Dec. 18, 2002
A new era for men's swimming has arrived at Duquesne University as Rick West takes over as head coach of the Dukes for the 2002-03 slate. West, who came to Duquesne in late October from his assistant coaching position at Ohio State, inherits a 15-man roster comprised of four seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.
West will look to seniors Sean Evans, Travis Kiepert, Jeff Retallack and Alexandre Vaz for team leadership and to fill the void left by last year's departed seniors and will seek help from juniors Andrew Spotts and Richard Stout and sophomores Josh Hoffman, Ben Morelli, Jeremy Tomista and Dereck Wischmeyer with depth and experience.
Despite being hired after the school year began, West was left with a very capable freshman class. New to the Dukes this year are Hugo Erse, John Holleran, Andrew McConnell, Keir Weseloh and Douglas Yeager. Each rookie brings with them high school accolades and stellar times that will help spark the overall improvement of this up-and-coming program.
FREESTYLE - Retallack is the top returning sprinter for the Dukes. Last season, he turned in the team's second best times of the season in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events. His best 50-yard time last year was a 22.74 at Towson, his best 100 mark was a 51.10 at St. Bonaventure and his best 200 performance was a time of 1:51.55 at Niagara. He will receive assistance from Holleran, Kiepert, Morelli, Tomista and Vaz in the sprints and from Hoffman and McConnell in the 200. Evans will once again spearhead the distance events with help from newcomer Erse. Evans posted Duquesne's top times in the 500 and 1000 last year and will be pushed this season by Erse who has posted impressive times himself in high school. Evans' top time in the 500 free was a 4:59.18, which he accomplished at the Atlantic 10 Championship and his best time in the 1,000 came at Fordham with a 10:40.45.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY - Hoffman, Evans and Erse should post the majority of the top times in the individual medley events. Hoffman is the top returnee in the 200-yard event having notched DU's second best time last year at the A-10 Championship with a time of 2:04.86. Evans was next best last season with a 2:06.45 at Niagara. In the 400, it was the opposite last year, with Evans turning in the team's top time with a 4:24.58 at A-10's followed by a 4:27.51 at the same meet for Hoffman. Erse should lead the pack with proven success in this event while McConnell, Spotts and Weseloh will add depth.
BUTTERFLY - This should be one of the Dukes' strongest and deepest events as all four of the top butterfly swimmers return this year in Evans, Hoffman, Retallack and Tomista. Add to that the talents of Holleran and the Red and Blue should be able to score points here. Retallack turned in last year's best time in the 100 with a 53.52 at the Akron Invitational and was second best in the 200 with a 2:04.70 also at Akron. Evans was tops in the 200 with a 2:03.08 at A-10's and fourth in the 100 with a 57.53 at Towson. Tomista was second in the 100 and fourth in the 200 with times of 54.67 and 2:09.13 respectively while Hoffman placed third in both events with times of 55.77 and 2:07.74.
BACKSTROKE - Spotts returns as the top returnee in both backstroke events. He led all Duquesne swimmers last year in the 200 back with a 2:03.75 at the Atlantic 10 Championship and was second overall in the 100 with a 57.04 at A-10's. He will seek help from Hoffman, McConnell, Morelli, Stout, Weseloh and Yeager. Hoffman had the third best DU time in the 100 with a 59.15 at Towson and the fourth best in the 200 at Cleveland State in 2:16.59. Morelli was fourth in the 100 with a 1:02.35 at Akron and fifth in the 200 at Akron as well with a 2:17.11 while Stout was fifth in the 100 with a 1:03.22 at A-10's.
BREASTSTROKE - With three departures in the breaststroke event, Spotts, Vaz and newcomer Holleran should exclusively fill both the 100 and 200 slots. Spotts had a season-best time of 2:30.10 in the 200 at Fordham last year that was good for third best on the team last season and also produced a time of 1:06.35 in the 100 at Akron, good for fourth-best on the Dukes. Vaz did not compete in the 200 last year, but swam a season-best 1:06.61 in the 100-yard event at A-10's. Holleran has the potential to lead the Dukes in both events this year after being crown the WPIAL champion in the 100 and setting his high school's record with a time of 58.14.
SCHEDULE - Duquesne will face traditional Atlantic 10 rivals St. Bonaventure, Fordham, Xavier and Rhode Island as well as Niagara, West Virginia, Cleveland State, Clarion and Towson. The Dukes will also compete in the Akron Invitational and close the season with the Atlantic 10 Championship.
