Wyoming Signs 16 Swimmers

LARAMIE, Wyoming, May 3. THE University of Wyoming announced the signing of 16 swimmers to its 2007 class. The six men and 10 women will attend Wyoming beginning with the 2007-08 season.

The women signees are comprised of Laura Dupuis of Thornton, Colo., Megan Evans of Fort Collins, Colo., Kristen Flachbarth of Grayson, Ga., Caitlin Hudak of Sarasota, Fla., Carol Jones of Loveland Colo., Lauren Salisbury of Boulder, Colo., Stephanie Vint of Gardena, Calif., Erin Wagner of Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., and Lesley Young of Turlock, Calif. The men are made up of Nathan Fuller of Brighton, Colo., Jonathon Gagne of Point Claire, Quebec, Christian Johnson of Moscow, Idaho, Sean Sweet of Corvallis, Ore., Christian Verbrugghe of Issaquah, Wash., and David Schmitt of Casper, Wyo.

"I was really concerned about losing such a great senior class and especially about losing those ten senior women who were so special academically and athletically," head coach Tom Johnson said. "While you can never replace a class like those 15 seniors, I though we did a super job of getting kids who can fill our needs. We are very excited about spending the future with this class."

Dupuis was an all-conference swimmer as a freshman and sophomore and was named the Legacy High Swimmer of the Year as a freshman and senior. She lettered in swimming all four years of high school and received academic letter awards.

"Laura is another young lady who has been to our summer camp for several years. She is very personable, bright and hard working. She will add depth to our sprint freestyle and can even go up to the 200 freestyle," said Johnson.

Evans transfers to Wyoming from Oregon State University where she completed her freshman year of eligibility during the 2006-07 season. As a freshman at OSU, she placed 11th in the 200 breaststroke and 12th in the 400 IM at the 2007 Pac-10 Championships, turning in NCAA "B" cuts in each event. Her top-times from last season in the 200 breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM would all be school records at Wyoming and would have been the top-time in the Mountain West Conference last season. At Fort Collins High School, she was an All-American all four years, a four-year letterwinner and was the Colorado 5A State Champion in the 100 breaststroke.

"I have known Megan since her junior year when I saw her at the Junior National Championships. She is a tremendous talent, is extremely versatile and will be a tremendous asset to our program," said Johnson.

Flachbarth was a Georgia state finalist in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Her personal-best time in the 200 backstroke would already rank her in the top-10 all-time at Wyoming. She had significant time improvements in the 200 freestyle and both backstroke events. As a freshman, she helped lead Brookwood High School to the Georgia 5A State Championship. She was a swimming letterwinner all four year of high school.

"Kristen is a very solid middle distance freestyle swimmer and her backstroke has shown tons of improvement," Johnson said. "We really enjoyed her on her visit. She is a very nice, hard working young lady and she has tremendous potential to improve."

As a senior captain, Hudak led Riverview High School to the Florida 3A State Championship and was a state finalist in the 200 freestyle. She was a YMCA National Qualifier from 2004-07 and lettered every year of high school in swimming. She was selected as an Academic All-American in 2005, was a National Honor Society member and was a member of the honor roll throughout high school.

"Caitlin is an awesome kid. She comes from a great club program at the Sarasota Y and had great coaching in high school. She will be very competitive in the middle distance freestyle events and has shown improvement in the 200 back to the point where she could be an MWC finalist in that event," said Johnson.

Jones will keep Wyoming swimming a part of the family as she becomes the third member of the Jones family to swim at Wyoming. She is the younger sister of Dan, a senior in 2006-07, and Krista, currently a sophomore at UW. She is a great student and was a National Honor Society and honor roll member. She helped lead Loveland High School to a conference championship as a senior.

"It is great to keep it in the family with Carol. The Jones family is a special family and we are excited to keep our relationship with them going," said Johnson. "Carol has shown tremendous improvement over the past year. She is very bright, is a hard worker and will add tremendous depth to our distance freestyle program."

Salisbury helped lead Fairview High School to the Colorado 5A State Championship as a freshman and to a second-place finish at state as a sophomore, junior and senior. She was named All-Boulder County all four years of high school and All-Centennial League as a junior and senior. She was also a state finalist in the 100 butterfly at the Colorado 5A State Championships and swam the 200 butterfly, 200 IM, 400 IM and 100 butterfly at spring sectionals. She was a solid student and earned Academic All-America honors, was a member of the Principal's Honor Roll and National Latin Honor Society throughout high school.

"Lauren will provide great depth in both the IM and butterfly. The biggest thing for Lauren will be getting into the weight room and getting stronger in the next year. She's a very bright young lady and we are excited that she is going to be a Cowgirl," said Johnson.

Sisco was a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Finalist in the 100 backstroke in 2004 and 2005 and in the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestyle in 2005 and 2006. She was the Valley League MVP in 2006, the Orange Glen Swimmer of the Year in 2005 and 2006 and holds the Valley League record in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. She was a team captain as a junior and senior, received academic honors and was her team's MVP all four years of her career.

"She is an extremely versatile athlete. She has a good backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and sprint freestyle. We recruited her to be a sprint freestyler, but she is also very good in the 100 back, breast and fly. This spring she had a tremendous sectional meet and dropped three seconds in the 100 fly after we signed her which is very exciting," Johnson said.

