First Win of the Season!

Lock Haven beat Mansfield 119-76 Saturday October 26th to start Homecoming Celebrations!

The Lady Eagles started with a splash in the 200 medley relay consisting of Jackie Bingham, Amanda Thomas, Erin Kury and Christina Williams. They finished just short of Mansfield's A relay.

The first individual win of the day was Allie Muha in the 1000 free dominated the field and Taylor Andress swam a career best time and finished 3rd.

Danielle Parowski and Abby Miller finished 1-2 in the 200 free and despite injury, Emily Shultz swam an impressive last 50 to score and finished 5th with a season best time.

Carley Nitchie won the 50 free and was joined by freshmen Kali Hartt and Cayla Koons.

Freshmen Jackie Bingham swam an impressive 200 IM with a season best time as well as a first place finish. Erin Kury swam for 2nd and Meghan Kuhn for 4th.

Next up the Lady Eagles went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly as Erin Kury, Allie Muha and Jackie Bingham took on the Mounties.

Abby Miller and Carley Nitched teamed up for a 1-2 finish in the 100 free and Amanda Thomas swam a season best.

All three 100 back swimmers swam season best times as Kali Hartt won the event for the Haven, Christina Williams swam for 3rd and Cayla Koons for 5th.

Danielle Parowski once again won the 500 free and Taylor Andress had another impressive time drop while receiving 4th. Emily Shultz once again swam an incredible race and finished 5th.

Despite injury Amanda Thomas swam the 100 breast and finished 2nd with Allie Muha and Meghan Kuhn finishing in 3rd and 4th.

The 200 free relays were full of excitement since the Lady Eagles realized they had won their first meet of the 2014-2015 season

We would like to congratulate Coach Katrina on her first win with the Lady Eagles and we cannot wait for our next win!

Shout out to all of the Haven Swimming Fans who stopped by with a busy Homecoming Weekend Schedule.

Don't miss the Lady Eagles in action November 8th at 1 pm in Zimmerli against PSAC rival Millersville!

White Wins 2014 Alumni Meet

The 2014 Alumni Meet started off with a bang in the 200 Medley Relay! Team White won with the team of Nicole Martellotti (Sophomore) Britt Rehrig (Alumni) Shannon Milstead (Alumni) and Carley Nitchie (Senior). The Crimson team was just behind them as Kali Hartt (Freshmen) Amanda Thomas (Junior) Jenna Brooks (Alumni) and Kristen Capretti (Alumni) finished in second place.

The 500 Free was the first individual event and Danielle Parowski of team Crimson edged out team White's Allie Muha. Taylor Andress swam for third for team Crimson while Emily Schultz finished fourth for team White.

50  Back was next as Nicole Martellotti of team White won with a time of 28.27! Kali Hartt and Kayla Schnars of team Crimson finished second and third respectively.

Team White swept first through fourth as Britt Rehrig led Kaitlyn Druby, Ciara Conklin, and Sarah Navarro to their respective finishes.

Erin Kury won the 100 fly as Allie Muha swam to a second place finish for teams Crimson and White. Jenna Brooks and Shannon Milstead swam an impressive 100 fly returning to their old stomping grounds for team Crimson and White.

The 50 free was the last event before a 15 minute break. Carley Nitchie of team White swam a PSAC qualifying time of 25.83 to win as three Crimson members swam for second through fourth: Kristen Capretti, Kasey Blesh and Rachel Vagnoni.

Danielle Parowski won the 100 free as Carley Nitchie swam for second. Kristen Capretti and Cayla Koons swam for third and fourth.

In the 100 Back, Kali Hartt won for team Crimson as Christina Williams came in second for team White. Kayla Schnars and Taylor Andress both of team Crimson got third and fourth.

Team White won the 100 Breast as Nicole Martellotti finished preceding Amanda Thomas and Rebecca Fountaine.

Abby Miller swam an impressive 200 Free for team Crimson as team White followed with Christina Williams, Shannon Milstead and Cayla Koons.

The last 50 of the afternoon was Butterfly as Britt Rehrig once again won it for team White! Crimson followed up with Rachel Vagnoni, Jenna Brooks, and Erin Kury.

200 IM was the final individual event for the day as Allie Muha and Jackie Bingham finished first and second for team White followed by Meghan Kuhn for team Crimson.

Crimson finished first and second for the 200 Free Relay.

The final score was White: 122 Crimson: 112

Team Crimson

Juniors

Seniors

Sophomores

Haven Swimming 2014-2015

Team White

Crimson and White 2014

The Crimson and White meet was once again a successful day! Results will be coming shortly as well as highlights from the meet. Stay tuned for an update.

Crimson and White Meet 2014

Saturday is the annual Alumni Crimson and White Meet!

Come out and support your Lady Eagles this Saturday September 27th at 1 pm in Zimmerli.

Crimson: Abby, Erin K., Taylor, Danielle, Amanda, Meghan, Kali, Bri
White: Allie, Carley, Nicole, Emily, Christina, Jackie, Cayla, Erin L., Taeler

Alumni will be added to the teams Wednesday or Thursday!

