POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 20, 2015) – The Vassar Men's swimming and diving team will take to Kresge Pool very soon to launch their 2015-16 season under the tutelage of head coach Lisl Prater-Lee, who is entering her 22nd season at the helm of both the men's and women's swim programs at VC. Since Prater-Lee got her hands on the teams, she has produced two All-American athletes and the team has set 26 new school records - 11 on the men's side and 13 on the women's since 2013.
"First of all, I want to say I think that the group coming in did a good job of getting themselves ready," said Prater Lee. "So that's really important for us so we're not picking up all the pieces in the beginning the first couple weeks. We're looking forward to this season. We feel like we're in a good spot right now, but we always want to add in more and we think we can."
It will be an interesting year as Vassar has just graduated powerhouse Luc Amodio. Amodio topped the team's charts last year in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard backstroke, 50 yard backstroke, 200 yard breaststroke, 50 yard breaststroke, and was a member of many of the No. 1 slot relay teams.
Senior Greg Cristina (Suffield, CT/Suffield) will certainly be influential this season for both his leadership and performance. Cristina set the team bests last year for the 100 yard freestyle (48.15) and was named captain this year.
Named alongside Cristina was junior captain Anthony Walker (Madison, WI/James Madison Memorial). Walker posted the best performance last season in the 50 (24.53), 100 (51.47) and 200 yard butterfly (1:54.33) and has taken his new role of captain in stride.
"As a captain this year I am extremely conscious of how I am acting as a role model for my teammates," said Walker. "Therefore, I am holding myself to a higher bar, especially in terms of effort in practice. I try to set aside a couple of minutes before every practice to get into the right mindset. This helps me ensure that I am able to do the best I can in the span of the two hours I set aside for swimming. If I can keep myself on track with small things like this every day, then the larger goals will follow."
Senior Isaiah Hale (Dansville, NY/Dansville) was one of the team's top freestyle and distance swimmers last year, posting team-best times in the 200 free (1:48.68), 500 free (5:01.36) and 1000 free (11:23.07). Sophomore Jonah Strand (Woodstock, NY/Onteora Central) is also back as one of the squad's top breastrokers, swimming the fastest 100 breast (1:00.33) and second fastest 200 breast (2:10.61) a season ago.
Junior Chris Cerutti (Mount Kisco, NY/Fox Lane) will be one of Vassar's top options in the backstroke events, after swimming the quickest 200 back (2:00.25) and second fastest 100 back (56.39) for the Brewers last season.
Eight total newcomers have joined the ranks for the Brewers this season, including three new divers in freshman Marvin Corleto (Los Angeles, CA/Camino Nuevo), sophomore Connor Martin (Palo Alto, CA/Sacramento Country Day School) and junior Clancy Green (La Verkin, UT/Eastern Mennonite). Also new to the program is diving coach Jack Ferriter, who's been happy with how his group has been progressing throughout the preseason.
"They've been eager," said Ferriter. "They've been really chomping at the bit, and I've thrown challenges at them and they've been ready to do it...I can't wait to see how they perform."
All the hard work the Brewers have been putting in will hopefully come to pay off this Wednesday when the team hits Kresge Pool for its opener against Bard College, but until then Walker is very excited for the season to get rolling.
"Our team has really grown over the past few years and now we have a chance to bring all these new teammates together and create a positive team environment. I'm really excited to see what kind of force we can be, not as a group of individuals but as a cohesive team."
SCHEDULE
The Brewers will be in the waters of Kresge Pool for four home contests this season, while swimming a combined nine meets away from Poughkeepsie on the year.
VC will swim six meets in the fall before the team's first semester finale at the Liberty League Championships December 4-5 held in Troy, NY (swim) and Schenectady, NY (dive). The Brewers will have individual conference dual meets against Bard College, Skidmore College and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute leading up to the event.
The Brewers also face SUNY-New Paltz and New York University in the months of October and November, in addition to competing against multiple sides at the Union College Relays October 24.
Vassar will start the New Year off with a meet against Trinity (CT) College on January 14, before diving into another tri-match two days later on the road against Hamilton College and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
The men will swim a dual meet against Montclair State University in the month of January, before hosting the team's final meet of the season at the Vassar Sprint Invitational. VC will wrap up the regular season at the UNYSCSA Championships February 16-19 held in Ithaca, NY.
--VASSAR--
