Sports > Schools
Pooling their talents: Wildcats sign together
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
Entering this season, continuity was one of the sticking points on the Plano Senior swim team.
This especially rang true on the girls squad and that kind of cohesion couldn’t have been more evident Wednesday morning.
As is customary for any National Signing Day at Plano, all students sign their National Letters of Intent in front of the giant Wildcat mural on the wall in the athletics corridor. Nine athletes partook in the aforementioned festivities on Wednesday, with five Wildcat swimmers making their collegiate commitments official.
“It’s great and you feel really good for them,” said Philip Wiggins, Plano head coach. “They’ve worked hard for four years, but really they’ve been working for longer than that. I know it was really stressful for them to make these decisions, but they’ve all chosen great schools that are good fits for their swimming strengths and personalities.”
It was the proverbial sea of maroon and white on Wednesday; one dominated by Plano swimmers. Amid those committing were four longtime cogs in the Plano girls swim team, whose post-high school swimming careers will continue at four different schools in four different states.
Traveling the furthest from Texas is senior Shirley Wang, who will be swimming at Yale next fall.
Weighing her decision between Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Duke, Wang was initially caught off-guard when receiving a phone call from the Bulldogs.
“I got a call from Yale, which I was very surprised about,” she said, “because I had sent in a questionnaire earlier, but hadn’t heard anything back. It was because they had switched coaches, though, and were still hashing out the details.”
That transition meant bringing in head coach Christina Teuscher, a decorated swimmer who holds a gold medal on the 800-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Olympics and a bronze medal in the 200 individual medley at the 2000 Olympics.
The opportunity to swim under Teuscher, coupled with a comforting campus atmosphere, was all the prospective business major needed. The rest was simply going on instinct.
“I had that feeling,” Wang said. “A lot of people talk about that feeling where you go somewhere and you think you could imagine yourself there.”
That feeling didn’t take form for senior Deanna Marks until this past weekend, though.
Committing to swim for Kansas, Marks had her final trip to Lawrence over the weekend and finalized her decision on Tuesday.
“I had a trip planned at the beginning of the year and a trip planned near the end of the year with Kansas,” Marks said. “I planned all my recruiting trips, so I wouldn’t be exhausted by taking them all at the same time.”
Exploring the likes of Purdue, Dartmouth and Rice, the civil engineering major accredited the Jayhawks’ coaching staff as a strong selling point in her decision.
That and the chance to swim against some of the nation’s top competition.
“I always wanted to go somewhere that felt like home,” Marks said. “I just felt that feeling with Kansas … I’m excited to race some of the biggest fish in the pool, so to speak.”
A strong engineering program was also a sticking point for senior Marissa Konicke, whose commitment to Rice fit the bill on a number of fronts.
A school based in the south: check, as Konicke said she had spent eight years in Alaska.
A school with strong academics: check.
A Division I school: check.
Weighing her options between Rice, Missouri, New Mexico State and SMU, the Owls represented the best mix of the three.
“The one thing that stuck out about Rice was their amazing engineering program,” Konicke said. “I want to go into engineering and they’re very exceptional. They’re ranked really high and they’ve also got a brand new pool, which was also really amazing. It was a very exceptional school.”
Konicke will enjoy a bit of a sibling rivalry in making her commitment, as her sister, Genny, currently swims for SMU. With the Mustangs and Owls both in the Conference USA, clashing with each other in a dual meet isn’t out of the question.
“There has always been a sibling rivalry,” the younger Konicke said. “But she’s definitely better than me … We’ve always tried to beat each other in everything, but we’re still nice to each other and don’t fight about it or anything. It’s a fun rivalry.”
While the connections between the Konicke sisters will have them jousting at opposing ends of the pool, it was the advice of UNLV alumnus and Plano assistant coach Brandon Nelms that opened the door for senior Natalie Sanchez’s eventual commitment.
It took two trips to the campus to sell Sanchez for good, as UNLV edged Drexel, Miami and San Diego State. Hoping to parlay a major in criminal justice into a stint with the FBI, Sanchez’s quick-trigger swimming style fits UNLV to a T.
“I’m a sprinter and I really liked their sprint program and their coaching staff,” she said. “Their team is amazing and it’s just like one giant family.”
The lone swimmer from the Wildcats’ boys squad to sign Wednesday was senior Seth Russell, who pledged to BYU.
Admitting that a lot went into the decision, Russell took a recruiting trip in October and needed roughly a week-and-a-half afterward to make up his mind.
“All the guys were really nice and they took care of me,” Russell said. “There was just this feeling where I felt like going [to BYU], I was going to get taken care of for the next four years.”
BYU got the nod over Air Force for Russell, who plans on majoring in business.
And with the decision in his rearview mirror, Russell’s eyes are focused on another strong finish with Plano; namely, a victorious run through the state meet.
“Of course, I’d love to go to state and make a mark there,” he said. “But I also just want to continue to improve and take the team with me.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by the Lady Wildcats, as all four athletes swam for Plano’s second-place 200 freestyle relay team. Not only are the girls eyeing to one-up that achievement as individuals, but take last season’s fourth-place team finish one step further.
“We want to win state this year and that’s a really big goal for our team,” Marks said. “Our four girls who signed today are leaving next year, so we want to get this done.”
That opportunity will come, but Wednesday was a time devoted to the culmination of four years of achievements and accolades.
And it was done so alongside not just an onlooking group of applauding supporters, but alongside each other.
“I remember during my freshman year when my sister signed with all her teammates,” Konicke said. “Looking back on it, that’s me right now. I love these girls and it’s going to be sad to leave them because we have such an amazing connection.