2014-2015 Season Officially Underway!

It has been quite a busy few days since the girls have returned to the Haven two weeks ago. Preseason meetings have wrapped up as well as all the paperwork that we have to complete. Thursday we had our first official practice that was a test set of 8x100 on 3:00 from the blocks as fast as you could go. All of the girls returned ready to go and it was a great way to start off the season right!

This weekend was regatta weekend in Lock Haven. And as any alumni knows, You Gotta Regatta. Many of us went to get some yummy fried food and watch the boat races and fireworks throughout the weekend. Monday we had a dinner at Emily's river lot where we got to know the freshmen more and introduced them to our team and everyone set goals for themselves. Both short and long term that they will see everyday so they will be reminded of what needs to get done in and out of the pool.

Today we had our first practice and it was a nice practice to get us back into it! All freshmen were taught "the Haven Swimming way of swimming". We can't wait to see what's in store for us throughout the rest of the season and we can't wait to share it with everyone!

Swim-A-Thon

The girls have been enjoying their time off from the pool doing lots of school work and preparing for Spring Break next week. The girls have also been thinking about next year and planning ahead for fundraising! As part of a major project for Carley's major she has put together the first fundraiser for the 2014-2015 swim year. We will be conducting the first ever Haven Swim-A-Thon!! 
We are currently accepting donations that go directly to our training trip next January! All donations are tax deductible. Any questions please email Joel Blesh at jnb5025@lhup.edu.

Final Session!

Senior Ceremony

Before tonight's session got started the 4 seniors were recognized as well as all of the seniors from all of the PSAC. We wish nothing but the best of luck to our seniors and we cannot wait to see all they want to accomplish in their futures!

Session 7

We had a slow start this morning as most girls wanted to continue sleeping instead of eating. After our last yummy breakfast at the Hampton Inn we headed off to the pool for the last prelims session.

After a quick warm up swim the girls who were swimming went to change into their suits for one of the last times. Carley Nitchie led the day off for the Haven in the 100 free and went a lifetime best of 54.93. Kristen Capretti was in the following heat with another a season best of 54.55. Danielle Parowski was a few heats after and swam a 54.51.

The last race of the morning for the Haven was Kayla Schnars. This was ultimately her last race of her swimming career. And although it didn't have a storybook ending, she doesn't need a storybook ending to know how amazing of a swimming career she has had over the years. Kayla swam the 200 back in a 2:14.19.

The girls left the pool fairly quickly and took a stop at Qudoba and a Sheetz stop before one last nap in the hotel beds.

Session 6!!

After a yummy lunch at Jimmy John's (shoutout to Mrs. Muha and William for coming with us!!) the team settled into their beds for a long winters nap before finals.

This evening featured first time final swims at PSACs for Danielle Parowski, Kayla Schnars, and Allie Muha.

Last night the Haven was all over the pool with so many second swims. First in the water for the Lady Eagles was Danielle Parowski swimming the 500. This morning she was so close to a lifetime best and with her second swim she took bettered her own record for the 500 with a 5:09.17.

Kayla Schnars swam the 100 back next and had a great finals swim. Although she was a little off of her prelims time she still had a fabulous race! Kayla placed 13th with a 59.72.

Up next for the Haven were Allie Muha and Kristin Taylor swimming next to each other for the last time in the 200 fly. These two girls swim almost every practice together so it was the perfect ending to Kristin's last individual race as a Lady Eagle. Although they didn't swim quite as fast as they did in the morning, the girls definitely left everything they had in the pool. Muha took 12th with a 2:14.22 and Taylor took 14th with a 2:15.17.

With only 20 minutes before the 800 free relay the girls ran to the cool down pool to try and recover after this rough race. Joining Muha and Taylor were Danielle Parowski and Kristen Capretti.

The girls were in the first heat and everyone sprinted their 200 free but they were a little off of where they wanted to be. The overall time was a 8:05.17 and they got 11th place.
Danielle: 1:57.98
Allie: 2:03.64
Kristin: 2:03.19
Kristen: 2:00.36

The Lady Eagles will be back in action tomorrow morning with the 100 free (Danielle Parowski, Kristen Capretti and Carley Nitchie) 200 back (Kayla Schnars).

Session 5

This morning after a yummy breakfast the team headed over to the pool for session 5. This morning session was a "bright" one with the whole team rocking the neon yellow and watermelon pink PSAC shirts. We stood out as a team both in and out of the pool this morning, starting out with Danielle Parowski in the women's 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:10. 52 seeding her 14th for finals tonight. Next, Kayla Schnars swam the women's 100 yard Backstroke with a time of 59.71 just a little off her best but hoping to come back stronger tonight in her first ever PSAC final. Finally, Allie Muha  and Kristin Taylor finished the morning off strong in the women's 200 yard Butterfly. Allie Muha having a lifetime best of 2:13.02 seeding her 12th for finals tonight and Kristin Taylor swimming a 2:13.96 seeding her 14th  for finals tonight. After stopping for Jimmy Johns, the team headed back to the hotel to catch some naps to prepare for finals tonight. As well as the 4 individual events we will also have the women's 800 freestyle relay to look forward to tonight.  LET'S GO HAVEN!

