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!