“We’ve been together since freshman year and while it’s a little sad, it’s also really exciting.”
This especially rang true on the girls squad and that kind of cohesion couldn’t have been more evident Wednesday morning.
As is customary for any National Signing Day at Plano, all students sign their National Letters of Intent in front of the giant Wildcat mural on the wall in the athletics corridor. Nine athletes partook in the aforementioned festivities on Wednesday, with five Wildcat swimmers making their collegiate commitments official.
“It’s great and you feel really good for them,” said Philip Wiggins, Plano head coach. “They’ve worked hard for four years, but really they’ve been working for longer than that. I know it was really stressful for them to make these decisions, but they’ve all chosen great schools that are good fits for their swimming strengths and personalities.”
It was the proverbial sea of maroon and white on Wednesday; one dominated by Plano swimmers. Amid those committing were four longtime cogs in the Plano girls swim team, whose post-high school swimming careers will continue at four different schools in four different states.
Traveling the furthest from Texas is senior Shirley Wang, who will be swimming at Yale next fall.
Weighing her decision between Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Duke, Wang was initially caught off-guard when receiving a phone call from the Bulldogs.
“I got a call from Yale, which I was very surprised about,” she said, “because I had sent in a questionnaire earlier, but hadn’t heard anything back. It was because they had switched coaches, though, and were still hashing out the details.”
That transition meant bringing in head coach Christina Teuscher, a decorated swimmer who holds a gold medal on the 800-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Olympics and a bronze medal in the 200 individual medley at the 2000 Olympics.
The opportunity to swim under Teuscher, coupled with a comforting campus atmosphere, was all the prospective business major needed. The rest was simply going on instinct.
“I had that feeling,” Wang said. “A lot of people talk about that feeling where you go somewhere and you think you could imagine yourself there.”
That feeling didn’t take form for senior Deanna Marks until this past weekend, though.
Committing to swim for Kansas, Marks had her final trip to Lawrence over the weekend and finalized her decision on Tuesday.
“I had a trip planned at the beginning of the year and a trip planned near the end of the year with Kansas,” Marks said. “I planned all my recruiting trips, so I wouldn’t be exhausted by taking them all at the same time.”
Exploring the likes of Purdue, Dartmouth and Rice, the civil engineering major accredited the Jayhawks’ coaching staff as a strong selling point in her decision.
That and the chance to swim against some of the nation’s top competition.
“I always wanted to go somewhere that felt like home,” Marks said. “I just felt that feeling with Kansas … I’m excited to race some of the biggest fish in the pool, so to speak.”
A strong engineering program was also a sticking point for senior Marissa Konicke, whose commitment to Rice fit the bill on a number of fronts.
A school based in the south: check, as Konicke said she had spent eight years in Alaska.
A school with strong academics: check.
A Division I school: check.
Weighing her options between Rice, Missouri, New Mexico State and SMU, the Owls represented the best mix of the three.
“The one thing that stuck out about Rice was their amazing engineering program,” Konicke said. “I want to go into engineering and they’re very exceptional. They’re ranked really high and they’ve also got a brand new pool, which was also really amazing. It was a very exceptional school.”
Konicke will enjoy a bit of a sibling rivalry in making her commitment, as her sister, Genny, currently swims for SMU. With the Mustangs and Owls both in the Conference USA, clashing with each other in a dual meet isn’t out of the question.
“There has always been a sibling rivalry,” the younger Konicke said. “But she’s definitely better than me … We’ve always tried to beat each other in everything, but we’re still nice to each other and don’t fight about it or anything. It’s a fun rivalry.”
While the connections between the Konicke sisters will have them jousting at opposing ends of the pool, it was the advice of UNLV alumnus and Plano assistant coach Brandon Nelms that opened the door for senior Natalie Sanchez’s eventual commitment.
It took two trips to the campus to sell Sanchez for good, as UNLV edged Drexel, Miami and San Diego State. Hoping to parlay a major in criminal justice into a stint with the FBI, Sanchez’s quick-trigger swimming style fits UNLV to a T.
“I’m a sprinter and I really liked their sprint program and their coaching staff,” she said. “Their team is amazing and it’s just like one giant family.”
The lone swimmer from the Wildcats’ boys squad to sign Wednesday was senior Seth Russell, who pledged to BYU.
Admitting that a lot went into the decision, Russell took a recruiting trip in October and needed roughly a week-and-a-half afterward to make up his mind.
“All the guys were really nice and they took care of me,” Russell said. “There was just this feeling where I felt like going [to BYU], I was going to get taken care of for the next four years.”
BYU got the nod over Air Force for Russell, who plans on majoring in business.
And with the decision in his rearview mirror, Russell’s eyes are focused on another strong finish with Plano; namely, a victorious run through the state meet.
“Of course, I’d love to go to state and make a mark there,” he said. “But I also just want to continue to improve and take the team with me.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by the Lady Wildcats, as all four athletes swam for Plano’s second-place 200 freestyle relay team. Not only are the girls eyeing to one-up that achievement as individuals, but take last season’s fourth-place team finish one step further.
“We want to win state this year and that’s a really big goal for our team,” Marks said. “Our four girls who signed today are leaving next year, so we want to get this done.”
That opportunity will come, but Wednesday was a time devoted to the culmination of four years of achievements and accolades.
And it was done so alongside not just an onlooking group of applauding supporters, but alongside each other.
“I remember during my freshman year when my sister signed with all her teammates,” Konicke said. “Looking back on it, that’s me right now. I love these girls and it’s going to be sad to leave them because we have such an amazing connection.
“We’ve been together since freshman year and while it’s a little sad, it’s also really exciting.”
Copyright © 2013 - Star Local News