SESSION 4!!

After a fabulous lunch the team got their daily naps in! As much as we all try to study during this time we really take advantage of the napping time that most of us miss out during a normal school week!  Shout out to Rob Taylor for picking up the PSAC shirts today in between sessions! We will be sporting them all day tomorrow!

The Haven Swimmers headed back to the pool for session number 4.  As always there was some more procrastination before warming up, especially since their was now sweetish fish on the deck.  We obviously could not resist eating those before swimming tonight. 

The two events that were on the table tonight were the 200 Freestyle relay and the 400 Medley relay.  After the girls got their suits on Carley Nitchie, Kaitlyn Druby, Kayla Schnars, and Kristen Capretti set eyes on the pool for the first race of the evening!  The girls all had very strong swims and finished out with a 1:40.24 and an 11th place finish!

The 400 Medley relay consisted of Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby, Kristin Taylor, and Danielle Parowski.  The girls dropped over 4 seconds swimming a 4:02.88!! This gave them a 9th place finish overall!  The relay consisted of lifetime and season best splits! Kayla swam blistering fast and went a 59.55 in the backstroke while Kaitlyn swam a amazing 1:09.11 in the breaststroke.  Kristin had a gutsy race  swimming the fly leg and clocked in 1:00.38 and Danielle sprinted to swim a 53.84 in the free.  It is crazy to think that this was Kaitlyn's LAST official race of her swimming career! Congratulations!!

After the girls got a longish cool down they headed back to the hotel to eat their dinners from "Cheddars" (cheddar a) restaurant!  It is true that when we are so hungry we eat unbelievably fast that we don't know we are so full till we stand up! Probably not the smartest thing but at least we get our bellies full!!

As the night is winding down we are all looking for some strong and FAST swims tomorrow!! The events in the morning include the 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, and 200 butterfly!!

Session #3

Starting off the morning was Allie Muha and Kristin Taylor in the 400 IM. Allie Muha had a solid swim finishing with a 4:53.00. Kristin Taylor followed suit with another solid swim finishing at a 4:55.68.   Right after the 400 IM with just a little break while the guys swam Kristin dove back into the pool to swim her 100 fly finishing strong despite having a hard race right before.

Kristen Capretti and Danielle gave it all they had in their 200 freestyle, both not doing as well as expected but both girls raced all the way to the finish.

For lunch the team had a delicious meal at Panera and then we came back to the hotel to rest up for session #4.

Stay tuned for tonight's events which will consist of the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. Good luck to all the teams competing in tonight's finals especially to our favorite eye candy on IUP's team the haven girls are cheering for you!

Swimmin' Through Session two!

After our lunch and some short naps Haven Swimmers headed back to the pool for session two of eight! Since the only event that The Haven was entered into tonight was the last event the girls took awhile to get into the pool! We had a slight bit of procrastination happening due to the cold water!! To start off warm ups the relay practiced relay exchanges then did a warm up! After warm up and more procrastination we wiggled into our fresh kneeskins and were ready to race the 200 medley relay!!

The ladies were in Heat 1 Lane 4. First up was Kayla Schnars swimming backstroke and swam a strong 50 with a time of 28.21! Next up was Kaitlyn Druby working her turns in the breaststroke with a time of 31.85! Flying off the block next was Kristin Taylor who swam her 50 fly in 27.38! Last, was Carley Nitchie who clocked in at 24.22! The girls had a overall time of 1:51.66 and a 10th place finish!! It was a very close race & great swims for all of the other Women's PSAC teams!

                                                             PSAC'S  2K14!!! HOLLA

HUGE shout out to Danielle Barney for coming down from Lock Haven to bring Kaitlyn and to watch our meet!! It's great seeing people we know up in the stands!

After we left the pool the girls ate Texas Roadhouse for dinner (yummy). Props to Mrs.Muha for going back to Texas Roadhouse to get Kristin Taylor the cheese they forgot on her dinner! Kaitlyn went with her Dad to eat at Friendly's and also nommed some ice cream too!! Carley's older sister made the treck to York to bring her some Outback!!! Then she even drove to get Kayla & Carley Dairy Queen!!! Thanks to all of our families for coming out and watching us swim! If if wasn't for you guys we wouldn't be the swimmers we are today!! Wake up call is at 7:30 tomorrow morning (sorry Jimmy if we hang up on you) then it's back to the pool for day 2!! GO HAVEN!!!

Session One!

After a nice long sleep at the Hampton Inn (Kayla's favorite due to the lovely pillows) and a great breakfast the girls started the meet off with some quality swims.

First up was Junior Allie Muha in the 200 IM although her time, 2:21.12, was a little off of her season best, her fly and back splits were the fastest they have been all season!! We are very excited to watch her swim the 400 IM tomorrow.

