Occidental adds 13 men and 10 women to its team for the 2017-18 season. Both teams are coming off great seasons both in and out of the pool where the men’s and women’s teams improved their point totals from last year’s championship meet, and in the classroom both teams earned Team Scholar All-America honors both semesters.
For the year, the women’s team posted an outstanding 3.51 GPA, while the men posted a very solid 3.38 GPA. Austin Lashley earned Scholar All-American honors, while achieving two NCAA B-Cut times.
Head Coach Steve Webb on Recruiting Class:
“I could not be happier with the 23 student-athletes that we are bringing in this year. This class addresses many areas where we needed help in, and all of them are eager to join our close-knit team. A number of these athletes come in faster than our current school records, which is very exciting. I believe this class well help us get to our team goals very quickly, which is to be top three in the conference meet every year, and to be top 20 in the country. With this being, my first recruiting class that I brought in, I wanted to make sure I brought in the right student-athletes and with this group, I definitely feel like we achieved that. The future is very bright for our team with the addition of these 23 student-athletes, and the new pool, which is on track to be finished for our 2018-19 season.”
Men
“The most impressive thing about these 13 men is they all have the talent to score at our conference championship meet as first-year student-athletes,” Webb said.
Vahe Akopyan, Herbert Hoover HS in Glendale, CA
Event: I.M and Distance Freestyle
Sam Sachs, Woodrow Wilson HS in Tacoma, WA
Event: Sprint Free and Butterfly
Pierce DiMauro, Mount Desert Island High School in Mount Desert, MA
Event: Mid-Distance Free
Parag Kalay, Lassiter HS in Marietta, GA
Event: Backstroke and Butterfly
John Stark, Gering HS in Gering, NE
Event: Middle and Distance Freestyle
Aidan Seid, Juneau Douglas HS in Douglas, AK
Event: I.M. and Backstroke
Justin Sell, Aragon HS in San Mateo, CA
Event: Sprint and Mid-Distance Free
Matt Howard, Cantebury School in New Milford, CT
Event: Sprint/Middle Distance Free
Zeke Sebastianin, Verona Area HS in Verona, WI
Event: Sprint/Middle Distance Free and Butterfly
Dilin Massand, Mercersburg Academy in New York City, NY
Event: Butterfly and Breaststroke
Declan Ryan, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA
Event: I.M. and Breaststroke
Alex Marlott, York Community HS in Elmhurst, IL
Event: Butterfly and Backstroke
Eric Johnson, Loyola Academy in Los Angeles, CA
Event: Sprint Freestyle and Backstroke
Women
“We are very excited about these 10 women as they fill huge areas of need for our team as we build off our 5th place conference finish,” Webb said. “The addition of two new divers will help us be a very good dual meet team as well.”
Chelsea Evans, Mountain View HS in Bend, OR
Event: Sprint Freestyle
Alix Leslie, San Marcos HS in Carlsbad, CA
Event: Sprint Freestyle and Butterfly
Hana Iwata-Reuyl, Corbett HS in Corbett, OR
Event: Backstroke
Madison Thurber, Kamiakin HS in Kennewick, WA
Event: Backstroke and Sprint Free
Elizabeth Brewer, Westminister School in New York City, NY
Event: Backstroke
Aime Fukada, Singapore American School in Manhatten Mansions, Singapore
Event: Butterfly
Ilya Hora, Northfield Mount Hermon School in San Francisco, CA
Event: Middle and Distance Freestyle
Sara Joy Salib, Venice HS in Los Angeles, CA
Event: Diver
Emma Winfrey, St. Teresas Academy in Blue Springs, MO
Event: Breaststroke
Hannah Chazdon, Saint Paul Central in Saint Paul, MN
Event: Diver
Press Release courtesy of Occidental College Athletics