Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving
SCAC Champions:
MEN:  1999, 2001, 2002, 2004
WOMEN:  2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006

Greetings to prospective, alumni and current Trinity University swimmers and divers!

Upon completion of the award-winning Bell Athletic Center in the fall semester of 1992, Trinity University introduced NCAA varsity swimming and diving for the first time in school history. Former Alamo Area Aquatics coach John Ryan returned from Connecticut to San Antonio after a 10-year hiatus to found the new program and to guide Trinity through its inaugural season. The first year was relatively successful, and both the men's and women's teams have improved season by season since the spring of 1993.

A member of NCAA Division III, Trinity has a true commitment to both academic and athletic excellence. The University attracts approximately 650 very bright and talented new students each year, and strives to provide its students/athletes with both a quality undergraduate education and a highly competitive athletic experience. Trinity's overall athletic program is one of the very best among the NCAA's small colleges and universities.  A member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Trinity has won numerous all-sports awards and a grand total of 76 SCAC Championships since the conference's inception in 1991.

The following is a tour through the colorful Trinity University Swimming & Diving history.  Enjoy!

1996-1997

February of 1997 proved to be a benchmark date in the history of the T.U. program.  That year, Trinity's men and women swimmers and divers each won their respective team championship at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Invitational for the first time ever.  First year Joseph Moore and junior Sarah Scott both won three gold medals and set a total of six meet records at the 1997 SCAC finale. Their accomplishments earned them each the SCAC High Point Award for the meet, setting a standard of excellence for future Trinity swimmers and divers. Moore and Scott went on to earn All-American honors at the 1997 NCAA Championships.

1997-1998

The 1997-98 season was highlighted by more of the same.  The women's team captured its second consecutive SCAC Invitational crown and the men were runner-up in their title chase. Moore and Scott again won three individual events each, winning SCAC High Point Awards for their performances. They also earned All-American honors at the NCAA Championships, serving as an inspiration to all associated with Trinity's swimming and diving program.

1998-1999

The Tigers from Texas began the 1998-99 season with high hopes, and the season turned out to be a big success. The men and the women each enjoyed 10 wins over their in-season opponents, finishing the year with unblemished records. Swimming and diving became an official Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship sport for the first time as DePauw University, Southwestern University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology all jumped into the SCAC competitive pool with Trinity, Sewanee and Hendrix.

In February of 1999, Trinity's men made history by capturing the first-ever SCAC Swimming and Diving Championship, hosted by the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The T.U. Tigers snatched four of five men's relay events during the meet's three-evening final sessions to surprise and outscore pre-meet favorites DePauw and Sewanee. Junior Joseph Moore and first year Dylan Stentiford each won two individual races to pace the Tigers on their way to victory. On the women's side, first year Christy Jayne and sophomore Shannon Clower both notched double wins while leading the Trinity women to a second place finish behind conference rival Sewanee. Trinity's men and women scored more points than the combined total tallied by any other school in the conference, proving that the overall balance of power in the SCAC was located in San Antonio, Texas.

1999-2000

The 1999-2000 season opened in late October with dual meet wins over a first-ever team program at McMurray University in Abilene. The trip was fun and set the stage for another successful year. The women again marched through the winter with a 10-0 record against all opponents, while the men settled for an 8-2 season. The Y2K SCAC Swimming and Diving Championship was hosted by DePauw University and the February trip north proved memorable.

Reversing the 1999 final results, Trinity's women captured the 2000 SCAC team title with an exciting upset win over the defending champions from Sewanee. Trinity had seven senior women step up and have their best-ever college championship meet. Led by lifetime personal record winning efforts from Lynn Lyons and Susi Sokol, the competitiveness displayed by the seniors inspired the team to a 874.5 to 842 victory. First year Caitlin McEatheron triumphed on both the 1 and 3 meter boards to win valuable team points on the way to winning the SCAC Diver-of-the-Year award.  The TU men were missing the services of All-American Joseph Moore (out with an injury) and lacked the team depth that helped them garner its 1999 win over DePauw. When all was said and done, the Y2K results proved the Tigers from Indiana to be deeper and stronger than their Texas counterparts. While Trinity swam well and Dylan Stentiford captured two wins, TU had to settle for the consolation of beating out longtime rival University of the South for team runner-up honors.