Next up was the 50 free! 3 of the girls swam and there were 3 season bests with one lifetime best! Senior Kayla Schnars dove in first and swam a great race, just a little off of her lifetime best, of a 25.93. Senior Kristen Capretti also swam a season best and went a 25.29! Junior Carley Nitchie was the last for the 50 and swam a lifetime best of 24.72 and was just 3 spots away from making finals! We are looking forward to seeing all of these girls in the 200 Free Relay tomorrow night!

Our last swimmer for the day was Sophomore Danielle Parowski in the 1000. Just a little off of her season best, she swam a 10:49.94. Danielle had a phenomenal first part of her race so we are excited to see her swim the rest of her events for the week since this was her longest race.

Tonight after the girls all napped we will be watching 200 Medley Relay swim! It will be composed of Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby (who we will welcome to York today due to an exam we all know she rocked!!!), Kristin Taylor, and Carley Nitchie. 

We have arrived!

The Lady Eagles arrived this afternoon to York! We will be getting in the warm up pool shortly to stretch out after our van ride this year. Yes you read that correctly we are in vans this year instead of a bus. The GAs and student interns for the athletic department decorated the vans and gave us goody bags! Thank you so much for all of the support from all of the other teams in Lock Haven!! We can't wait to swim fast this weekend and show everyone how hard we've been working!!

Another Snow Day!

It's another snow day in the Haven! The PSAC team will still swim today but I know we are all excited about having another day off so we can get all of our school work done before PSACs! We are one week away from the first session of the meet! The suits have arrived and everyone fit into theirs and we are all excited to swim fast next week! We will be departing Lock Haven Wednesday at 12 pm for York! Can't wait to see our Haven Swim Fans there!!!

SNOW DAY!

For the first time in 3 years the Haven has gotten a snow day! A much needed day off to catch up on some sleep and schoolwork for the team.. As well as some fun sledding! A nice stretch out swim was offered but many of the girls are battling fierce colds so it was optional. We are two weeks away from the travel day to York for PSACS 2K14! Look for updates as taper starts soon!

Senior Day 2K14

The Lady Eagles dove back into the water Saturday for their last regular season invitational! This was also a special meet for the seniors, since they were recognized for all their hard work during their college swimming careers.  The 5 seniors that are finishing up their season include; Ciara Conklin, Kristen Capretti, Kaitlyn Druby, Kristin Taylor, and Kayla Schnars.  Jimmy Mattern was also recognized at the meet since this was his final year with the Lady Eagles.

The meet started at 1pm on Saturday and began with the senior recognition.  The juniors did a splendid job at decorating the pool with signs and streamers.  The seniors also walked into a locker room filled with streamers, balloons, and quotes written on the white board!  This is a meet the seniors never forget!

The meet kicked off with Emily Schultz making a splash in her 500 freestyle, swimming a 6:15.16 and taking third place! The next event was the 200 yard IM.  Three of the seniors were in this event and went first, second, and third! Kayla Schnars went a 2:26.12, Kristen Capretti swam a 2:29.48, and Ciara Conklin did a 2:31.81. Four of the Lady Eagles swam the 50 free. Carley Nitchie grabbed 1st, Jamie Mason got 2nd, Megan Dunn got 5th, and Allie Muha grabbed 6th place!

Swimmers Danielle Parowski and Taylor Andress went 1st and 2nd in the 100 yard backstroke.  Ciara grabbed a 2nd place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:10.82!  Meghan Kuhn swam a 1:13.95 to give her a 3rd place finish, and Emily got 4th swimming a 1:14.52.  The next event was the 200 yard free where Allie Muha swam to a 3rd place finish!

Kaitlyn Druby swam the 100 yard breaststroke and went a season best time of 1:10.60!  We can't wait to see her go that 1:09 in the relay at PSAC's this year!  Danielle Parowski also swam the 100 breaststroke to finish 3rd overall.  Kristin Taylor was the only one to swim the 400 yard IM but was very happy with her time of 4:58.08!

There were 6 LHU swimmers in the 100 yard freestyle Abby Miller grabbed a 1st place while Jamie got 3rd, Carley got 4th, Kayla got 5th, and Megan Dunn got 6th!  Abby is looking to split some real fast times in the relays at PSAC's.  Allie Muha swam to a 1st place finish in her 200 butterfly while Meghan Kuhn grabbed the 2nd place finish! The final race of the day was the 200 yard backstroke.  Kristin Taylor got a first place finish and can also say that she has swam every event in her college career!  Taylor Andress finished the race with a close 2nd!

Some of the girls decided that they wanted to time trial medley relays for fun!  The theme of these relays were each of the girls worst strokes.  The 3 girls that did the backstroke for the relay finished their meet by doing a cannon ball into the pool giving the official the authority to disqualify all 3 of the relays before the race even started!

