Where did they go?

By: Reach for the Wall Staff

The end of August and beginning of September marks the timeframe for college students (and athletes) to descend upon campuses across the country and either resume their studies or for the class of 2022 to begin their 4-5 year journey. Over the past 9 months or so, SwimSwam tracked all the verbal as well as formal commitments from graduating high school seniors to their new schools. There were 53 PVS swimmers recognized in the list, which we sorted below by the name of College. We know there are more swimmers from PVS that graduated in 2018 who may or may not have chosen to continue swimming and last year PVS identified over 170  athletes. We are only providing the list as collected/maintained by SwimSwam, the broader list of PVS graduates will be worked into a post later in the year. William & Mary benefited most from swimmers in our area with 6 commitments, followed by Virginia Teach and George Mason, each with 4. Other schools with multiple commitments are Air Force(2), Arizona State(2), and Notre Dame(2).

Division Conference College Team Name Home State School (or Club if non-US) USAS Club LSC (ZZ for non-US)
NCAA D1 MWC Air Force W Caroline Wittich VA West Springfield High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 WAC Air Force M Corey Shepard VA Osbourn Park High School OCCS PV
NCAA D1 Pac-12 Arizona State M Jack Edgemond VA South Lakes High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 Pac-12 Arizona State M Noah Desman VA Centreville High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 Patriot Army West Point M Thomas Moore VA Briar Woods High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 SEC Auburn W Emily Hetzer VA Battlefield High School OCCS PV
NCAA D1 Pac-12 Cal W Cassidy Bayer VA West Potomac High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Ivy League Cornell M Ian Mackey MD Winston Churchill High School RMSC PV
NCAA D1 Summit Denver W Livi Schmid VA Robinson Secondary School NCAP PV
NCAA D3 Centennial Dickinson M Cameron McConagha VA Briar Woods High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Atlantic-10 Duquesne W Cassie Holstein VA Briar Woods High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 ACC Florida State M Jackson Lucas VA Louisiana State University transfer SNOW PV
NCAA D2 SSC Florida Tech W Kennedy Nolan MD Sherwood High School RMSC PV
NCAA D1 CCSA Gardner Webb W Hannah Carter VA Woodgrove High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 Atlantic-10 George Mason M Carson Stevens VA Park View High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Atlantic-10 George Mason W Mia McKinley VA Freedom High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Atlantic-10 George Mason W Sophie McKinley VA Freedom High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Atlantic-10 George Mason M Tim McKinley VA Freedom High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Ivy League Harvard W Maddie Heilbrun VA The Madeira School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 B1G Indiana M Brandon Hamblin VA North Stafford High School NCAP PV
NCAA D3 N/A Johns Hopkins M Collin Hughes VA Loudoun County High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 SEC Kentucky W Isabella Gati VA The Madeira School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 Patriot Loyola (MD) W Allison Wade MD Our Lady of Good Counsel High School RMSC PV
NCAA D3 CAC Mary Washington W Sally Burkley VA Homeschooled SNOW PV
NCAA D1 Summit Nebraska-Omaha W Bethany Gatlin VA Briar Woods High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 MWC New Mexico W Lauren Candland VA Battlefield High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 B1G Northwestern W Jasmine Hellmer VA Flint Hill School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 ACC Notre Dame W Madeline LaPorte VA James Madison High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 ACC Notre Dame W Sinead Eksteen VA McLean High School NCAP PV
NCAA D3 UAA NYU M Sanjay Wijesekera MD Winston Churchill High School RMSC PV
NCAA D1 Ivy League Penn W Grace Giddings MD Sherwood High School RMSC PV
NCAA D1 B1G Penn State W Brooke Matthias VA Stone Bridge High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 PCSC Pepperdine W Haley Bergthold VA Woodson High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 ACC Pitt M Luay Hilmi VA Potomac Falls High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 Ivy League Princeton M Jonathan Pollock VA Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology NCAP PV
NCAA D2 PSAC Shippensburg M Andrew Hale VA West Springfield High School MAKO PV
NCAA D1 Big 12 Texas W Holly Jansen VA West Potomac High School PM PV
NCAA D1 CAA Towson W Suzannah Mills MD (doesn’t swim high school) RMSC PV
NCAA D1 AAC Tulane W Olivia French MD Our Lady of Good Counsel High School ASA PV
U Sports CanadaWest UBC M Stuart Pliuskaitis VA Briar Woods High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 America East Vermont W Ashley Shepard VA Oakton High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 ACC Virginia M Casey Storch VA Langley High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 ACC Virginia Tech W Anna Landon VA Falls Church High School AAC PV
NCAA D1 ACC Virginia Tech W Annalee Johnson VA Penn State transfer NCAP PV
NCAA D1 ACC Virginia Tech M Blake Manoff VA Battlefield High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 ACC Virginia Tech M Philip Manoff VA Battlefield High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary W Anna Kenna VA Seton School OCCS PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary W Gabby Zhang VA Rock Ridge High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary M Ian Cobb VA James Madison High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary M Jack Galbraith VA James Madison High School MACH PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary W Missy Cundiff VA Tuscarora High School SNOW PV
NCAA D1 CAA William & Mary M Steven Thalblum VA Stone Bridge High School NCAP PV
NCAA D1 B1G Wisconsin M Eli Fouts MD Quince Orchard High School RMSC PV