2000-2001

Could Trinity rebound in 2000-2001?  That was the challenge the Tigers had to answer.  After a slow start in the fall semester, the winter swimming and diving season was highlighted by a sunny (yet chilly) week of training at the International Swimming Hall-of-Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The trip helped pave the way to a successful conference finale.  Trinity served as the host for the 2001 SCAC Championships held in San Antonio on the weekend of February 15-16-17. The Tiger women rebounded from a first-event relay DQ to earn a 56 point win over Sewanee, setting seven school records and three conference records in the process.

Trinity's men, in the meantime, enjoyed an absolutely awesome weekend and achieved what most observers thought to be an impossible feat. After the first night and two sessions of diving, the TU Tigers were 129.5 points behind the heavily-favored DePauw Tigers in the team scoring column. A great finals session on Friday, highlighted by SCAC record-setting wins in four of the six evening events, closed the gap to 35.5 points. An enthusiastic crowd of athletes and spectators then witnessed another great session of swimming on Saturday night. By the last event of the meet, Trinity had tallied 886.5 points to DePauw's 886 points. The meet came down to a case of "winner-take-all" and the TU 400 freestyle relay team of Zach Coburn, Andrew Gnann, Will Von Rosenberg and Dylan Stentiford did just that. Trinity led from the start and touched up with a 3:06.21 to DePauw's 3:06.93, taking their second team title in three years. There was absolute pandemonium in the stands and on the pool deck when the scoreboard flashed the outcome of the final race, and hence, the meet.  Trinity's relay team gave the Tigers the team title over DePauw by a final score of 994.5 to 934.  All in all, the men set nine school records and eight new conference records over the course of the weekend. Zach Coburn narrowly edged teammates Dylan Stentiford and Ryan Van Der Kar for SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Year honors.

Four Trinity women and five Tiger men swimmers attended the 2001 NCAA Championships, held in March in Buffalo, NY.   Every one of the nine scored at the national meet, with all earning either All-American or honorable mention All-American rankings.  Despite a bit of a let-down from the emotional high associated with the teams' SCAC wins the season finale at the NCAA's proved positive.

2001-2002

2001 was for sure going to be a hard act to follow, yet both the TU men and the T.U. women rose to the occasion at the 2002 Southern Collegiates.  The University of the South was once again the meet host, and Trinity traveled "up the mountain" to prove yet again their SCAC pre-eminence.  The men won 10 out of 18 individual and relay swimming events on their way to a 158.5-point team win over runner-up DePauw.  Seniors Dylan Stentiford, Will Von Rosenberg, Andrew Gnann, Ryan Stevens, and Adam Bellinger provided the kind of senior leadership it takes to help guarantee a team's success.  Stentiford won both the 500 and the 200 freestyle for the fourth consecutive year, and added the 100 freestyle title to his collection. 

He and sophomore Ryan Van Der Kar (winner of the 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400 IM races) shared SCAC Swimmer of the Year honors.  On the women's side, Christy Jayne and first-year Jessica Isenberg came up with conference record-setting wins for the Tigers and led TU to a surprisingly one-sided win over Sewanee and DePauw.  Trinity's depth was the difference, as every woman on the team scored points in at least one championship final heat.  The women scored 951 points overall, the highest total ever in the SCAC's four-year history.

The 2002 NCAA Championships was held at Miami University (Ohio), with Trinity again well-represented.  Ryan Van Der Kar, Dylan Stentiford, and Zach Coburn each set a new TU record, and the latter two earned All-American honors in the process.  In addition, Jessica Isenberg qualified for the NCAA Women's Championships by virtue of her school and conference record in the SCAC 50 freestyle, marking her first trip to the national meet.

2002-2003

The 2002-2003 season started slowly and the TU Tigers seemed to have a little difficulty picking up momentum following their highly successful 2001-2002 season.  The loss of a strong graduating class in the spring of 2002, several illnesses and injuries, and a small incoming men's group opened the door for other schools to challenge Trinity's supremacy at the SCAC Championships.  TU won some of it's early meets, but it wasn't until the winter recess training trip to Fort Lauderdale that the coaching staff felt positive about the consistency and quality of the team's training and its focus on the SCAC's and the NCAA's.  Trinity experienced some good performances at their annual later-December Tiger Invitational, but journeyed to Greenville, Mississippi, for the 2003 SCAC's fully aware that DePauw's men and women were stronger and much deeper than the preceding year. 

