Arizona State Announces Men’s and Women’s 2009-10 Swimming Recruiting Class

TEMPE, Arizona, April 24. THE Arizona State men's swimming and diving team announces four new signees to their 2009-10 class.

Jesper Akesson, Sean Niccolucci, Grayson Repp and Joseph Wasko have all signed national letters of intent to study and compete at Arizona State University.

Canadian Grayson Repp will join the Sun Devils' men's team this fall after having competed for Island Swimming. A club teammate of recently-signed women's recruit Cassie Morrice, Repp will come in as a middle-distance freestyler and make an immediate impact in the Sun Devil lineup.

"Grayson's short course times are pretty close to making the NCAA cuts," said assistant coach and men's recruiter Simon Percy. "This is impressive, there are very few guys coming out of high school with NCAA-type times."

Another middle-distance swimmer that will join the men's team in the fall is Sean Niccolucci from Missoula, Mont. A raw yet talented swimmer, Niccolucci will also look to add depth to the program.

"Sean swims for David Berkoff, who was an icon in the backstroke in the 80s," said Percy. "He has very little experience, but he has dropped a lot of time this year. He rounds out that middle distance group."

The Sun Devils will also gain a transfer in the fall in Jesper Akesson. Akesson will transfer from Wayne State where he was a six-time Division II All-American. Originally from Sweden, Akesson will serve as a sprint freestyler and will also compete in the sprint breaststroke events.

"Jesper has dropped a lot of time this year," said Percy. "He's a 44-high freestyler, 44-low relay guy. He will also give us some versatility in the sprint breaststroke. He will help in pretty much all our relays."

The final spring signee for the men hails from Northern California. Joseph Wasko will provide depth for the Sun Devils in the backstroke and freestyle events. An excellent student, Wasko will be enrolled in ASU's top-ranked Barrett Honors College on an academic scholarship. He is a three-time CIF Northern Section Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Year.

"Joey has the potential to be an NCAA qualifier in a couple of years," said Percy. "He's got good tools and is a good depth guy for the program."

Akesson, Niccolucci, Repp and Wasko will join Caleb Veazey, who signed in the fall. Veazey, who will swim the distance events for the Sun Devils, would have been an Olympic Trials qualifier but the bullhead was off by three centimeters and therefore made his time void.

"Caleb was basically the cornerstone of our men's recruiting class; we pretty much built around him," said Percy. "He has had a really good senior year and he's gotten even faster."

On the women's side, Cassie Morrice has signed a national letter of intent to study and compete at Arizona State University, announces head swimming coach Michael Chasson.

Coming to Tempe from Victoria, B.C., Morrice is a welcome addition in what assistant swimming coach Kyle Schack has dubbed as one of the all-time best Sun Devil recruiting classes. A fast 200 and 500 freestyler, Morrice has consistently been dropping her times over the past five months. Not only will Morrice compete in the individual events, but she will be looked upon as a strong relay swimmer as well.

Recently, Morrice, who currently competes for Island Swimming, was recently selected to represent her home province for the 2009 Canada Summer Games. At the Canadian Spring Nationals, Morrice placed sixth in the 400 free.

"Cassie is dangerous in the middle-distance freestyles," said assistant swimming coach and women's recruiter Schack. "Her goal is to be on the Canadian National Team. She will be on the 4 x 200 free relay and in about two years she'll make the 4×100 relay."

Morrice will join fall signees Paige Schultz, Shannon Landgrebe and Caroline Kuczynski as the women's signing class. One of ASU's most heralded recruits of all time, Schultz will come to the Valley of the Sun as one of the top freshmen of 2009-10. With goals of making the Olympics in 2012, Schultz's times are currently on par with the top times in the NCAA.

"Paige Schultz's name will be on our record board," said Schack. "She will take our relays to the championship finals at the NCAA."

Another Canadian, Kuczynski has been training in Florida for the past six years alongside 42-yeard-old gold medalist Dara Torres. Kuczynski will come to Tempe as the team's No. 2 butterflier.

"Caroline has the ability to be one of the NCAA's premier butterfliers," said Schack. "She has came in with faster times than our current top butterflier and will be a big impact swimmer for us in a couple years."

The final women's signee is Landgrebe who hails out of Palm Springs. A sprint and middle-distance freestyle specialist, Landgrebe will immediately add to the tradition of solid freestylers at Arizona State.

"She is tall, she is athletic and she has already made Pac-10 scoring times with room for improvement," said Schack on Landgrebe.

With four talented incoming freshmen, two returning NCAA qualifiers and Olympic finalist diver Elina Eggers eligible, the Sun Devils are poised to be a force to be reckoned with in 2009-10.

"If we don't make the top 10 at NCAA's next year, we'll be disappointed," said Schack.

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