Under the coaching of Dick Michaels, who begins his 36th and final season as head coach of the men’s swimming program, the men’s squad returns with a solid core of talent in the pool. Seniors Craig Betchart and Thomas Limouze lead the team. Betchart is a two-time All-Conference performer while Limouze is a strong distance swimmer and NCAA championship qualifier. Junior Zack Kaplan-Moss adds depth in the distance events and senior Yorgos Strangas is an individual medley and breaststroke powerhouse.

Five first-year swimmers add their talents to the squad. Scott McInerey has come to Oberlin as the fastest sprint recruit in the program’s history. He also specializes in the butterfly and looks to qualify for the NCAA championship meet. His classmate Mark Muthersbaugh captained his Cleveland Heights swim team and looks to improve in the middle-distance events and backstroke. First-years Kyle Solow and Sean Bernfield step in as top performers in the backstroke and breast-stroke events respectively.

Mark Fino enters his second season as head coach of women’s swimming. He had previously served two seasons as men’s and women’s assistant coach. He has high hopes for the women’s squad this year, as the team is looking to benefit from the addition of eight newcomers. The pair of first-years Marsha Guy and Kir Selert are expected to smash records in their backstroke and freestyle sprint events, respectively. Their classmates Ploy Keener and Erin Straight contribute to the team dynamic as well.

The returners are paced by team captains junior Emily Spence and senior Kim Davis. Spence has proved her strong presence in the freestyle and butterfly sprint events. Davis dominates in the distance events as well as the 200-yard backstroke.

Sophomore record-holders Maura Selenak and Kiri Ulmschneider contribute to the team’s new direction as they return with NCAA championship goals. Selenak specializes in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events while Ulmschneider dominates the 200-yard butterfly, the 400-yard individual medley and distance events.

Anthony D’Angelo enters his third season working with the men’s and women’s diving program. NCAC runner-up sophomore Daniel Timchak looks to continue his domination in the conference. Sophomore Cory Myers showed great improvement over the course of last season and sets his goals high for this season.

The team began their season Sept. 30 when the Yeo-squad hosted The Oberlin Pentathlon. The women’s squad shattered the history books when they won their dual meet against Baldwin-Wallace College, the first dual meet won on the women’s side in five years. Look for amazing performances throughout the season from this newly developing team. They return to the pool Dec. 1 for the Wooster Invitational Meet.

Men’s

This year’s Oberlin men’s basketball team is optimistic as they begin the 2005-2006 season. Three starters join seven first-years as the Yeomen embark on their quest for the conference championship.

Frank Dobbs returns as the men’s coach and leads the team along with junior captain Quinton Spencer. In addition to his honor as the NCAC top newcomer for the 2004-2005 season, Spencer led the NCAC scoring at 20.6 points per game. He also finished third in the conference in rebounding, first in offensive rebounds, first in minutes played and fourth in steals.

Sophomore Jordan Beard, who sat out the first half of last season with an injured knee, looks to return full-force. Despite his limiting knee ability last season, he averaged 10.3 points per game and ranked among the conference’s top leaders.

Fellow sophomore Matthew Godwin will play guard position and looks to dominate with his infamous three-point shots again this year.

The first-years look to cover each of the five positions on the court. Brad Spelich, a 6’7” center, will tower over the court with his classmate D. J. Maynard. Michael Loll, who was named to the All-Conference first team in football and basketball his senior year of high school, will add his talent to the team.

With the addition of so many first-years, Dobbs and his assistants, Isaiah Cavaco and Frank Gioffre, are raising the bar for team performance this year. With a hard pair of conference wins last season over Hiram and Allegheny, the Yeomen hope to qualify for the 2006 NCAC playoffs this season.

The Yeomen open their season with a tournament at Vassar on Nov. 18 and 19.

Women’s

The Yeowomen are looking to build upon their significant achievements last year. For one, the Yeowomen won double-digit regular season games for the first time since the 2001-2002 season and just the sixth time in Oberlin history.

Another memorable moment occurred when senior guard Cristina Briboneria surpassed 1000 points in her collegiate career and finished third in school history in total points. Classmate Senior backcourt mate Nicole Burford wrapped up her career by making the All-NCAC second team honors and finishing among the conference leaders in scoring and rebounding.

For the 2005-2006 season, the Yeowomen squad, under head coach Christa Champion, look to improve on last season’s performance.

Hopefully, the incoming first-years can ward off the loss of Briboneria and Burford. Talented first-year ballhandlers Alyssa Clark and Kira Rivera met the challenge, as both are likely to lead the squad to several wins with their speed and versatility. Their classmate, fellow first-year player Betsy Leach, joins the pair with her domination as lead guard.

The squad is led by the offensive force of co-captains Jessie Oram and Meg Reitz, who bring solid experience to the team. Oram, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last year, has established herself as one of the premier low-post scorers in the conference. Reitz looks to continue her improvement on the court, as she was named the team’s Most Improved Player last year. She averaged 6.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while totaling 36 steals. Reitz, who was named All-Conference in field hockey and lacrosse, brings her outstanding athletic abilities to the court.

Sophomore Valerie Cain and first-year Maggie Casey add depth to the frontcourt with their agility and ball-handling skills.

Sophomore guard Laura Kanter will be joined by first-years Amanda Van Allen and Caitlin Donnelly in the backcourt.

The Yeowomen open their season Nov. 19 and 20 with a tournament at Babson College.

Men’s

The Oberlin men’s track and field squad returns with some big names from last season. Sophomore sprinter Anthony Osei, junior sprinter Edo Bedzra and senior thrower Shean Perry contributed to the bulk of the Yeomen’s seventh place finish at the conference meet last season. With the addition of seven newcomers, Head Coach Jason Hudson has a positive outlook on this season.

Record-holder Bedzra looks to defend his conference championship in the 55- and 200-meter dashes. First-year Edwin Takahashi adds his talent to the sprint squads. Perry, a school record-holder as well as a pole vaulter, looks to reclaim the conference championship title this season.

Junior Travis Gout joins the indoor track squad from studying abroad in London. Gout, the 2004 NCAC cross country runner-up, specializes in the 3000- and 5000-meter events. Junior Matt Ferris-Smith and senior Daniel Keeney are middle-distance dominators. First-years Corey Squire and Conor Doss should make their marks on the distance events as well.

The Yeomen begin their season with a two-day meet at Kent State University on Dec. 9.

Women’s

Many of the significant point scorers in the Women’s indoor track and field squad graduated, putting pressure on the team to perform up to the expectations of last year’s NCAC meet.

Junior Ariane Burwell leads the team as a steller distance runner. At last year’s conference meet, she scored in both the 5000- and 1500-meter events. Sophomore Alison Doniger adds talent to the squad, along with first-years Aileen Gallagher, a sub-five minute miler, Flannery Cerbin and Madeleine Davis-Hayes.

The sprinters are led by sophomores Lily Krichels and Andrea Canini. Krichels is a defending conference champion in the 4x400-meter relay, while Canini proves her speedwork in the short sprint events.

Sophomore Ilana Garcia- Grossman and Alex Petek team with Krichils, Canini and senior Carmen Welton to form the mile relay.

Welton, a former school record-holder in the 800-meter event, returns after spending last season abroad.

Hudson is looking for the younger athletes to add a spark to the team, hoping to improve the Yeowomen’s sixth-place conference finish last year.

The Yeowomen’s season kicks off Dec. 9 and 10, as they join the men’s squad at Kent State University.