GREENVILLE, N.C. — The East Carolina swimming and diving program added 12 student-athletes to its 2015-16 roster during the spring signing period, announced head coach Rick Kobe on Tuesday. With an additional dozen commitments, the Pirates have received a total of 17 assurances for the upcoming season.
After obtaining pledges from four ladies and one male during the fall signing period, 10 men and two ladies declared their intentions to become Pirates this spring.
Joining the ECU men’s squad next season will be Eli Avart, Kelly Barnhill, Pierce Bradshaw, Zach Duval, Will Hicks, John Myhre, Trey Pofahl, Jon Roach, Victor Santos and Tristan Taylor.
“We graduated a lot of talent off last year’s American Athletic Conference championship team,” Kobe said. “This class is a big step in filling in those holes.”
The women’s team will welcome Western Kentucky University transfers Liz Baertlein and Logan Graumann.
“We are very excited to add these two ladies to the team next season.” Kobe explained. “Each will have an immediate impact on the roster in different way.”
The men have added both youth and experience with this group. Myhre (Western Kentucky), Hicks (Queens), Duval (Indian River State) and Bradshaw (West Virginia) are all transfers set to join eight incoming freshmen, which includes lone fall signee Zach Darden.
Duval is the only diver in the group with six of the seven swimmers having the ability to swim the freestyle events. Roach and Taylor are each multi-event swimmers that may compete in the backstoke, breaststroke and/or IM. Myhre and Avart will help deepen the backstroke group with Avart joining Bradshaw, Darden and Santos among the butterfly swimmers.
Baertlein and Graumann will each be sophomores when they arrive on the ECU campus. Each swimmer will compete in the backstroke events, while Graumann will also see action in the freestyle races.
2015-16 Men’s Incoming Class
Eli Avart | Villanova, Pa. | Muhlenberg High School | Upper Main Line YMCA
Kelly Barnhill | Greenville, N.C. | J.H. Rose High School | East Carolina Aquatics
Pierce Bradshaw | Charlotte, N.C. | West Virginia
Zach Darden | Goldsboro, N.C. | Goldsboro High School | East Carolina Aquatics
Zach Duval | Mary Ester, Fla. | Indian River State College
Will Hicks | Murrells Inlet, S.C. | Queens University
John Myhre | Knoxville, Tenn. | Western Kentucky
Trey Pofahl | Greenville, N.C. | J.H. Rose High School | East Carolina Aquatics
Jon Roach | Cary, N.C. | Green Hope High School | N.C. Aquatic Club
Victor Santos | Sau Paulo, Brazil | Esporte Clube Pinheiros
Tristan Taylor | Gainesville, Ga. | Chestatee High School | Lanier Aquatics
Head Coach Rick Kobe’s Comments
“Eli will come in and add depth to the butterfly & sprint backstroke events. He is a strong underwater swimmer and we look forward to watching his career progress as he improves the other aspects of his races.”
“Great kid, from a great family. Kelly will have a great opportunity to develop in a group of very talented sprinters next season. He is relatively new to the sport and we see a great deal of potential in him.”
“Pierce will add depth to our distance and butterfly events. He will have a great opportunity to be an impact athlete for us throughout the season.”
“Adding another local swimmer to our roster is very exciting for us. Coach Charles has been producing some of North Carolina’s top swimmers over the past few years. Zach is another one of those kids. He will add depth to our sprint group and has the potential to be one of our best 100 flyers next season.”
“I am looking forward to working with Zach next season. He is a tremendous diver with a great deal of experience. That experience will be an asset to a relatively young diving group next season.” – Diving Coach Ryan Hunt
“We feel Will has a tremendous upside. His experience on the Division II National Championship Team is just the beginning of what he can accomplish in his swimming career. He should help fill the hole left with the graduation of our all-time fastest breaststroker last season.”
“We feel fortunate to be adding John next season. He should challenge for team records in multiple events, and play a large role in relays throughout the year and at the AAC Championships in February.”
“Trey is one of coach Charles’ kids. He has shown a great deal of improvement over the last season, and we believe it is just the beginning of what he can do. He will be added to a veteran group of middle distance freestylers.”
“John is coming out of his first season since having a pretty significant injury. His times this year came after only seven months of consistent training. Even with that setback he was able to achieve personal bests in all his main events. We look forward to uncapping the rest of his potential.”
“Victor is talented sprinter who will have the opportunity to be one of the best ECU has ever seen. He will have an immediate impact on our team relays, and be a factor in the sprint butterfly events as well.”
“Tristan is a very versatile swimmer. He can swim almost any stroke, and swim it well. Coming in we see him contributing in the IM events, however once we are able to really focus on a main stroke, his ceiling could be very high.”
2015-16 Women’s Incoming Class
Liz Baertlein | Eagle, Wis. | Western Kentucky
Zoe Feingold | Plymouth, Mass | Plymouth North High School | South Coast Aquatics
Logan Graumann | Maryville, Tenn. | Western Kentucky
Lauren Hensley | Chantilly, Va. | Chantilly High School | Potomac Marlins
Alex Kreager | Greensboro, N.C. | Grimsley High School | Greensboro YMCA
McKenzie Street | Norwood, Pa. | Easton Area High School | Ridley Area YMCA
Head Coach Rick Kobe’s Comments
“Liz is a talented backstroker who should have an immediate impact in those events for us next season. Her end of season times from last year will put her within reach of our school records in both backstroke events.”
“Zoe is a very talented diver. Looking forward to adding her to the roster, her work ethic will add a great deal of competition to every practice.” – ECU Diving Coach Ryan Hunt
“Logan will instantly upgrade our relays from last season, and add roster flexibility in the sprint events for us next year. We’re really looking forward to having her with us.”
“We are very pleased to add Lauren to our team. Her coaches spoke highly of her potential and character. We expect her to have an immediate impact in the backstroke events for us, and contribute heavily on the medley relays.”
“It’s always good to keep N.C. kids in the state. We are excited about the improvement Alex has shown over the last year. She has had significant time drops recently and we expect that trend to continue, and help add depth to our distance group next season.”
– “McKenzie was a great fall signing for us. Her current times in both the breaststroke and sprint fly events should be very impactful on our roster next season. Her overall versatility will also be a great asset for our team relays.”
Swimming news courtesy of East Carolina University Swimming.