus. Just a little bit of depth because it is a thin area for us right now. Amanda’s the kind of diver, who is a great kid and has some potential, it’s just a matter of seeing how much we can pull out of her by the end of the season. She was 13th (one-meter) last year at the league meet so we’re hoping she has a shot at that top eight this year if she can continue to improve. She’s the type that works hard and does anything you ask so it’s just a matter of getting it to click for her."

After two straight years of finishing fifth, what does the program need to do to maintain that, or possibly breakthrough to the next level?

    "One of the big challenges coming into the program was for the most part the team just really didn’t believe they could make an impact at the championship meet. Slowly but surely we’ve been changing that attitude to where for the most part now, everybody believes we belong and we’re someone who is making a move. Stepping up to UIC is going to be a challenge. They were 90 points ahead of us last year. I believe they’ve got a pretty good recruiting class as well so I think it’s going to be a tough battle, but I think we can give them a good run this year. It’s just a matter of waiting to see how things kind of play out. Stepping into the top three is another big step. I think that you’ll probably see us and UIC are stepping in together to where it’s going to be a five-way battle, rather than just a three-way battle. Both our teams are ready to move in that direction. Staying ahead of Cleveland State and Valpo is a big guessing game to be honest. Both those programs have had coaching changes in the past two years. Valparaiso in a pretty dramatically way when their coach left in the middle of the season last year. With the women’s team at Cleveland State getting combined in with the men’s program basically so the men’s coach is doing both of those now. Their men’s team has been pretty successful with him. They won the championship a few years ago. If he can get them turned around they are going to be a tough one to battle back. I think we’ve got a pretty good lead on them right now to where as long as we continue to do the same things we’ve been doing we can stay ahead of them. The biggest key is that team attitude. The girls believe they can do it. They feel very confident after last year. And really one of the biggest things we saw last year was our 400-free relay finishing third, which was a huge step for us because we had never had a relay above fifth before that. It was a big eye-opener for a lot of the team to say if we could get the relays up there, we can be up there as a team and that’s a big step. Attitude’s a big part of it and they’ve got it right now."

What will the three seniors bring to the table this year?

    "This is probably the strongest senior class that we’ve graduated, which is pretty good to say considering we graduated Julia (Darling) last year as a school-record holder and Brittany (Senn) who was part of school records on the relays. The kind of impact that these three have had is big. Jessica Front is one we fought injury on. She’s rehabbing a shoulder and is getting better. Hopefully we’ll see some points out her in the 200 free and 100 free, but the other two, Natasha Bray and Olivia Arnold are two good point scorers for us. I think Tash scored in two out of her three events last year and I think she could be top eight in the 400 IM and maybe the mile this year and score for us in the 1,000 as well. Olivia with two school records last year and not too far off of a third is going to make a huge impact for us. Leadership wise they’re a great group. They‘re going to mean a lot to us over the next six months and they’re going to be missed when they are gone because it’s going to take some doing to replace their leadership skills. I’m really looking forward to an exciting year with those three because all three of them have put in the work whether it be through rehab, or summer training, in order to have a real good year this year so we’re looking forward to it."

Ashley had a breakout year as a freshman, what can she do to build on her performances at the league meet?

    "Basically continue with what she is doing. She was a young freshman coming in. She didn’t turn 18 until January. She struggled a lot during her first semester with homesickness and being a long way from Scotland and that was pretty tough. Having a solid year of training is going to make a huge difference for her. She ran into some minor shoulder stuff, but it’s pretty much been worked out. Just continuing with the progress that she’s already made and she’ll continue to get faster. She’s got a load of potential and can be someone we’re looking at long-term possibly some NCAA cuts. Making the meet may be a whole other deal, but getting some cuts and being in that range. By the time her four years here are done, conference champion in maybe three events with the 100 fly, the 100 back, the 200 back. We’re going to try her a little in the 200 fly this year and see how that goes. She’s fairly excited about it at the moment we will see is she is still excited about it after we do it a couple of times. If she can do what I think she is capable of in that event, that’s a potential scorer as well where she could be top eight there so we will have some choices based on the year and what we think her best chances are. She’s someone who will help us out for the next three years."

Talk about the incoming freshman and the impact they might make? It seems like the offer a lot of versatility?