Wittenberg Swimming & Diving Announces Recruits In Class of 2018

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University Swimming & Diving Head Coach Natalie Koukis has announced that 17 student-athletes will join the Tiger program in August 2014. 

The new women’s recruits join a team that finished fifth in the rugged North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) in 2014, behind four of the top 25 teams in all of NCAA Division III. For the 21^st time in program history, the Tigers were represented at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2014 after the team posted a 7-4 record in dual meets. The new men’s recruits join a team that finished seventh in the NCAC in 2014. 

The Tiger women are expected to return 23 letterwinners to the roster in 2014-15, while the Tiger men will have 15 returning letterwinners. The season gets underway at the annual NCAC Relay Meet at Kenyon on Saturday, Oct. 18, and the dual meet schedule opens a week later at arch-rival Wooster. 

The new recruits are: 

• Mackenzie Abel (Walbridge, Ohio/Springfield)
• Kaitlyn Black (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead)
• Kelsey Gregory (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton)
• Nicole McCollum (Fort Myers, Fla./Estero)
• Brigid Morgan (Ponte Vedra, Fla.)
• Samantha Petruzzi (Medina, Ohio/Medina)
• Courtney Speakman (Springfield, Ohio/Tecumseh)
• Julia Valentine (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington)
• Olivia Verellen (Traverse City, Mich./West)
• Joe Casedonte (North Olmsted, Ohio/North Olmsted)
• Adam Dantes (Walton, Ind./Plainfield)
• Lucas George (Brecksville, Ohio/Independence)
• Thomas Hatcher (Batesville, Ind./Batesville)
• Patrick Rittenhouse (Fort Waryne, Ind./Homestead)
• Kyle Smith (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro)
• Raymond Shepard (Edinburgh, Ind./Indian Creek)
• Andrew Tengen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) 

“I am looking forward to welcoming this outstanding group of young men and women to the Wittenberg University community,” Koukis said. “I look forward to working with them to succeed both academically and athletically.”

Written By: Ryan Maurer