Logan Neal Signs With Northern Arizona Swimming and Diving Team

Photo Courtesy: Don Elmore/NAU Athletics

FLAGSTAFF – What was once considered a thin area of depth as recent as last year, the Northern Arizona swimming and diving team bolstered their sprint freestyle crew with the National Letter of Intent signing of Logan Neal. Head coach Andy Johns announced the signing of Neal, a Hillsboro, Ore. product, on Wednesday.

“Logan got in touch with us late in the November signing period and she’s another freestyle sprinter that will only add to the group we have coming in and the group that we already have,” Johns said. “She’s a good student and she fits in with our team, Flagstaff and the university. From the start, she was looking for a place like NAU and that made things a whole easier for all of us to make that connection. She’s going to add a lot to our incoming class and our team overall.”

Neal will enter the Lumberjack swimming & diving program out of Century High School where she was part of only a five-member team that won back-to-back OSAA 6A State Championships in Oregon. She was a four-year letterwinner and one-year team captain and will leave Century High School with several school records. She holds school records in the 50 freestyle (23.85) and 100 freestyle (51.65) as is also a member of the record-holding 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 medley relays. At this year’s State Championships, Neal won first as part of Century’s 200 and 400 free relay teams, with the 400 free relay team setting a new state record (3:28.67) in the process.

Neal also is a three-time member of the Oregon Swimming All-Stars team and the Oregon Swimming Zone Team. In the classroom, she owns a high 3.89 grade point average and for her efforts was a member of the Scholastic All-American Team with her club team Hillsboro HEAT during her final three years of high school.

Neal, the fifth NAU swimming & diving signee for 2015-16, is the third incoming swimmer with sprint freestyle experience along with Ila Hughes (Kodiak, Alaska) and Andrea Schmidt (Missoula, Mont.) from the November signing period.

The team already boasts a young, talented returning sprint unit with freshmen Roni Houck leading the way. Houck placed third and fourth respectively in the 50 free and 100 free at this year’s WAC Championships. Freshman Alina Staffeldt also scored a 10th place finish in the 50 free. Junior Trinity Frazee (10th) and freshman Claire Hammond (13th) also earned scoring spots in the consolation heat of the 100 free.

“It seems like a shift in our personnel,” Johns said. “Our recruiting philosophy is to fill holes but we’re also looking at best available. We might take a hit in a dual meet lineup, but as we build for another championship team we’re focused on depth. It’s fine to have four or five athletes in the same event because at the conference meet they can all score. Logan will come in and will make that sprint group even deeper. It makes all of them better because they have to all compete even to get on the relay.”

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworl d .com.

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