The tailgate afterwards began with the seniors leading the way through the buffet line of delicious food the Haven Parents brought. After everyone enjoyed their food Joel said some remarks about the seniors and then turned it over to the three juniors, Allie, Carley and Abby. Each of them said their fondest memories of these lovely ladies and laughs and tears were shared. We cannot wait to see what the seniors will do in their futures and we wish them the best of luck! It is sad to see the end to something that these girls have been doing almost their whole lives. But we cannot wait to see all 5 of them back in action together at the Haven Crimson and White Meet this Fall!

Watch for updates on the Lady Eagles that will be traveling to the PSAC swim meet on February 19th which will continue till Sunday February 23rd. Those that aren't swimming at PSACs have a short break from the water until after spring break but we've heard almost all hit the gym today! Can't wait to see what next season brings for the underclassmen and the new freshmen class!

Just a little sneak peek for tomorrow!! More to come....Seniors 2K14

Seniors Last Practice

A huge shout out to the seniors as tomorrow is their last practice before their last ever dual meet! We could not have a better group of girls to lead this team. They will truly be missed next year. We can't wait to have one last practice as a team this season! And everyone don't forget about the last home meet of the season Saturday at 1 pm in Zimmerli!

Jimmy Mattern

Jimmy will be leaving us at the end of this season after he completes his master's degree. From Tipton, PA. Jimmy got his master’s in Sports Administration. His favorite event to watch is the 50 free. Jimmy likes swim till you die because he likes the competitive nature of swimming against yourself. Jimmy’s most memorable moment was his first season when he was still the interim head coach. He enjoyed learning the sport from Adam Stoner, getting to know the team, and his first meets, the Haven Quad and Mansfield) will always be special memories for him. Jimmy’s favorite thing about Lock Haven is the faculty and staff. In his five years at LHU he’s gotten to know many of the professors and athletic department staff and he thanks them for helping me get to where he is today. Jimmy’s advice to the next GA is to stay positive, bring energy each and every day and be ready for long stressful days. Make the most out of the opportunity. Jimmy’s advice to the team next year is to stay positive, fight through it, and give it everything you got. College is the last years of life before you have the burdens of a real adult so have fun and enjoy every moment of it! Go Haven! In 10 years Jimmy sees himself working in a managerial position with a pro sports organization and to be married and expecting his first child.

Kristin Taylor

From Dillsburg, PA and is the daughter of Rob Taylor and Patty Taylor. Kristin majored in Accounting, Business, Marketing, Economics and Finance. Her favorite events are 200 fly and 400 IM. Kristin’s most memorable swim was at CAL U her freshmen year when she time trialed the 200 fly by herself and she hit her first PSAC cut. Her favorite practice were 8 broken 1000’s in California last year and any time that she partner cools down with me! (We finally got that flip-turn down). Kristin’s favorite thing at LHU are all of the friends that she has made throughout the years that have turned into part of her family. Also the island and lane 6! Her advice to next year’s seniors: as Andy said, it takes a special person to swim for 4 years. Work hard and don’t give up. It’s definitely worth it in the end. Push through the pain and tears. And keep rocking the island. In 10 years Kristin sees herself married and starting a family. Maybe being a stay at home mom if she’s lucky. If not she wants to be doing something in finance or a CPA.

Kayla Schnars

From Bellefonte, PA and is the daughter of Mark and Jody Schnars. Kayla majored in Health Science and her favorite events are the 100 and 200 backstroke. Her most memorable swim was her first ever college swim meet. Kayla was swimming the 200 back and she stopped after 150 yards and heard her whole team screaming GOO. Kayla also remembers swimming the 100 back at IUP 5 different times trying to make it to PSACs but she finally made it at CAL U! Her favorite practice is any practice that involves backstroke since as most you know Kayla is much better at backstroke then freestyle. She also loves any practice that involves social kicking. Kayla’s favorite things at LHU are the friendships that she has made over the past four years. As well as the newly found nanobites café at east campus; she says they have the best Panini’s she has ever had as well as the chips with honey mustard. Mmmm delicious. Her advice to the seniors for next year would be to live in the moment and to not take anything for granted because before you know it you will be getting ready to graduate. Have fun, do things you never thought you could do. Be hopeful for what is to come in the future and never look back. In 10 years Kayla sees herself married to the love of her life working as a nurse in a well-known children’s hospital.