Sure enough, DePauw was ready and they put more points on the scoreboard than TU was able to muster, despite some terrific performances on the part of the defending champions.  Ryan Van Der Kar led the way for Trinity's men, winning the SCAC Swimmer of the Year Award by virtue of wins in the 500 freestyle, the 400 Individual Medley and the 200 Butterfly (establishing new SCAC meet records in the latter two events). DePauw's men, however, used their swimming depth and their team's ability to go 1-2-3-4 in both the 1 and 3 meter diving events to run up a total of 945.5 points.  Trinity's lack of depth and their inability to contest DePauw on the diving boards contributed to the Tigers loss of the SCAC crown, after back to back wins in 2001 and 2002. TU scored 743.5 points, outstanding Sewanee's 638 points. On the women's side, FY Catherine Jelf captured gold in the 400 Individual Medley, marking the 5th consecutive year a Trinity woman has won that event.  Sophomore Jessica Isenberg swam to a tie win in the 100 freestyle and Junior Stephanie Walla upset DePauw All-American Amy Allen in the 200 backstroke, breaking the meet record by 1.55 seconds.  In the end DePauw's women accrued 944.5 points to Trinity's 862.5 points, while Sewanee rounded out the top three teams with a 702 point total.  It marked DePauw's first-ever SCAC team victory in women's swimming and diving.

Ryan Van Der Kar and Zach Coburn attended the 2003 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, and both earned All-American honors at the season finale.  Van Der Kar set a new conference open record on the 200 butterfly with his 1:52.71, while Coburn scored for the second straight year in the 200 backstroke.  All in all, the trip to the NCAA's was fun and the Tigers returned to San Antonio satisfied with their performances.

2003-2004

The 2003-2004 swimming and diving season was all about trying to regain the men’s and women’s top spots in the SCAC.  DePauw was the defending state champion on both sides of the aisle and Trinity was determined to not be the bridesmaid two years running. 

After winning dual meet seasons and a good winter training trip to Fort Lauderdale, FL, the Tigers, men and women, swept into Cleveland, Mississippi, in February and re-established their conference supremacy.  Trinity University’s women had nine of the top 12 individual point scorers, and put a record-breaking 1,030 points on the team scoreboard.  The men topped DePauw’ 773 total by 108 points, earning a winning total 881. 

Senior Ryan Van Der Kar won three events and was named SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Year for the men (earning that honor for an unprecedented third time in a row).

Over the weekend, Trinity’s women showed what the phrase “team depth” is all about.  The first individual race at the SCAC’s is the 500 freestyle, and there Carrie Fitzgerald, Catherine Jelf and Caesie McHenry went 2-3-4 closely followed by Kate Wheeler, Jackie Acuna and Jessie Waltman at 8-9-12.  The outcome of the championship was almost a done-deal as the points for the 500 free were tallied.  The next race was the 200 IM and there Stephanie Walla, Christina Pikla and Jessica Meager went 2-3-4 while Ann Wilcox and Christy Anderson finished 10-11.  Jessica Isenberg then recorded an All-SCAC runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle, followed by a Trinity victory in the 400 Medley Relay.  The TU lead in team scoring was, at that point, insurmountable.

During the next two days, Trinity’s women tallied wins in nine more individual races and two more relays.  Catherine Jelf, Lauren Clements, Christy Anderson, Stephanie Walla, Jessica Isenberg, Jessica Meager and Carrie Fitzgerald were all gold medal winners during TU’s SCAC victory march.  It was impressive, to say the least.

No team before or since has scored over 1000 points at conference.  End of story there!

In the meantime, the 2004 Trinity men’s team put on quite a show of their own.  They opened the SCAC’s with a win in the 200 freestyle relay (Zach Coburn, Evan O’Dea, Dan Petersen and Andrew Callahan) chased down with Ryan Van Der Kar’s win in the 500 freestyle and Petersen’s conference record setting win in the 200 IM.

Sewanee won the 50, but TU went 2-3-4 (Callahan, Coburn, O’Dea) followed by the win in the 400 Medley Relay to cap off the night.  It was “deja-vu” all over again when compared to the Trinity women’s performances.

On Friday, VDK won the 400 IM for the 4^th year in a row, Petersen set a school record 50.96 en route to a win in the 100 butterfly, O’Dea beat a close field to take the 200 freestyle (1:43.26), Petersen, again, surprised with a 58.66 win in the 100 breaststroke and Coburn earned top-dog honors in the 100 backstroke.  TU’s 17-second win in the 800 freestyle relay was awesome and it looked certain that the Tigers had a lock on another championship team title.

Sure enough, February 14th, 2006, was the day of reckoning.  Blair Boudousquie started things off with a win in the 1650, Callahan captured the 100 freestyle with a personal best 46.75, and Van Der Kar won yet another 200 butterfly in 1:53.86.  TU then topped South in the 400 freestyle relay (3:08.83) to seal the deal, bringing the conference trophy back to San Antonio for the 4^th time in 6 years.