Vint was a CIF finalist, an all-area selection, a team captain and holds three Redondo Union school records. She lettered all four years in swimming and also lettered twice as a member of her school's surf team. She was named to both the President's Honor Roll and the Redondo High Honor Roll.

"Stephanie is a very solid in the 200 and 500 freestyle. She will add tremendous depth in both those events. She could be in the top-ten in both those events next year as she would be with her top-times right now," Johnson said.

Wagner is a three-time High School All-American who has been named Wisconsin All-State seven times and has won seven Wisconsin South East Conference Championships. In her career, she won the conference and sectional 200 IM title every year of her career and also won the 100 freestyle conference championship three times and the sectional championship four times. She was the Wisconsin State Runner-Up twice in the 100 freestyle. She was a team captain as a junior and senior, the Tremper MVP all four years of her career, an honor roll member and holds eight Tremper school records.

"Erin is another very versatile athlete. Her best events are the 200 IM and the 100 free and she can also swim the 100 back," said Johnson. "She is a hard working and very talented young lady. In high school she split a 51.8 in the 400 freestyle relay and will be a tremendous asset to our relays."

Young was a high school All-American in the 100 breaststroke her junior season at John H. Pitman High School. Her junior season, she set the Central California Conference record in the 200 IM with a first place finish. She won the CCC 100 breaststroke title as a freshman, sophomore and junior and was an all-league selection as a freshman, sophomore and junior. She was her school's MVP three times and holds their record in the 100 butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle as well as the 200 IM and freestyle. She helped lead Pitman High to a Nor-Cal Relay Championship as a senior, the Stanislaus County Championship as a senior and the CCC Championship as a junior. Academically, she was a CCC All-Academic, a Sierra Nevada Scholar Athlete and a Sac-Joaquin Section Scholar Athlete.

"Lesley is going to be a great asset to our breaststroke program. She is also very solid in the IM and could contend for some medley relay positions as well," said Johnson. "She is a very hard working and bright person."

Fuller earned All-America honors in the 200 medley relay in 2004 after helping lead Brighton to the 4A State Championship in the event. He was a Colorado First Team All-State selection in 2004, as selected by the Denver Post. He helped lead Brighton to the 2004 and 2005 Colorado State Championship. He was a Brighton High School team captain as a junior and senior, was a four year letterwinner and was named Brighton's most valuable swimmer in 2006. He holds Brighton High pool records in the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 200 IM, 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Academically, he was a Skyline League All-Academic selection, was a National Honor Society member and received Brighton High academic excellence awards throughout high school.

"Nathan will be a great addition to our medley relay," said Johnson. "He is a tremendous underwater swimmer, has an outstanding dolphin kick and will add depth to our backstroke and medley relays."

Gagne comes to Wyoming after a Canadian high school career. He was a Canadian National Qualifier in the 400 IM and the 200 butterfly. He will compete in both butterfly events, the 400 IM as well as some middle distance freestyle events at UW.

"Jon is a very versatile athlete. He will add a lot of depth to our team by swimming the 200 butterfly, 400 IM and middle distance freestyle events," said Johnson. "He is a bright young man and we are looking forward to him being a Cowboy."

A five-time Idaho State Champion, Johnson won the Idaho State Championship in the 100 freestyle in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and also won the 200 freestyle in 2005 and 2006. For his accomplishments, he was named the North Idaho Swimmer of the Year twice. He is the Idaho record holder in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay. He was a team captain his senior year and was a member of the National Honor Society.

"I saw Christian swim last summer at sectionals and his nice size and good range were very evident," said Johnson. "He can swim any freestyle event from the 50 all the way up to the 200. He is bright and will add depth to our sprint freestyle events."

Sweet was a USA Swimming sectional finalist. His personal-best time of 9:35.00 in the 1000 freestyle would already rank fifth in the all-time UW record book. He was a Junior National Qualifier this spring.

"Sean has shown tremendous improvement over the past year. His 1000 time is already in the top-five of our record book. He is extremely competitive and will also lend some depth in the 400 IM," said Johnson.

Verbrugghe was named First Team All-KingCo League all four years of his career. As a senior, he won a league title in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle, was a district champion in the 100 butterfly and placed second in the 50 freestyle at districts. At the Washington State Championships, he placed third in the 50 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 medley relay. As a junior he placed fourth in the 50 freestyle at state, was under All-America consideration and competed in the Junior National Championships. He was an IronMan Award winner after qualifying for state in every event. He also received scholar athlete awards and was a team captain.

"Christian will also add depth to our freestyle and is a pretty good 100 flyer," said Johnson. "He is a tremendously hard working young man both in the pool and the classroom."

Schmitt will continue his swimming career in his home state of Wyoming. While at Kelly Walsh High School, Schmitt earned All-America honors in both the 100 butterfly and 200 IM this past season. He was an All-State and All-Conference swimmer all four years of high school. He was selected as the Wyoming Swimming Coaches Association Athlete of the State Meet as a senior and was also recognized as the Athlete of the Year as a sophomore and senior. He excelled academically and was a National Honor Society member, the Kelly Walsh Student Body Vice-President and a member of the honor roll.

"David does everything. He can swim IM, butterfly and even breaststroke. I have known David for a long time as he has attended UW swim camp over the past several years. He is a great kid, a hard worker, a good student and comes from a great swimming family. On top of all that he is fast in the water, which is obviously very important," said Johnson.

Special thanks to Wyoming for contributing this report.

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