Terps Season Opener to Take Place Friday Against Johns Hopkins
10/26/2006 8:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 26, 2006
The Maryland women's swimming and diving team is set to open the 2006-07 season this Friday, October 27. The meet will begin at 3:00 against Johns Hopkins at Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center.
The women's team enters this season coming off of a fifth place finish at the 2006 ACC Championships. The women look to build off of last season's 4-4 record in the ACC and 7-5 record overall. Seven freshman and 11 returning swimmers comprise the 2006-07 women's team. The Terps are lead by head coach Dave Durden in his second season at Maryland. Kevin Clements returns to Maryland in his second season as assistant coach and the Terps welcome assistant coaches Demerae Christianson and Jarod Schroeder for their first season at Maryland. Casey Moore leads the 2006-07 diving team in her first season as Maryland's head diving coach.
The Johns Hopkins women's team lost their season opener against Navy last Saturday, October 21 (165-105) winning four out of the total 16 events.
Last year against Johns Hopkins:
- Maryland beat Johns Hopkins 154-68. Howard University also swam in the event.
- Senior Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia) won the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.04) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.28),
- Junior Maya Finkler (Rishon-le-zion, Isreal), finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:28.97) and the 100 free (52.67).
- In the 50 free junior Emily Smoak came in second (25.24) and senior Natalie Ferdinand in sixth (25.93).
- Sophomore Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan) finished second in the 100 fly (59.04)
- Junior Katarina Csomova (Komarno, Slovakia) finished fourth in the 200 IM (2:16.84).
- Sophomore Jennifer Fink (Hanover, Pa.) won the 3-meter (233.55) board.
- The Terps won both the 400 medley relay (3:54.85) and the 400 free relay (3:36.97)
Women at a Glance:
The senior class consists of Gigi deToll (Culpeper, Va.), Natalie Ferdinand (St. Thomas, Barbados), Kaleena Laputka (Shamong, N.J.), and Sasha Malanina (Volgograd, Russia). deToll finished last season as part of the 200 medley relay team taking third with an NCAA B-cut time (1:42.04) and the 400 medley relay team taking fourth (3:45.21) at ACCs. deToll also finished sixth overall in the 100 fly at the 2006 ACC Championships (55.46). Ferdinand set a career best at ACCs in the 50 free (24.02), 100 back (57.04) and 100 free (53.46). Laputka set career-best times at the 2006 ACC Championships in the 50 free (23.76) and in the 100 free (51.44). Last season, Malanina was an Honorable Mention All-American in the 400 IM also qualifying to the NCAA Championships in the 200 IM and 400 IM. Malanina was All-ACC in the 200 and 400 IM, won the ACC Championship in the 400 IM (4:14.77), and placed second in the 200 IM at the ACC Championships.
Junior Katarina Csomova (Komarno, Slovakia) comes off a 16th overall finish at the 2006 ACCs in the 200 breast (2:21.88) and 21st in the 100 breast (1:06.89) both qualifying as personal records. Junior Maya Finkler (Rishon le-zion, Israel) concluded last season finishing eighth in the 50 free, (setting a personal record in the prelims with a 23.50), sixth in the 100 free (setting a personal record in the prelims with a 50.96) and 13th in the 200 free (1:50.90) at ACCs. Junior Kirsten Jones (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) finished 15th overall in the 400 IM at last year's at the ACC Championships (4:26.25). Jones also set a career best in the1650 free (17:23.67) and in the 200 back (2:05.55) at ACCs. Junior Julie O'Brien finished 28th in the 200 IM (2:07.83) and 20th in the 400 IM (4:30.47) at the 2006 ACC Championships. Rounding out the junior class is Emily Smoak (Salisbury, Md.). At the 2006 ACCs, Smoak set a career record in the 200 IM (2:07.77) and in the 100 breast at ACCs (1:05.88).
Sophomore diver Jennifer Fink (Hanover, Pa.) finished 17th overall in the 1-meter at the 2006 ACC Championships (211.35). Sophomore Yelena Skalinskaya (Almaty, Kazakhstan) took seventh in the 50 free at ACC Championships (23.44) after setting a personal record (23.26) in prelims. Skalinskaya also took fifth in the 100 free at ACCs after notching a personal record of 50.94 in the prelims.
The newcomers on this year's team include freshmen: Annie Broome (Knoxville, Tenn.), Jackie Davidson (Beverly, Mass.), Patty DeScenza (Naperville, Illinois), Cindy Gangloff (Akron, Ohio), Andrea Lehner (Orchard Park, N.Y.), Nina Rossi (Princeton, N.J.), and Jen Vogel (Hingham, Mass.).
See the Terps kick off the 2006-07 season this Friday, October 27 in a home meet against Johns Hopkins, starting at 3:00.
