Junior Peter Parisi will go after NCAA qualifying times in both the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke throughout this season.

Having graduated a second-straight strong senior class, College of Wooster head coach Rob Harrington admits that his men's swimming and diving squad faces a challenging 2011-12 as the Fighting Scots will look to steadily develop as the season progresses and peak in February for another top-half finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.

"We hope to get stronger through the first semester, which will allow us to be very competitive in the second semester," simply stated Harrington, who guided Wooster to a fifth-place finish in the preeminent swimming conference in NCAA Div. III last winter.

Headlining the Scots is All-American diver Luke Knezevic. The senior standout was the 2010 NCAC Diver of the Year, then improved his scores on both the one- (465.85) and three-meter (471.80) boards at last season's conference meet, which helped qualify him for the NCAA Div. III Championships for the first time. There, he impressed the judges, posting the fourth-highest mark during the one-meter prelims en route to an eighth-place finish (382.00). Knezevic also took 21st nationally on the three-meter (408.80).

In the pool, Wooster has the makings of another NCAA qualifier in junior Peter Parisi. He possesses the ability to secure a national spot in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke after placing fifth (51.05) and sixth (58.36) in the NCAC in those respective events. Parisi, who also will contribute in the 200 IM, owns the team record in both at 50.99 in 100 fly and 57.58 in 100 breast, the latter being an NCAA "B" cut from 2010-11, and Harrington believes he can go a second faster in both.

Additional top returnees include senior distance specialist Kevin Audet, versatile junior Alex LaJoie, and junior sprinter Imre Namath. LaJoie is very talented, but struggled with shoulder problems, according to Harrington, as he hopes to improve upon 10th- and 13th-place conference finishes in the 400 IM (4:16.00) and 200 backstroke (1:58.29).

Namath and Parisi formed half of the Scots' lone all-conference relay from last year as they helped the 200 freestyle team to third-place (1:25.45), and individually, the former was 13th overall in the 50 free (21.90) while also scoring in both backstroke races. Audet registered points in all three distance free events at NCAC's, highlighted by taking 17th in the 1650 (17:35.74).

Other key veterans include juniors Peter Hause, a butterfly specialist, and Joe Wilch, who swims the backstroke primarily, however, they are both studying abroad this fall. Harrington expects strong contributions upon their return, and he's also looking for sophomore Steven Hardy to make more of an impact in the butterfly and sprint freestyle events following a productive off-season and for freshman Brian Maddock to be  a factor right away, especially in the backstroke.

While the rest of the group may not be able to reach top-16 status individually at NCAC's, Harrington is optimistic there can be several difference makers as Wooster aims for another top-five showing (the Scots have finished fifth-place or better 21 times in the 27-year history of the conference).