Kaitlyn Druby

From Palmyra, PA and is the daughter of Richard and Mary Ellen. Kaitlyn majored in Psychology. Her favorite event is 100 breast. Kaitlyn’s most memorable swim would be her sophomore year when a girl from ESU and her swam every event together and Kaitlyn out touched her in every event. After the meet she told her that Kaitlyn was the first person to ever push her to her fullest potential. Kaitlyn’s favorite practice isn’t necessarily her favorite one but it is one that she won’t ever forget. Freshmen year on training trip, Ciara and Kaitlyn were swimming a set and they weren’t too happy and one of the sets consisted of at least 4 kicks of breaststroke before they could come up for a breath. Well Kaitlyn and Ciara weren’t really feeling all of the kicks and so Kaitlyn only took 3 kicks and when she got to the other end of the pool she could hear Andy scream from 7 lanes away screaming her name and said that the practice said 4 kicks. Not anything less and that she better not do it again. Ciara heard this and started laughing and said sucks for you and with that Andy yelled you think that’s funny Conklin well you can do 6 kicks! Needless to say the two of them have never valued breathing as much as they did after that practice. Even today Kaitlyn won’t come up until she has done all of the kicks she has been asked to do because of that practice coming back to haunt her. Kaitlyn’s favorite thing at LHU is definitely the regatta she loves all the food, games, and of course the scrambler ride! Her advice to the seniors of next year is that is obviously it is going to suck at times and that you’ll want to cry, scream, and even quit. But just remember the girls by your side who have been with you from the beginning and then the thought of quitting won’t even exist. Enjoy it and live it up because it goes by in the blink of an eye. Kaitlyn sees herself with a job that she loves and a family with lots of kids running around 10 years from now.

Ciara Conklin

From Washingtonville, NY and is the daughter of Butch and Trish Conklin. Ciara majored in Sports Administration. Her favorite even is the 100 breast. Ciara’s most memorable swim were all of her years from her freshmen year but most of all, all of the times that Andy would just laugh with her after her not so great swims. Her favorite practice is any lucky suit or anything involving floating or doggy paddle. Ciara’s favorite thing at LHU is the swim team, all of the friends she made here and of course Bentley. Her advice to next year’s seniors is to have fun and always smile. These four years go by way too fast to let things suck the happiness out of you. And to always have each other’s backs. In 10 years Ciara sees herself working as an athletic director or a college swim coach with a family and kids. She hopes that her children are not as crazy as she is and she will of course stay in touch with her swimming family.

Kristen Capretti

From Lebanon, PA and is the daughter of Tony Capretti and Lisa Simpson. Kristen majored in environmental biology. Her favorite event is the 100 free. Her most memorable swim was at PSACs her freshmen year when Andy put her as the anchor in the 400 free relay. After the race he told her her split and that they also broke the record! Kristen’s favorite practice would be one of her hardest practices with Stoner when she did 100s sprint for 2 hours on fast intervals. Her favorite thing about LHU is the atmosphere of the loving and caring people all around you on and off of the pool deck. Cappy’s advice to the seniors next year: “Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.” Live in the moment and never in the past or future. Enjoy every moment because you blink and you’re a senior and graduating college. In 10 years Kristen sees herself happy with a family and a successful and enjoyable job.

Seniors

In honor of the senior meet being this Saturday we thought we would share their bios in order for everyone to get to know them a little better! Everyone should come out and support the Lady Eagles this Saturday at 1 pm in Zimmerli as the seniors hit the pool for their last home meet ever!

Cal U

The morning of Friday the 24th the Lady eagles left their classes and packed onto the bus. After a Sheetz stop and checking into the hotel, we arrived to the Vulcans nest for a 4:00pm warm up and 5:00pm meet start. LHU was joined by Mansfield University and Chatham University in being hosted by California University for a total of 4 teams competing against each other. 

Day one events started off with Lady Eagles taking 3rd and 7th places in 400 medley relay. The A medley relay was made up of Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby, Allie Muha, and Kristen Capretti, and the B medley was made up of Taylor Andress, Ciara Conklin, Emily Shultz,  and Megan Dunn. Following was the first individual event, the 200 free where Danielle Parowski places 2nd with a time of 1:56.56, Jamie Mason came in 8th with a time of 2:09.88, and Meghan Kuhn wrapped it up for the Lady Eagles placing 12th with a time of 2:24.26. 

Up next, senior Kristin Taylor, took home a 2nd place finish in the 400 IM followed by Kaitlyn Druby, Allie Muha, and Meghan Kuhn placing 3rd, 4th, and 7th in the 100 fly. Continuing on with the 100 back, Kristen Capretti, Taylor Andress, and Carley Nitchie touched right after each other finishing 6th, 7th, and 8th. 

Switching the pace of the meet, Danielle Parowski and Emily Shultz placed 2nd and 10th in the 500 free.

The event line up for this meet was very different than usual, so the 200 free relay was thrown in the middle of the meet, instead of it normally ending a meet. The Lady Eagles A relay (Abby Miller, Kristen Capretti, Kristin Taylor, Carley Nitchie) placed 2nd, and the B relay (Jamie Mason, Meghan Kuhn, Taylor Andress, Kayla Schnars) finished 6th right behind Chatham Universities A relay. 

After the 200 free relay, senior Kaitlyn Druby placed 3rd with a time of 1:11.68 in the 100 breast. Ciara Conklin, also a senior, finished 7th and junior Allie Muha placed 9th. Finally finishing day one off was the 800 free relay. LHU stole 2nd and 6th place with the A relay Abby Miller, Kristin Taylor, Allie Muha, Danielle Parowski and B relay Megan Dunn, Emily Shultz, Meghan Kuhn, and Jamie Mason. 

After a quick warm down we all hurried to get onto the bus dreaming of the dinners we had pre-ordered from the restaurant/bar Campy’s. 

