Swimming & Diving Announces Five Roster Additions
Jul 6, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
July 6, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - As the Tulane University women's swimming and diving program prepares for its second season back in the pool, the Green Wave added five new faces for the upcoming season in Cari Caprio, Caitlin Cocoran, Shelby Kiser, Mekala Pavlin and Rachel Ranson, head coach Lena Guarriello announced Tuesday.
The quintet joins a Tulane team that enters its second year back in the pool following a three-year layoff caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Aug. 2005. Last season, the Green Wave finished fifth at the 2010 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship, and returns all 18 letterwinners from that team for the upcoming season.
"These incoming freshmen are a great compliment to the returning team," Guarriello said. "We have a solid class that will add depth both athletically and academically to our growing program."
Caprio comes to Tulane with impressive prep credentials which include four straight All-America honors during her time at William Mason High School. During her time with the Comets and head coach Mark Sullivan, Caprio was named Most Improved in as a junior and was tabbed Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
She qualified for the state meet all four years as a prepster, was a member of three relay teams that set school records and finished third in the state in the 200 free relay as a senior. In addition to her time in the pool, Caprio also lettered twice in track and field and once in cross country.
"Cari is an exceptional athlete that will join our middle-distance freestyle group," Guarriello said. "She'll be able to contribute to the team from the 50 free to the 500 free. Cari's background in track and cross country will assist in her transition to the cross-training demands of collegiate swimming and I expect her to be a leader on land as well as in the pool."
A native of Ottowa, Ontario, Canada, Corcoran comes to Tulane following a successful career with the Nepean Kanata Barracudas Swim Team where she competed in the Regional, Provincial, Canadian Junior National and Canadian Senior National levels. Corcoran swam the 100 and 200 breasts, 200 and 400 IMs, 100 fly and 200 free in the Provincials and the 100 and 200 breasts, 200 free, and 200 and 400 IMs at Junior Nationals.
At the Senior Nationals she posted Olympic Trial Cuts in the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events. A 2009 graduate of Sacred Heart High School, Corcoran also competed in the Pan Pac Trials was a finalist at the Junior Nationals and a medalist at the Provincials.
"Caitlin brings a lot of national swimming experience to our team," Guarriello said. "She is a very aggressive trainer and is competitive with some of the top breaststrokers in our conference. Caitlin is also very versatile. We will be able to depend on her to help score points as an IM, freestyle and relay swimmer in both dual meets and invitationals."
Kiser comes to Tulane from L.C. Anderson High School in Austin, Texas, where she swam and ran cross country. A four-year letterwinner for head coach Julie Zamora, Kiser is a five-time all-state honoree and claimed all-region honors 15 times during her prep career and finished fourth in the 2010 5A State Meet in the medley relay.
In addition, she is a two-time Scholastic All-American and was named Female Athlete of the Year at AHS. Away from the pool, Kiser was a member of the National Honor Society and Leadership Council, and helped student mentoring and tutoring at a local elementary school.
"I am very pleased to have Shelby joining us this fall," Guarriello said. "One of our goals recruiting this year was to bring in a couple of breaststrokers to allow Erin Cunningham and Jillian Daleiden to swim outside of the breaststroke events. Shelby will help elevate the level of training in this group and assist the team in becoming more competitive in both breaststroke and IM."
Pavlin comes to New Orleans via New York City where she starred at Riverdale Country School for coach Brian Carver. A four-year letterwinner at the school, Pavlin earned first-team All-Ivy Preparatory School League honors each season. In addition, she won the 200 free and 100 fly as a senior.
"Mekala will join Allie Evans and Kristin Ates in our distance training group," Guarriello said. "She'll be an immediate contributor in practice as well as the distance events at meets. It takes a special kind of swimmer to train for the 1650 free and Mekala is ready for the challenge."
Ranson, meanwhile, signed with the Green Wave out of Satellite High in Satellite Beach, Fla., where she helped the team win the 2006 2A state title and finish second in the state in 2007. A four-year member of the All-Brevard County team and the Brevard Swimmer of the Year as a junior, Ranson capped her prep career by winning the 1A state title in the 100 free with a time of 50.42.
She also finished second in the 100 free as a sophomore and junior, posted All-America times in the 100 and 200 free (1.51.19) as a senior, and garnered All-America consideration in the 50 free as a junior (24.12).
Away from the pool, Ranson was named Scholastic All-America her final two seasons, served as president of the National Honor Society and Junior Class, received multiple Brevard County Student Leadership Awards and AP Scholar titles, and was a member of the Latin Club and Ten Tones elite choral group.
"Rachel's confidence is one of the qualities that first grabbed my attention," Guarriello said. "That confidence will help lead our sprint group to a higher level of training and competition this year. Rachel has some big goals for her freshman season and is ready to meet our conference competion head on this fall."
Players Mentioned
