San Jose State Women’s Swimming Hires Ashley Vrieze as an Assistant Coach

SAN JOSE, California, June 15. FORMER Spartan standout Ashley Vrieze has been named the assistant coach for the San Jose State University women's swimming and diving program, as announced by head coach Sage Hopkins.

Vrieze, a native of Arcata, Calif., and graduate of Arcata High School, had an incredible senior season in the water in 2006-07, breaking school records in the three backstroke distances a total of five times on the year. She was one of the team's top performers at the 2007 Western Athletic Conference Championship in San Antonio, Texas, in February, finishing second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 200. For the meet, Vrieze collected one silver medal, one bronze medal, a pair of individual first-team All-WAC honors, one NCAA ‘B' cut, two USA Swimming National Championships qualifiers, three school marks, eight lifetime-best times, 40 points in individual events and 116 more in relays. She went on to become the first Spartan swimmer in recent history to record points at the USA Swimming Spring National Championships, in East Meadow, N.Y., in late March. Vrieze was voted by teammates as "Co-Swimmer of the Year" following the season.

The 2004-05 San Jose State University "Scholar-Athlete" and 2006-07 Academic All-WAC honoree graduated this past May with a degree in corporate finance. She was recognized in April as a recipient of an A.S. 55 Award, given by Associated Students, San Jose State's student government organization, in recognition for leadership and community involvement.

Vrieze was the head coach of the girl's varsity swim team at Notre Dame High School in San Jose for one season while still going to school in the spring of 2007. In addition to her duties at San Jose State, she will serve as an age group coach for the De Anza Cupertino Aquatics (DACA) club program under Hopkins' wife, Tammy, the DACA co-head coach. The backstroke specialist will also continue to train as an athlete toward the USA Swimming Summer National Championships in August, in Indianapolis, Ind., in the hopes of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.

"I'm really excited," said Vrieze of her appointment. "It will be good to stay in the sport, and gain more experience in coaching. It is going to be different than coaching (younger athletes at the club level for DACA)."

"Ashley was a tremendous worker and an amazing competitor as a Spartan," added Hopkins. "She is the perfect person to help lead the next generation of Spartans into competition."

In another maneuver, Chris Michelmore, who spent the 2006-07 season as the volunteer assistant coach for the Spartans, has been moved up to a graduate assistant coach position for the new campaign.

Michelmore graduated in June 2006 from Cal Poly, earning a degree in business administration. He was a four-year swimmer for the NCAA Division I program. A team captain from 2004-06, Michelmore finished third in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events at the Big West Conference Championship in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He has ASCA Level 2 certification.

Special thanks to San Jose State for contributing this report.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use