For all those in the class of 2019 who are starting their club practices this week, gearing up for the Fall/Winter swim season, the NCAA has published a recruiting guide. This guide outlines when, how often, and the type of contact (phone, in person, electronic) an athlete can have with a prospective college.

Also, Rick Paine from American College Connection provided us this high-level ‘when & what’ of the signing periods and recruiting visits. We hope you find this helpful as you begin to plan the next 4 years of your life as a student and athlete:

Signing periods

Early:

When: November 9-16

What: swimmers can sign a National Letter of Intent which is their binding agreement to attend a particular school. Coaches will provide scholarship papers for the swimmers and their parents to sign. A recruit cannot sign a National Letter of Intent unless there is some form of athletic scholarship. A book scholarship is the minimum.

A recruit must sign the NLI and scholarship papers between the 9th and 16th and has 14 days to get the signed forms back to the coach unless the coach requires them sooner

Dead period:

Coaches are not allowed to meet recruits face to face from 8am Monday November 7 through 8am Friday November 11.

Regular Signing Period:

When: April 12 through August 1

Verbal Commitments:

When: anytime

What: you can give your verbal commitment to attend a school at any time and the coach can give you a verbal commitment for a scholarship offer or a spot on the team at any time.

Verbals are not binding, but rarely do the coaches renege on their scholarship offers. Usually it’s the recruit who backs out. If you give your word to a coach you should honor it.

Pay attention to admission deadlines as they vary from school to school.

Official Visits

When: September 1 of your senior year through August 1 except during a dead period.

What: A visit becomes official if the school pays for anything other than a ticket to an on campus event. If they buy you a hot dog it becomes an official visit. Due to budgetary cutbacks many school don’t have the money to pay for the entire trip and will ask you to pay for your transportation to and from campus. The schools will usually pick up the tab for room and board while you are there.

Your parents may come with you on an official visit and schools are allowed to pay for their room and board while they are there. This depends on a schools recruiting budget.

Limits: recruits are allowed to take official visits to 5 different Division I schools

Tip: don’t assume that a school will pay for everything on an official visit. You need to ask.

Unofficial Visits:

When: anytime except during a dead period (8am Monday November 7 through 8am Friday November 11).

What: unofficial visits are unlimited as long as you pay for everything on your trip. A school can provide tickets to an on-campus event while you are there. You are allowed to spend the night with the team, but you will have to pay the going rate for the dorm room or motel.

Tip: let the coach know well in advance that you are coming to campus

One thought on “Where did they go?

  • Sep 9, 2018 at 8:48 pm
    Permalink

    Left off your list was Maren Oliver, Snow Swimming/John Champe High School in Loudoun County attending UNC-Asheville a D1 program part of CCSA.

    Reply

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