Day 2: 

Day two started with a 8 am wake up call from Joel or Jimmy. Morning wake up calls are one of the only times that many of us use the hotel room phones, and I think we can all agree that they should have gentler ringtones! After the hotel breakfast we checked out and got onto the bus at 9am. We warmed up 9:30-10am and before the meet started Cal U had their senior meet program saying goodbye to their 4 seniors. Seeing other teams seniors meets has made it more real to us that the Haven Invite is closer than it feels! 

The first event of day two was the 1650 free. Danielle Parowski was the only swimmer representing LHU, and she finished 2nd with a time of 18:15.29. Next was another relay, the 200 medley relay. LHU A relay, Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby, Kristin Taylor, and Carley Nitchie placed 3rd, and the B relay, Taylor Andress, Ciara Conklin, Emily Shultz, Meghan Kuhn, placed 6th. 

Up next Kayla Schnars, Kristin Taylor, and Ciara Conklin places 5th, 6th, and 7th right after each other in the 200 IM. Following was the 50 free where Carley Nitchie finished 3rd, Megan Dunn placed 8th, and Allie Muha placed 9th. Emily Shultz also jumped into this event and swam it exhibition. 

After a 15 minute break and the 200 fly, the Lady Eagles got back into the pool in the 100 free. Abby Miller had a stellar race placing 5th with a time of 56.60. Continuing on with the 200 back, freshman Taylor Andress, finished 6th in her last individual event for the weekend. 

Finishing off the individual events for the weekend, Kayla Schnars swam the 200 breast for the first time this season placing 6th. As the meet was almost over, the team was ready to wrap it up with the 400 free relay. The Lady Eagles crowed the pool with A, B, and a C relay. We finished the meet off strong placing 3rd, 4th, and 7th. Overall we placed 3rd. 

Excited for the weekend to be over, we rushed through showers and changing to get back on the road to LHU. As we got onto the bus, our bus driver surprised us by going to the store and buying us two movies for the ride back! (Since we all forgot to bring movies) Such a sweet guy! Only two stops, Lagerheads restaurant and Sheetz, stood between us and our beds! Our trip was slowed down a little by snow, but it cleared up the closer we got to LH! 

A big thanks to our loving and supportive fans that travel many hours to be in the stands, the Conklins, the Shultzs, Mrs. Andress! Love you! 

And to our Bus driver who watched both days of the meet and gave us encouraging words as we entered and exited the bus!

Meet against Kutztown

Saturday the Lock Haven Lady Eagles hosted a duel meet against the Kutztown Golden Bears.  This meet was longer than our meet against MU because we swam 100s and 200s as well as the 500 and 1000.  Lock Haven went 2nd and 3rd in the medley relays but both the A (Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby, Kristin Taylor, and Carley Nitchie) and B relays (Taylor Andress, Ciara Conklin, Jamie Mason, and Kristen Capretti) had a race until the very end.  Next up was the 1000 free, Danielle Parowski took 2nd and Emily Shultz took 5th but what a race she had all the way until the end even with her cap falling off for the last 50 of her race.  Next up was the 200 freestyle with Kristen Capretti, Abby Miller, and Jamie Mason all three swam very good races.

After the 200 freestyle, Kayla Schnars swam 100 backstroke finishing first, along with Carley Nitchie and Taylor Andress who also had great swims in the 100 backstroke. In the 200 butterfly Kristin Taylor swam against her high school rival and came in 2nd giving her friend a run for her money.  Along with Kristin getting second her island buddy, Allie Muha was right behind her coming in 3rd.  Meghan Khun was also in this race giving everything she had and taking one for the team scoring points along the way.

The 50 freestyle had Carley Nitchie, Abby Miller, and Jamie Mason swimming their fastest all the way up until the finish.  All three had a very strong race. In the 200 backstroke Kayla Schnars took 1st place and her sidekick Taylor Andress coming in right behind her to finish out the 8 laps with power.  In the 200 breaststroke Kaitlyn Druby and Ciara Conklin gave the one girl from Kutztown a tough race neither one backed down until the finish.  Kaitlyn took 1st and Ciara came in right behind her to add points for the team.

After the breaststroke was the 500 freestyle in which Allie Muha swam for the first time this season, for it being her first time all season she really killed it leaving nothing behind. Despite the fact that she had one more race to swim she didn't back down.  Her last race of the day was the 200 IM where her and Kristin Taylor took 2nd and 3rd.  Both swimmers swam extremely well considering  how tired we all were.

The final event for the day was the 200 freestyle relay.  All three of our relays had a tough race despite a long weekend with back to back  meets we were able to pull a 1, 3, 5 finish.

It was nice seeing a packed house even though some people weren't' back on campus yet for school.  We always love the support we receive from our family, friends and fellow athletes. Lady Eagles travel to Cal U this up coming weekend for their annual invite.

Win Against Mansfield

Today the Lock Haven Lady Eagles dove back in the water at Mansfield University to take on the Mounties. The meet line up was a short meet setup, with 100s of each stroke, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 freestyle and the 200 medley and freestyle relays. After a hard week of lifting, dryland and swimming in Lock Haven, we were excited to race.

