June 30, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland swimming and diving head coach Sean Schimmel has added assistant coaches John Pontz and Rachel Stratton to his staff for the 2008-09 season.
Pontz joins the Terps this season after serving as an assistant at Northwestern since 2004. During that time, the Wildcats boasted three top-ten NCAA team finishes, two individual NCAA champions and a pair of NCAA records. Before heading to Evansville, Pontz was an assistant coach at Arizona State from 2001-2003. A graduate of Penn State, Pontz has served as a head coach, director and manager at several USA Swimming Camps and was an assistant coach at the Goodwill Games in 2001.
"I'm extremely excited to be a part of this up-and-coming program," Pontz said. "I have known Coach Schimmel for years and I like his vision and plan for this program. I am thrilled to be a member of the University of Maryland family."
Pontz's official first day is July 1.
"Coming from a top 10 program such as Northwestern, John not only brings a wealth of elite coaching experience at the college level, but has also done an outstanding job coaching athletes to national and international success," Schimmel said. "John's experience and organization on the recruiting front will impact the future of this team as he heads up the recruiting efforts as the recruiting director."
Stratton's latest stint was at Dartmouth, where she was an assistant coach for the Big Green since 2006. Prior to Dartmouth, Stratton was head coach of Team Santa Monica (Calif.) and Brentwood (Calif.) High School. She is a graduate of UCLA and served from 200-2002 as chair of the Bruin Athletic Council, a student-run organization that serves as a liaison between all student-athletes and the athletic department.
"The energy surrounding University of Maryland Swimming & Diving is contagious and I am thrilled to be part of it," Stratton said. "Coach Schimmel has many outstanding visions for this program and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the staff to make those a reality."
"Rachel helped the Dartmouth program make great strides in their recruiting classes over the last two years and helped bring that program to a new level of competitiveness," Schimmel said. "We will look to Rachel to have that same impact at Maryland as we climb up the ranks of the ACC. It is great to have such a strong candidate like Rachel to be our women's recruiting coordinator and having her coaching skills on deck."
Schimmel will still add one more assistant coach to complete his staff in his first-year at the helm of the Terps' swimming and diving program.
