SEASON PREVIEW: Xavier Swimming

09.25.18 | Swimming

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's and women's swimming competes against its first outside competition of the 2018-19 schedule on Sunday, Sept. 30 traveling to Fishers, Ind. for the Butler Double Duals. Xavier opened action last Saturday with the Alumni meet which started a 16-meet schedule for the women, 13-meet for the men, before the BIG EAST Championships in February.

The 2018-19 schedule features six traditional duals for both squads, plus three additional duals for the women, including a pair of home meets. Xavier will also travel to five multi-team invitationals and host a Senior Celebration meet in February in addition to last week's Alumni meet. Below is a look at the 2018-19 roster for Xavier men's and women's swimming.

WOMEN'S ROSTER

Xavier's women return 21 letter-winners from 2017-18, including six of seven All-BIG EAST honorees. Among the returnees are Emily Conners, Caroline Gaertner and Abigail Garner, who each earned All-BIG EAST in multiple events.

Conners was one of only four women at last season's Championship meet to earn All-Conference honors in seven events, joining a trio from conference champions Villanova. Conners, a junior, collected three school records in the 50 free, the 100 free and the 200 free, setting NCAA B-Cuts in the 50 free and 100 free. Conners also took part in four second-place finishing relays.

Xavier also returns senior Caroline Gaertner, who earned All-BIG EAST honors in five events, including the 100 back, in which she finished second and set an NCAA B-Cut time. Gaertner also picked up a third-place finish in the 100 fly and competed in three silver-medal relays.

Abigail Garner earned All-Conference honors in a pair of events, helping the Musketeers finish second in both the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

Becca Titterton, Tianna Vozar and Samantha White also earned All-BIG EAST in 2018, each helping Xavier collect second-place finishes in four of five relays during the meet, setting new school records in the 400 free relay and the 400 medley relay. Xavier also broke the school record in the 800 free relay, finishing fourth.

Xavier also returns seniors Annie Cummins (Fly/Back), Laura Dicus (Free/Back/Fly), Maggie Kauffeld (Fly/IM/Free), Katie Kerr (Free), Anne Locker (Back/Fly) and Jenna Wilkes (Fly/IM/Free), juniors Riece Drew (Back/Free), Ali Fort (Back/Free) and Emily Saugstad (Free/IM), and sophomores Maureen Cummins (Free/Back), Lorelei Gaertner (Fly/Free), Alison Herman (Back/IM/Breast), Taylor Hogan (Fly/Back/IM), Emma Kauffeld (Free/IM) and Delaney Sprague (Breast/IM).

Xavier lost three seniors to graduation, including Regan DeWitt, Molly Ford and four-time All-Conference honoree Paxtyn Drew, but added three-person recruiting class, of Tilly Baldwin, Kelly Harris and Lydia Schaeffer.

MEN'S ROSTER

Xavier returns 16 letter-winners from the 2017-18 season, including seven All-BIG EAST team members.

Sam Johanns earned All-BIG EAST in six events in 2018, including a pair of individual events. Johanns collected a pair of third-place finishes, in the 50 free and the 100 back, breaking his own school record in the 100 back in the process. Johanns also helped the Musketeers to a pair of second place finishes and a pair of third-place finishes in relays.

David Bunnell earned All-Conference honors in five events in 2018, including taking second in the 100 fly. Bunnell also took part in four relays, collecting two silver medals and two bronze.

Matthew Dyer continued to lead the Musketeers in the breast stroke events last season, taking second in the 200 breast and third in the 100 breast at the BIG EAST Championships, setting an NCAA B-Cut time in the 100 breast. Dyer also took the breast stroke leg of the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay that took second and third, respectively.

Sophomore Alex Sironen helped the Musketeers collect top three finishes in three relays during his freshman season, including a second place finish in the 400 free relay.

In his first conference meet, Nick Mahoney collected a silver medal in the mile.

Enrique Hernandez and Jared Ritz also earned All-BIG EAST honors, helping Xavier finish in the top three in four of five relays.

Xavier also returns seniors Chase Baldwin (Back/IM) and Nathan Runyon (Back/Fly), juniors Brandon Abboud (Free Mid/Fly), Landon Clark (Fly/IM) and Patrick Hackett (Free Distance/Fly), and sophomores Noah Coomler (Free Sprints), Bradley Jackson (Fly/Free/IM), Christian Thomas (Free/Back) and Cameron Weese (Breast/IM).

Xavier lost three seniors to graduation, Owen Dougherty, two-time All-BIG EAST Team member Bobby Snader and three-time all-conference honoree Alex Wolfred, who joined the Musketeers as a member of the coaching staff.

Xavier men's swimming added a six-person recruiting class, Matthew Geraghty, Roark Lundal, Ben Quon, Elliot Steinberg, Daniel Stroh and Cothalee Watko.

COACHING STAFF

Prior to the 2018-19 season, Brent MacDonald added Alex Wolfred to his coaching staff. Wolfred, a 2018 Xavier graduate, joins fellow Xavier swimming alums Eric Futscher and Tony Miller as assistant coaches.

In his four years at Xavier, Wolfred was a part of two BIG EAST Conference Championship winning squads and earned All-Conference honors in three seasons.

Wolfred earned top-three finishes in the conference three times in individual events. As a junior (2016-17) Wolfred earned silver in the mile. Wolfred also won silver in the 500 free during his freshman season (2014-15), and bronze in the event as a sophomore. In his junior season, Wolfred set a school record time of 4:29.05 in the 500 free, a time which still stands in the XU record books.

Wolfred was also part of the silver-medal winning 800 free relay in 2015-16.

In addition to his accomplishments in the pool, Wolfred was also highly decorated for his efforts in the classroom, capping off his career at Xavier by being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team in 2018. Wolfred was also the winner of the BIG EAST's Michael Trangese Postgraduate Leadership Award, the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award and the Xavier Athletics Medal of Honor as a senior.

Wolfred, a native of Noblesville, Ind., graduated with a degree in Health Services Administration from Xavier and is continuing his studies in the field in the Masters program at XU.