We started out the meet with a first and third place finish in the 200 medley relays. The A medley relay was made up of Kayla Schnars, Kaitlyn Druby, Kristen Cappretti, and Carley Nitchie and the B medley was made up of Taylor Andress, Ciara Conklin, Jamie Mason and Megan Dunn. Next up was the 1000 freestyle where we had Kristin Taylor take second place, her first time swimming the event this season.

In the 200 freestlyle Danielle Parowski took first place and Emily Shultz took fourth. In the 50 freestlyle Carley Nitchie took first, Abby Miller took fifth and Jamie Mason took sixth. The 50 was a close race from start to finish, and these girls gave everything they had until the very end.

In the 200 im, Allie Muha took first place, Ciara (Sarah) Conklin took second and Meghan Kuhn took fifth. There was then a break in the meet to recognize Mansfield's only senior Amani and wish her well as her senior season is coming to an end.

After the break was the 100 butterfly. Kristin Taylor took first, Kaitlyn Druby got second and Allie Muha took forth. Next up was the 100 freestyle where Danielle Parowski took first, Abby Miller took forth and Megan Dunn took sixth. In the 100 backstroke Kayla Schnars took first and Taylor Andress took third. In the 500 freestyle Kristen Cappretti took second and Emily Shultz took forth.

The final individual event of the day was the 100 breaststroke. Kaitlyn Druby took first, Ciara Conklin took third and Meghan Kuhn took fifth. The final event of the day was the 200 freestyle relay which we took first and third. The A relay was made up of Kristen Cappretti, Carley Nitchie, Abby Miller and Danielle Parowski and the B relay was made up of Megan Dunn, Taylor Andress, Emily Shultz and Meghan Kuhn. Nice work to Meghan Kuhn for swimming back to back events at the end of the meet and still leaving everything she had in the pool!

A shoutout goes out to Trish and Butch Conklin for traveling to the meet today to cheer us on, it means so much!

We are excited to be back in the water again tomorrow at home against Kutztown. The meet starts at one, hope to see everyone there to cheer on a Haven win!

Back at the Daily Grind

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we have doubles preparing ourselves for our upcoming meets this weekend. These practices have been a mixture of just swimming, abs and core, dryland, and lifting. Last night we had challenging sets that wrapped up are hard training before our meets. This morning some of the girls lifted while the rest did dryland upstairs in Rogers. Hopefully this afternoon we will be given a break to give our bodies a chance to get ready and swim fast this weekend! We first swim AT Mansfield Friday at 1 p.m. This meet will feature only 100's of each stroke. Our meet Saturday will be our first HOME meet since October!! We are hosting Kutztown at 1 p.m. It will be a good meet against a team our same size! We are anxiously awaiting the lineups for both meets! We hope to see our favorite Haven Fans supporting us this weekend.

First day back in 2014!

Monday night was our first practice back for 2014! We did a swim till you die which is essentially what it sounds like. We do 100's until you can't make the interval any longer. It started out on 2:00 and each one got a second faster. It was a tough first practice back but we made it through cheering each other on as it got harder and harder.  We have this week left of swimming while not having to focus on anything school related so we are enjoying ourselves and watching as much tv as possible in between practices.

Beginning of A New Era!

So, the team decided to start a blog from the perspective of those in the pool. This is written by those that swim those countless laps up and down the pool. Today is our first day home from Cocoa Beach. I think we would all agree that it was one of the better trips we took as a team because we acted more like a team. We came together and swam hard when we were numb from the Arctic Ocean we were swimming in. This trip was unlike the previous two because we had more freedom in what we wanted to do since we could walk to the beach and to go get tacos or ice cream. From the pool to the ocean I know we all had our fair share of water for a week.

There were no trips to the hospital which is always a plus! Only a few bad sunburns that healed up after a few cloudy days. It was a great week away from the negative temperatures at most of our homes as well as those we left in Lock Haven. The 5 seniors, Kristen, Ciara, Kaitlyn, Kayla, and Kristin all enjoyed their last training trip with the stop watch game. Kaitlyn went first and GOT A ZERO, next was Cappy (Kristen) got 7x50's free. Ciara was next and got 8 but since it was 25's we weren't too upset. Kristin had 3x50 IM (in a long course pool we did 4 strokes of each stroke and then finished the rest of the lap free). Jimmy, our Graduate Assistant, will finish his program this May so his "set" was 50's kick. Jimmy stopped the watch with only 1! Kayla stopped the watch at 4 so we did 4x50 back to finish it off.

Now onto the last part of the season. Everyone has a different last meet for the season so it is down to the final stretch to train hard and then we get to rest up to see what we can do! Haven Swimming is back in action for the first time since November in a set of dual meets. The first is Friday at 1 p.m. at Mansfield. The second is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be our first home meet since October! The Lady Eagles will be swimming Kutztown. We hope to see our fans supporting us this weekend!