2008 Winter Preview: Swimming

By Paul Frommelt

Prince William Content Manager

Click the
“Photos” and “Videos” links above to view pictures and highlights from
a preseason practice of the Forest Park swim team.

Q&A With Forest Park Head Coach Lindsey Brauzer
[Second-year Forest Park head coach Lindsey Brauzer had a very successful season with the Bruins last year, helping lead the boys to a surprising Cardinal District title and the girls to a third-place finish. This season, the Bruins had to actually hold tryouts in order to get the team down to a manageable 60 kids.]

Let’s talk about how big this team is…
We had about 80-90 kids try out for the team. A lot of these kids are freshman coming in off of summer teams, year-round teams. We just wanted to give them a shot and show them what a real competitive meet looks like. You have to bring them in as freshmen and build them up so they will be.

The boys had a breakthrough year last year and they was your first year as a head coach here as well. Talk about the excitement of that — seeing the boys be able to get a district title.
That was awesome. I coached with Freedom High School for three years prior to coming to Forest Park with a team of 15 kids at the most. We were begging kids to be part of the team. Coming to a team where they already have that established is awesome. Watching those boys great and do their best was really cool.

[Brauzer has also brought together an impressive group of assistant coaches to her staff, including former Hylton and Forest Park head coaches Kim Sterling and Joe Callahan.]

Talk a little about your coaching staff this year.
Kim Sterling is coming back from last year. She and Joe Callahan — a new coach for us this year — used to head coach Hylton. They are coming back into swimming now. They brought back a former swimmer from Hylton, Jesse Way. We are all working so well together…. We are really excited to have them back this year. Some of the kids know them when they coached their older siblings. They’ve already establish a rapport with the kids. It awesome to have really great coaches working with the team because you can’t go wrong.

[Brauzer is excited about her young team this year out of 60 kids, 22 are first-year swimmers for the Bruins. “We have about 10 new freshmen girls on our team this year who are going to just shine during the regular season and I don’t think they should be overlooked,” she said.]

Let’s talk about some of your studs, some of your big swimmers.
Briana [Murphy] had a really great year last year. Just missed going to states. That was a bummer for her. Starting there as a freshman, though, is phenomenal to begin with. She has been working real hard in the offseason to get those times down. She knows what she is up against now. Her and [freshman Shannon Harper] are actually best friends and they swim for two different year-round teams. They are just powerhouses in the water. It is nice to have versitile swimmers like that. Overall, looking at what we are seeing in the county, these girls are going to give those kids a run for their money.

Anything else that you wanted to touch on?
I am just really looking forward to seeing the results in the pool this year. I have an awesome coaching staff and my athletic director [Jerry Mobley] has been amazing. He’s not a swimmer, but I’m making him one. He has been very supportive of us and what we do here with the kids. It is just a very tight-knit group and we are looking to kick some **** this year.

2007-2008 Prince William Key Losses:
Boys — Philip LaRosa, Osbourn (4th AAA 200 IM, 5th AAA 500 Freestyle, 4th AAA
200 Freestyle Relay); Edward Tremols, Battlefield; Andrew Martin,
Battlefield; Brian Regan, Osbourn (4th AAA 200 Freestyle Relay); Robert
Duggleby, Battlefield; Matt Penning, Woodbridge; Ryan Kim, Forest Park; Casey Murdock, Forest Park; Michael Mabeus, Forest Park. Girls — Caitlyn Harrison, Osbourn Park (4th AAA 400 Freestyle Relay); Kelly
Fini, Stonewall Jackson; Kali Gaskill, C.D. Hylton (6th AAA 100 Freestyle);
Kasey Bushmire, C.D. Hylton.

2008-2009 Prince William Key Returners:
Boys —
Jake Stronko, Osbourn Park, Sr. (7th AAA 200 Freestyle); Conor
Campbell, Osbourn, Jr.; Kenny Heidel, Battlefield, Sr.; Nick Tremols,
Battlefield, Jr.; Tyler Perez, Osbourn, Jr.; Steven Blakley, Osbourn
Park, Soph.; Devin Jansen, Osbourn, Sr. (6th AAA 100 Freestyle, 4th AAA
200 Freestyle Relay); Eric Sargent, Osbourn Park, Sr.; John Prescott,
Woodbridge, Jr.; Chase Wittenauer, Osbourn, Sr. (4th AAA 200 Freestyle
Relay); James Crabb, Osbourn Park, Soph.; Matt Cecilio, Freedom, Sr.; Alex Gonzales, Freedom, Soph. Daniel Francis, Woodbridge,
Jr.; Kevin Lee, Battlefield, Soph. Girls —
Haley Nowak, Osbourn, Jr.; Casie Boyle, Osbourn, Soph. (4th AAA 200
IM); Carmen Young, Osbourn Park, Soph. (6th AAA 200 Freestyle Relay);
Carly Tanner, Osbourn Park, Sr. (6th AAA 200 Freestyle Relay); Mandy
Vincent, Gar-Field, Jr. (6th AAA 100 Butterfly, 6th AAA 500 Freestyle);
Gabrielle Mizerak, Osbourn Park, Sr. (4th AAA 400 Freestyle Relay);
Dana Kalnins, Osbourn, Sr.; Melissa Ferrone, Osbourn Park, Jr. (4th AAA
400 Freestyle Relay); Rachel Lund, Osbourn Park, Jr. (6th AAA 200
Freestyle Relay, 4th AAA 400 Freestyle Relay); Megan Lisbon,
Woodbridge, Jr.; Alicia Cheripka, C.D. Hylton, Soph.; April Livingston,
C.D. Hylton, Jr.; Briana Murphy, Forest Park, Soph.; Shannon Harper, Forest Park, Fr.; Melanie Erickson, Freedom, Jr.; Samantha Neuhaus, Freedom, Sr.

2007-2008 Northwest Region Swim Team Results
Girls — 1. Osbourn Park, 308; 2. Patrick Henry, 201; 3. C.D. Hylton, 193; 4. North Stafford, 179; 5. Osbourn, 167; 6. Albemarle, 159; 7. Brooke Point, 110; 8. E.C. Glass, 107; 9. Woodbridge, 96; 10; Gar-Field, 94; 11. Riverbend, 81; 12. Stafford, 76; 13. Massaponax, 75; 14. Colonial Forge, 72; 15. Liberty, 60; 16. Mountain View, 54; 17. Fauquier, 47; 18. Stonewall Jackson, 40; 19. Forest Park, 25; 20. Franklin County, 19; 21. Battlefield, 6; 22. Loudoun Valley, 1. Boys — 1. Albemarle, 331; 2. Osbourn, 297; 3. Battlefield, 252.5; 4. Osbourn Park, 238; 5. Liberty, 134.5; 6. Patrick Henry, 120; 7. Brooke Point, 85; 8. E.C. Glass, 80; 9. Massaponax, 79; 10. Woodbridge, 78; 11. Mountain View, 70; 12. Riverbend, 68; 13. Forest Park, 52; 14. Stafford, 48; 15. North Stafford, 42; 15. Culpeper County, 42; 17. Potomac, 40; 18. Franklin County, 37; 19. Fauquier, 32; 20. Colonial Forge, 27; 21. C.D. Hylton, 13; 22. Loudoun Valley, 4.