Five Added to Washington Recruiting Class

SEATTLE, Washington, May 3. COACH Whitney Hite, who landed a major coup in the fall by inking Ariana Kukors to a National Letter of Intent, has brought in five more recruits to help the University of Washington program. Kukors, who recently represented the United States at the World Championships in Melbourne, is one of the top recruits in the nation, if not the No. 1 prospect.

The athletes signed this spring are Ben Aaberg (Tucson, Ariz.), Evan Bernier (Woodinville, Wash.), Andre Blythe (Denver, Colo.), Samantha Dole (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Ally Rich (Hillsboro, Ore.). Aaberg is a sprint freestyler and individual medley specialist and U.S. national qualifier. A two-time Tucson Citizen Boy's High School Swimmer of the Year, his lifetime best marks would rank him fourth on the UW all-time list in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 200 individual medley. Aaberg attended Tucson Sahuaro High School and swam for Tucson Ford Aquatic Club. He holds Arizona 4A State records in the 100 freestyle (44.81) and 200 IM (1:50.82).

Bernier is a junior transfer from the University of Minnesota and specializes in the middle distance freestyle, IM and butterfly. A Northwest native, Bernier swam for Bellevue Club Swim Team under coach Klass Schnek and attended Inglemoor High School. Bernier is an NCAA Qualifier and U.S. national qualifier and his top times would already rank among the program's top-10 in three events. His top time in the 200 freestyle would be a school record (1:36.79), while he would rank second in the 100 butterfly (47.73) and third in the 200 IM (1:48.37).

Blyth hails from Hite's hometown of Denver, Colo., and swam for both Cherry Creek High School and the North Jeffco Swim Team under coach Brett Stoyell. Blyth is an Olympic Trials Qualifier and boasts lifetime best marks of 50.30 in the 100 butterfly and 1:49.49 in the 200 butterfly. Dole, a sprint freestyler, is another Colorado native and swam for Highlands Ranch Aquatics under coach Matt Beck. A U.S. national qualifier, Dole is the Colorado State Champion in both the 50 and 100 freestyle with lifetime best marks of 23.77 and 52.21, respectively.

Rich rounds out the 2007-08 recruit class and swam for Glencoe High School and the Hillsboro Heat Swim Team. A middle distance specialist, Rich boasts lifetime best times of 1:51.48 in the 200 freestyle and 4:59.55 in the 500 freestyle. The five spring signees join fall signess Kukors (Auburn Mountain View High/Auburn, Wash.), Emilee Jennings (Mt. Rainier High/Des Moines, Wash.), Ashley Daly (Holy Names Academy/Seattle, Wash.) and Russell Mahan (Sammamish High/Bellevue, Wash.).

Special thanks to the University of Washington for contributing to this report

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