2004-2005

By late September of 2004, the TU swimming and diving team was back to work preparing for another season.  Coaches John Ryan and Ad’m Dusenbury had a good group of athletes training in the pool and Coach Stan Randall had assembled an all-new collection of divers to work the boards.

Everyone knew that the SCAC Championships were coming to town in February.  The fall semester featured a 12-mile open water relay race at Lake Travis (near Austin), couple of successful invitational meets in Dallas culminated with a productive winter training trip in Florida.  The Tiger Invitational in late January went well and, almost before it seemed possible, the February 2005 conference meet got kicked off at the Josh David Natatorium in north San Antonio.

Trinity’s women swam fabulously, racket up 978 points to easily outscore DePauw (693 ½) and Sewanee (578) and achieved more NCAA “A” and “B” cuts than ever in its history.  It was a great meet for the Tigers.  A lot of swimmers from all over the conference swam well, yet the TU women again showed their talent by placing five swimmers amongst the top nine point producers in the meet. 

Jessica Isenberg led the way with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle and a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly.  Isenberg’s 23.63 50 free time shattered her own conference record by ½ second and electrified an already excited crowd of spectators and swimmers.  Earlier that evening she split a 23.12 white joining Kelly Leyendecker, Leta Gatton and Patricia Wiener as they hit a school record 1:38.01 in the 200 free relay.  Another TU foursome (Jessica Meager, Leyendecker, Lauren Clements and Isenberg) went 4:00.42 in the 400 medley relay, out-swimming DePauw by 4.1 seconds and hitting an NCAA consideration time.

Things then just kept getting better for the Tigers.  On Friday, their 60-point lead exploded to a 180-point advantage on the field.  TU’s 200 medley relay opened the night with a 1:48.25 win (Meager, Leyendecker, Jessica Tibbitts and Isenberg), setting a conference record and achieving Trinity’s first-ever NCAA relay “A” cut.  The lid was off the pot and the water was boiling.  Clements, Isenberg and Tibbitts went 1-2-3 in the 100 butterfly, Leta Gatton set a school and conference record in the 200 freestyle (1:53.94) and Leyendecker and Tibbitts went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke.  The times were sizzling.

Every team in the meet was swimming well and everyone came back on Saturday ready to race.  Carrie Fitzgerald opened the night with a well-paced (17:48.83) upset win over 3-time champion Lizzy Land of Sewanee in the 1650 free.  Isenberg went 52.58 to win the 100 free with yet another SCAC record (ditto an NCAA cut) and TU swimmers were prominent in the finals of the 200 back and 200 fly.  The night and the meet ended with another Trinity win.  This time it was Gatton, Leyendecker, Samantha Spaman and Isenberg setting a conference record in the 400 free relay.  Jessica Isenberg’s 51.77 split helped TU hit a 3:34.40 as they out-dueled DePauw and Sewanee in the closing race of the meet.  What a season for the Tiger women! 

Not to be outdone, the men had enjoyed a weekend of racing that was on par with the women, but was outscored by both DePauw and Sewanee (847 – 761 – 734) for a third place finish overall.

First year Dario Turjanski, sophomore Dan Petersen and first year Will Basinger recorded six sings to lead the Tigers in the water and first year Ryan Cook won both the one and three meter diving events on his way to earning SCAC Diver-of-the-Year honors.  Sprint freestyle depth was an issue for the Tigers for the first time in years, and it kept TU from scoring big in the free relays.

In the first race of the SCAC's opening night, Turjanski and fellow first year Basinger went 1-2 in the 500 to kick-start the meet.  TU pout three swimmers in the big final of the 200 IM but moved Dan Petersen out of the race (he was the defending champion) to make a run at the 50 freestyle (he finished runner-up to DePauw’s Robert Alexander).  Despite the lack of team firepower in the 50 (and helped by a 1-3-6 finish in the three meter diving), Trinity finished the opening night nipping at DePauw’s heels in the team race, 254 to 245.

As the meet progressed, Trinity and Sewanee kept outracing DePauw, but the boys from Indiana had the numbers and kept edging away from the field in the team race.  Dan Petersen beat Sewanee’s Matt Martelli in the100 butterfly (50.85 to 51.05), Dario Turjanski won the 200 free (1:44.85) and Trinity’s 800 free relay of Petersen, Turjanski, David Rivard and Basinger destroyed all with a 8 ½ second win.  Meanwhile, DePauw moved to a 33-point lead in the team race despite achieving only a single win for the day.

