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When the high school girls swim season gets underway, two local coaches will be in a position they weren't in last year.
Terry Aukeman, also the junior varsity baseball coach, takes over at Warsaw Community High School and inherits 39 swimmers, up 13 from last year. On the other end of the spectrum, eighth-year NorthWood coach Mary Robertson has seen her numbers drop from 18 last year to eight this year.
The Tigers finished 8-5 overall last year and 3-3 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Katie Beehler, Meghan McCammon, Meghan Neill and Jennifer Keirn graduated from last year's team.
"We'd like to improve on our conference record of 3-3 last year and get above .500," Aukeman said. "We'd like to finish higher in the sectional, maybe win it. We'd like to make it a fight between us, Plymouth and Bremen."
Warsaw finished third in its sectional a year ago.
Returning for the Tigers, who open up Wednesday at Fort Wayne Snider with Snider and Columbia City, this year are Jaci Thallemer, Becky Cook, Sarah Cook, Hillary Barlow, Laura Noggle, Claire Beckett and Aislinn Ummel.
Aukeman lists Concord and Plymouth as the teams to beat for the 2000-2001 NLC crown.
Robertson, whose Panthers finished 2-12 overall and 0-6 in conference action last year, also listed Concord as the team to beat.
"The Concord girls are tough," Robertson said. "Jane Coudret, the coach there, I went to high school with her. She's a good coach, and they have a lot of depth."
Robertson's Panthers graduated six from a year ago and saw four underclassmen not come out for the team this year.
"Everything will have to be individual," Robertson said when asked her team's goals, "other than that, we're gonna take it one day at a time."
Junior Jennifer Miller leads the list of returners for NorthWood, which will open its season Tuesday at Tippecanoe Valley.
At Wawasee, Roger Karns enters his 12th season with the Warriors and will try to better on a 6-6 overall record and 1-5 mark in the NLC a year ago.
Wawasee graduated Gennie Brissette, Sandy Drake, Jill Mock, Laura Karns and Jenny Butt, but returns seniors Cassie Wells and Jenna Ranta and juniors Rebekah Judy, Amber Lyon, Tasha Harper and Diane Jackson.
Karns agrees that Concord is the team to beat in the NLC.
"Concord is real tough still, they bring back a lot of kids," Karns said. "They've got a whole bunch of freshmen, I think they bring up 15 freshmen. Plymouth will also be very good, they won the sectional last year and were second in the conference. Warsaw is always good, too. This really is a tough conference, but if I had to pick one, it would be Concord based on what they have returning."
Wawasee opened its season Saturday with a 118-67 win at home over DeKalb. The Warriors took 10 of 12 first-place finishes in that meet.
MANCHESTER
Coach/years: Abby Zerkel/fourth
1999-2000 record: N/A (fourth in Three Rivers Conference)
Key losses: Nikki McKenzie, Erin Fridette, Kasha Wieland
Key returners: Monica Minnix, Lindsy Hix, Allison Ingold, Tosha Hunter, Brittany Falk
Opening meet: Nov. 28 at Huntington North
Zerkel: "We have 18 girls out. We didn't have a real strong freshmen group. It's not down by much, but it's down a little from last year."
NORTHWOOD
Coach/years: Mary Robertson/eighth
1999-2000 record: 2-12, 0-6 NLC
Key Losses: Rachel Eaton, Erin Newcomer
Key returner: Jennifer Miller
Opening meet: Tuesday at Tippecanoe Valley
Robertson: "We lost six seniors and had four underclassmen that didn't come out -Êthat's 10 people right there."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Coach: Steve Doerscher
1999-2000 record: 7-3
Key losses: Shannon Colin, April Pletcher, Stephanie Tilden
Key returners: Kyleigh Gast, Amber Drudge, Hillary Vanlaningham, Angela Weller
Opening meet: Tuesday host NorthWood
WARSAW
Coach/years: Terry Aukeman/first
1999-2000 record: 8-5, 3-3 NLC
Key losses: Katie Beehler, Meghan McCammon, Meghan Neill, Jennifer Keirn
Key returners: Jaci Thallemer, Becky Cook, Sarah Cook, Hillary Barlow, Laura Noggle, Claire Beckett, Aislinn Ummel
Next meet: Wednesday at Fort Wayne Snider with Snider and Columbia City
Aukeman: "We want to improve on our conference record of 3-3 last year and get above .500. We'd also like to finish higher in the sectional, and maybe win it. We'd like to make it a fight between us, Plymouth and Bremen."
WAWASEE
Coach/years: Roger Karns/12th
1999-2000 record: 6-6, 1-5 NLC
Key losses: Gennie Brissette, Jill Mock, Laura Karns, Jenny Butt, Sandy Drake
Key returners: Cassie Wells, Jenna Rantz, Rebekah Judy, Amber Lyon, Tasha Harper, Diane Jackson
Next meet: Host Penn Thursday
Karns: "We've got a group of 26 or 27, that's good. These are girls with a lot of improvement ahead of them. If they get in the groove, they can really improve. I think if you're a coach and you see us before Christmas, we'll be a different team after Christmas."
