Rising sophomore Abby Blinka will be counted on to lead the way in the breaststroke events.

The College of Wooster women's swimming and diving team made big strides last season with a fourth-place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, one of Div. III's preeminent meets, and surpassed the 1000-point plateau for the first time in over a decade.

Now, the Fighting Scots will look to blend a balanced core of returnees with a relatively freestyle-heavy first-year class that comprises over one-third (10-of-28 student-athletes) of the roster to remain in the top-five of the conference.

"We had great balance last year," said head coach Rob Harrington, who heads into the dual-meet portion of this season with 100 career wins on the women's side. "The class we just graduated was not only a very talented class, but it covered quite a few events. We graduated two talented breaststrokers, two very talented multi-stroke swimmers, and a distance freestyler. It's going to be tough to replace that class, especially since we brought it a relatively freestyle specific first-year class. We do have some people who will replace what we lost."

Wooster also features a balanced core of returnees, and the butterfly specialists could potentially lead the way as junior Maggie Layde and sophomore Kalla Sturonas earned spots in the prestigious championship heats of the conference meet this past winter with Layde taking fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:08.22) and Sturonas placing eighth in the 100 butterfly (58.49).

"Maggie has more potential and this could be a big year for her, while Kalla turned in personal bests in all of her events and could break into the top heats again this year at the NCAC meet," added Harrington.

Backing the butterfly specialists up are sophomore Morgan Day and senior Theresa Spadola in the diving well, and both have diving regional potential. In fact, Day qualified for the regional meet last season with a pair of qualifying scores, and Spadola was less than five points away from a regional standard in a dual meet.

"Our divers don't get enough credit," commented Harrington. "We rely on them heavily especially in dual meets. They are a very talented duo who can be a major threat come conference championship time."

Wooster's freestyle-heavy roster features contributors both in the sprint and distance events, and a strong senior class to help mold the program.

In the sprints, the Scots will lean on the veteran experience of senior Jamie Hibbs who Harrington notes, "has the ability to be very impressive in individual events or relays," and in fact, anchored the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay at the conference meet. Other veterans backing Hibbs up in the sprint freestyle races are classmates Gretchen Kallmeyer and Lissy de la Chapelle, junior Caroline Click, and sophomore Annabelle Hopkins

Senior Anna McGlade, described by Harrington as "the core to the freestyle success," leads the returnees in the distance events. The versatile swimmer has a top-10 time in the program annals in nearly every individual freestyle event. In fact, McGlade holds the program record in the 200 freestyle (1:53.21).

Additionally, rising sophomores Emma Fikse and Sarah Padrutt provide two big-time contributors in the mid-to-distance free events. Fikse delivered a trio of breakthrough times at the midseason Wooster Invitational, while Padrutt came on strong at the end of the season with a 10th-place finish (18:18.67) in the grueling 1650 freestyle at NCACs.

Seniors Theresa Dunne and Margaret Goldsmith and junior Samantha Wigley round out the returnees among thee freestyle specialists, and all three add valuable depth to the group.

The breaststroke, which was perhaps one of Wooster's deepest strokes last year, will be one to keep an eye on during the 2016-17 season. Sophomore Abby Blinka projects to spend more time in the those events according to Harrington, while classmates Allison Clough and Rachel Mandel project to carry a bigger load in the breaststroke and individual medley events.

A talented 10-swimmer first-year class comprised of Caleigh Balon, Mady Ferguson, Sara Fikse, Megan Gross, Vienna Howard, Alison Hsu, Nell Kacmarek, Avery Pearson, Sarah Stutler, and Audrey VanderVelde complements the returnees.

"This team enters the year in a wait-and-see model," summed up Harrington. "It'll take us time to figure everything out. (Once we do), we'll be a formidable team within the conference."