Saturday was a repeat of the first two days.  Ryan Cook won the one meter diving, Turjanski and Blair Boudousquie went 1-3 in the 1650, Petersen was runner-up to DePauw’s Robert Alexander in the 100 free, TU earned a 2-3 finish in the 200 breaststroke and Basinger went out easy and reeled in Sewanee’s defending champ Martelli to win the 200 fly.  DePauw finally won a relay race, taking the 400 free to cap off their meet.

Incredibly, they won only two of 20 events in the entire championship meet program – another testimony to the importance of depth in collegiate swimming and diving.

2005-2006

The Trinity University Women’s swimming and diving team has now won three consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles, each by a margin of well over 200 points.  This accomplishment is clear testimony to the Tigers’ ability to step up as a team and perform superbly at the end of the season.

A review of the 2006 SCAC Championship meet puts the spotlight on several accomplishments.  The Tigers won eight individual events on their way to capturing fourteen top 3 individual finishes overall, the most of any team in the conference.  First-year Lindsay Weigley was awarded SCAC Women’s Swimmer of the Year honors, while sophomore Lauren Walstad was recognized as the SCAC Women’s Diver of the Year.  Weigley set a new Trinity school record in the 500 freestyle and qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 freestyle, while Walstad set conference records in both the 1 and 3-meter diving contests.  Other Trinity event winners included Jessica Tibbitts, Leta Gatton and double winner Jessica Meager.  Perhaps an even more impressive accomplishment for the women was their collective 3.225 GPA for the spring semester, earning the team Academic All-American honors from the College Swim Coaches Association of America.  Individually, Lauren Walstad was recognized as an Honorable Mention All-American for her 3.563 GPA.

Six senior women led T.U. through the 2005-2006 season and their departure has opened the door for other conference teams to move onto center stage.  Coach John Ryan and his staff of Stan Randall, Head Diving Coach, and Amanda Bos, Assistant Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach, will, of course, do all they can to bring another SCAC team trophy back to San Antonio in February of 2007.  Trinity will field a very young squad this winter, as a big group of first-year swimmers and divers join several accomplished upper class women for the 2006-2007 campaign.  This team will have to train hard and focus intently upon preparing for the SCAC’s if they are to extend TU’s Conference winning streak.

The 2005-2006 varsity men’s team enjoyed a relatively successful winter season, capping it off with a terrific showing on the second weekend of February at the 2006 SCAC Championship meet in Cleveland, Mississippi.  The highlight of the year to that point was solid win over McMurray University at an invitational meet in November at the Keller ISD Natatorium in Dallas, and a rigorous winter training camp at the beautiful La Loma High Altitude Training Camp in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Trinity’s outstanding SCAC meet featured many wonderful performances by the TU men, who captured more top three finishes in individual races than any other team in the conference.  The Tiger’s lack of depth came back to bite them, however, as DePauw used theirs to win the conference team title by a 829.5 to 713 margin.  Trinity had the largest number of SCAC All-Conference performances for the 3 ½ day contest, providing some consolation for the effort extended and the results achieved. 

Event winners included SCAC Swimmer-of-the Year and Junior Dan Petersen (200 IM, 100 and 200 breaststroke) and Sophomore Will Basinger (500 free).  It should be noted that All-American diver Ryan Cook suffered a shoulder separation shortly before the conference meet, hindering his training considerably, yet still bounced back to finish second on both boards to fellow All-American Dustin Schulten of Centre.  Cook then outscored Schulten a month later at the NCAA Championships.

Looking forward…

Swimming and diving clearly has a very bright future at Trinity. With both indoor short course and outdoor long course facilities, Trinity has outstanding resources to help promote its program. The University is eager to attract swimmers and divers who seek to experience the kinds of academic, athletic, and social opportunities that are offered at a university located in a city offering the charm and hospitality for which San Antonio is known. Any athlete possessing the ability to contribute to Trinity's winning tradition is encouraged to contact Coach Ryan by returning the Questionnaire posted on this web site.

A team meeting at the outdoor pool

  Bald-headed men get all the babes!

All-American Joseph Moore and Coach Ryan at the 1998 NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

T.U. puts 6 finalists in the 200 fly to help
win the Y2K SCAC team title

Trinity Winning the 2001 SCAC Championship in their home town of San Antonio, Texas.

The Trinity Men's 800 Freestyle Relay Team - SCAC Champs!