April 19, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Entering the 2005-06 season, head coach Jimmy Tierney stressed the success of the individual as being key to his small squad's overall accomplishments. Several Wildcats stepped up to fill that role, including one who earned a first in program history.
Chelsea Davis (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) notched numerous wins in both 1-meter and 3-meter competitions throughout the year on her way to becoming the first female diver in Northwestern history to qualify for the NCAA championships and earn All-America recognition. Her 14th-place finish on the 1-meter board made her Northwestern's first diver--male or female--to become an All-American since Ronnie Trumble in 1944.
For the second-consecutive season, Northwestern earned a pair of All-America honors at the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Andrea Hupman (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) joined Davis at the NCAA Championships and earned All-America honorable mention accolades in the 100 free. She also turned in an `A' standard time of 49.24 on her way to a second-place finish in that event during the Big Ten Championships--one of two second-place finishes at the conference meet. She also was second in the 200 free.
Freshman Hayley Fry (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) wasted no time making her mark in the Big Ten, grabbing All-Big Ten honors with a second-place finish in the 100 breast.
On Feb. 17 at the Big Ten Championships, Davis returned to her hometown and put on a show. She won Northwestern's first diving championship, putting the team in seventh place for the moment. They ended the meet in eighth, and Davis shone against the Big Ten elite--including some of the best divers in the nation.
It was a positive for the team and the program as a whole for Davis to have such individual success, and other Wildcats' also turned in phenomenal results in 2005-06.
Most notably, on Jan. 27 during Senior Night against Iowa, Northwestern's seniors dominated. The team took 14-of-16 competitions en route to a 186-108 win. It was a night when the seniors shone. Kate Paglini (Chicago, Ill./Latin School) won two individual competitions and one relay. Her classmate Amy Mueller (Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough) won the 1000 free and Sara Petric (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) finished second in the 200 free behind Hupman.
Northwestern started the dual-meet season the same way it ended.
On Oct. 21, the Wildcats dominated UW-Milwaukee, winning 158-81 on the road by taking 12-of-13 events. Hupman won two individual events, the 200 and 500 freestyle, and Mueller won the 100 freestyle in dominating fashion. In a year when youth would prove valuable for the team, two freshmen won their first collegiate races: Fry in the 200 breast and Rotem Peled (Maccabim, Israel/Maccabim Reut) in the 200 fly.
With their small numbers making it a tall task to win every some dual meets, the 'Cats still turned in some fantastic individual efforts. The team ran into No. 11 Wisconsin on Nov.10, falling 148-75, but Davis broke the 1-meter pool record by 22 points and shattered the 3-meter record by 92 points en route to victory in that event.
The effort earned Davis the first of her three Big Ten Diver of the Week honors for the year. The freshman would break both school records on the 1- and 3-meter boards during the year, but she was not the only Wildcat diving record-breaker.
Junior Leanne Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Buena) shattered the school record on the 1-meter board with a score of 271.65 at the UIC Diving Invitational on Oct. 23.
Davis and others continued their top performances in a close loss to Indiana on Dec. 2. She swept the diving competitions while Hupman won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Paglini and sophomore Katie Braun (Edina, Minn./Edina), along with Davis, won multiple events at the meet.
Northwestern had a great time in south Florida during their annual holiday training trip, beating Miami (Fla.) 108-54 and N.C. State 108-66 in Coral Gables, Fla., on Dec. 16.
Tough losses at No. 16 Tennessee, where Braun and Hupman each won three events, and at No. 15 Michigan, where Fry swept the breaststroke events and Braun beat the field by more than six seconds in the 200 fly, displayed the Wildcats' youthful promise.
At the team's banquet held Sunday night, April 16, Fry and sophomore diver Beth Campbell (Burr Ridge, Ill./Fenwick) were named the team's Most Improved award recipients for 2005-06. Hupman earned Most Valuable honors, while Petric took home the Kathie Wickstrand Spirit Award.
Northwestern's senior class of Mueller, Michelle Oeser (Eliot, Maine/Marshwood), Paglini and Petric leave the program poised on the brink of a return to prominence in the Big Ten. The Wildcats achieved the individual success Tierney sought for 2005-06, and now have the building blocks to become a true team power.