Women's Swimming

East Stroudsburg, Pa. - East Stroudsburg enjoyed its best women’s season since the 1980s last year and the 2001-2002 team may be just as strong.

Fingertip Facts
Site of Home Meets: Koehler Fieldhouse Pool (500)
Affiliation: NCAA Division II
Conference: Pennsylvania State Athletic
2000--2001 Dual Meet Record: 9-2
2000-2001 PSAC Finish: 6th
Letter-Winners Back: 14 (see roster)
Letter-Winners Lost: 6 (Jennifer Gallagher, Donna Gebhard, Kate Hawley, Erin Kowalik, Kirsti Michalak, Amy Robitaille)


Coach Lisa Pizzuto has 14 letter-winners returning from last year’s squad which tied a school victory in finishing 9-2. It equaled the mark set by the 1986 team (9-3) and matched by the 1987 squad (9-4). The Warriors placed sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, their best finish since 1987, with 126 points.

There are three individual school record breakers returning in backstroker Heather Clouser, butterfly and individual medley swimmer Jamie Miller and breaststroker Mikaela Thorne. Clouser broke all three school backstroke records with times of 29.33 in the 50 backstroke, 1:01.85 in the 100 back and 2:12.76 in the 200 back at the PSAC Championships. She has placed in the meet three straight years Miller is the school record-holder in the 200 individual medley at 2:17.87 and and also is a top butterflier. She has been named the team’s outstanding swimmer twice. Thorne shattered a 28-year-old school record with a time of 1:09.95 in the 100-yard breaststroke as a freshman last season.

Also back are Karen Scott, sixth in the PSAC 50-yard freestyle two years ago, and sprinter Natalie Harbold and distance swimmer Maribeth Kenny, both members of place-winning relay teams at the conference meet. Scott and Harbold are being counted on to step up and replace the two major graduation losses, Donna Gebhard, fourth in the conference 50 freestyle, and Erin Kowalik, a standout freestyler in the 50, 100 and 200 and a mainstay on all the relay teams. "We have some good returning swimmers and we may be more versatile than last year with the addition of Natalie Weingartner and Linzi Reese," said Pizzuto. "My concern is that we lost two quality freestyle sprinters and there are a lot of points in the sprints which we swept in many meets last year," she explained.

Weingartner has the talent to make an immediate impact, and should threaten school records, in the backstroke and the individual medley. Reese is an all-around swimmer who will score points in the butterfly, freestyle sprints and IM. Other letter-winners are butterflier Jenn Cifuni, breaststrokers Stephanie Sund and Suzanne Skrzenski and freestylers Kellie Ferrara, Bridget Flack, Tori Hoch, Greta-Marie Rossi and Steph Smith.
Sports Information Maintained by Laura Statler

ESU Home...Pete Nevins, Sports Information Director Updated 1/27/98