Courtesy: Frostburg Athletics
FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State swimming team has announced its 2020 signing class that includes 10 men and nine women and the ’20 class will join the Bobcats in the fall semester for FSU’s second year in the Mountain East Conference.
“We are extremely fortunate to welcome the Frostburg Bobcat Class of 2024 to our swimming program,” said head coach Bryan Christiansen. “This is one of the strongest and deepest classes I have ever recruited and they are going to transform this team as we continue our transition from NCAA DIII to DII. It is thrilling and reassuring to see some our gaps left from departing seniors over the last few years filled in a way that I hope can make Bobcats past, present, and future very excited.”
“We are gaining traction in the Mountain East Conference and becoming a team I wouldn’t want to race against,” added Christiansen. “The drive, resiliency, and commitment these young student-athletes have already demonstrated in a time of unexpected crisis, and an extremely unorthodox High School Senior Spring Semester, has blown me away. GO BOBCATS!”
Here is a breakdown of each signee and their projected team impact according to the coaching staff.
Women
Karli Cortright was our first overall signee on Signing Day and she brings a tremendous amount of depth to the team. She will impact our shallow mid-distance, butterfly and in particular our IM groups the most.
Riley Powell comes in as our #1 overall breaststroker and greatly adds to a part of the team that has greatly graduated in the last few years. She also enters as a great IMer.
Riley Petrick adds expertise in backstroke and there will be great competition for the A relay spot this year. She will also be in the mix with sprint free events and can flex up to the 200.
Liz Perry is a huge addition and will fill a large gap in our sprinting roster while bolstering our butterfly unit. She is also capable of filling in for backstroke events. We were hurting for breaststrokers this past season, so we are very fortunate that Cali Kobasiar joined the team, adding some incredible depth in those events. Besides that she leans on the sprint free side.
Maree Dieterich is a great addition to the backstroke crew, but will also find herself helping our sprint and mid-distance free squads and can swim up through the 500.
Jenna Sherlock is a potent force in every event, but will greatly help our mid-distance, IM, and breaststroke needs. She can go up to the mile as well and is a great add to round out our distance team when needed.
Summer Mastandrea is a monumental add and will spend most of her days in the freestyle realm, throwing down squarely in the mid-distance zone, with strong events from the 100 to the 500.
Finally, our most recent signee, Francesca Crevoiserat is a tremendous sprinter and backstroker and will prove herself to be a critical part of this team.
Men
Matthew Rotman was the first signee on Signing Day and was full of Bobcat pride from the moment he stepped foot on campus. He is going to be a huge add in depth to our distance and IM events, which are sorely needed.
Andrew Creelman joins our historically strong butterfly crew and may be able to surge to the top. He will also command sprinting and can easily flex into the IM events.
Jeff Kretschmer is a sprinter out of Bel Air, MD, which has been a great pipeline to Frostburg in recent years. He can flex up to mid-distance and can also fill roles in fly and IM in a pinch.
Justin Geiszler is an outstanding recruit who will rewrite our distance record books, the longer event the better. He can also add depth in breaststroke, fly, and IM events.
Everyone on the team seems to know PJ Emrich, who will come in as our #1 200 breaststroker while also a great flyer and IMer. He may even flex up to distance events with the rest of the mile squad.
Jackson Miller is an incredible add in backstroke, one of our shallower events right now. We will also lean on him in sprints and mid-distance freestyle.
Joe Ienzi is a critical add to our sprint freestyle events as well as rounding out our backstroke and IM crews when needed.
Evan Patterson joins a growing breaststroke squad and we will lean him immediately. He is a pure sprinter that can do the 50 free, but also flex up to the 200 IM.
Justin Beckham is a big add in the breaststroke events which will greatly help a very thin core of the toughest swimming stroke. He can also flex into freestyle and IM events.
Mason Lewis joins on the sprinting side with great efforts in the 50 free and fly events while having the capability to flex into mid-distance and backstroke.
Finally, Noah Loper comes in just shy of team records in the 200 and 500 freestyle, which he will battle out this year with our current reigning MVP, Anthony Giuseppetti. Noah will also be our #1 200 IMer.
The Frostburg men’s and women’s swimming teams finished eighth ad 10th, respectively, at the MEC Championships in mid-February and collected 19 All-MEC honors.