BOISE, Idaho – Boise State swimming and diving head coach Jeremy Kipp announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent Wednesday.
The Bronco signing class of 2015, which will join the program for the 2016-17 academic year includes swimmers Emmie Jennings (Chugiak, Alaska/Chugiak HS), Jamie Nats (Highland Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista HS), Robin Pinger (Portland, Ore./West Linn HS), Ally Schultz (Santa Clarita, Calif./William S. Hart HS) and Georgia Zacest (Auckland, N.Z./St. Cuthbert’s College) along with divers Taylor Hosein (Ypsilanti, Mich./Milan HS) and Casey McCord (Reno, Nev./Robert McQueen HS).
“I am very proud of the class that my coaching staff and women’s team have put together. With a coaching change happening in early September we were a bit anxious about being able to replace a talented outgoing senior class, but the Boise State program’s reputation and success led to the signing of an outstanding class,” said Boise State head coach Jeremy Kipp. “Each one of the women recognized that Boise offers a unique and personal academic experience on par with many of the best universities in the country. Perhaps the most unique thing about this class is that between the seven young women, they are choosing to study six different areas of concentration. All seven women recognized that Boise State is one of the few major universities still experiencing rapid growth and as our reputation grows nationally and internationally so will the value of their degree. From the swimming perspective each one of the girls is going to fill a need in the program and will have a chance to impact our team’s performance as a freshman. All seven are committed to keeping Boise at the top of the Mountain West.
“I was also impressed with each of these young woman,” Kipp continued. “These young ladies valued our team’s camaraderie and joy for swimming above all else in the recruiting process and to that I am proud that they have chosen to be a part of our team. We also bring in seven girls from six different states and one country, which is going to help make our team incredibly diverse and eclectic.”
Jennings, a freestyle sprint specialist, follows the footsteps of fellow Alaskans Sam Wicks and Dakota Isaak in coming to Boise State. She is the defending 50 and 100 free state champion and for her career has won six individual state titles swimming for Chugiak High School. Jennings, who was also part of Chugiak’s state title-winning 200 free relay, was named Girls’ Swimmer of the Year following last week’s state meet.
She swims for KNIK Aquatics in Anchorage, and in August was named to the 2014-15 USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team.
“Emmie is coming off of two individual state titles in Alaska and her signing continues our success in attracting swimmers from the Kodiak,” Kipp said. “Emmie has not had a great deal of experience in weight training and sprint development, but we expect her to really flourish in our program here at Boise State.”
Nats, out of Mountain Vista High School and Highlands Ranch Aquatics in Colorado, owns three school records and most recently helped the Mountain Vista 200 medley relay and 400 free relay to sixth and seventh-place finishes, respectively, at the 2015 state meet.
Each relay set a new school standard, while her time of 52.53 in the 100 free at the state meet set the Mountain Vista record. At the same meet, Nats finished 13th in the 100 free and 15th in the 200 free.
“Jamie is just discovering her talents as a middle-distance swimmer and swims for two great coaches in Eric and Jackie Fehr,” Kipp noted. “Jamie is a disciplined trainer and just starting to tap into her potential as an elite swimmer.”
Pinger, out of West Linn High School outside of Portland, is the reigning Oregon state record holder in the 100 breast, having won the 2015 6A state title in 1:02.32. It was the first of Pinger’s two state titles at the 2015 meet, as she was also part of West Linn’s title-winning 200 medley relay for the third year in a row. In 2014, Pinger, besides being on the victorious 200 medley relay team, recorded runner-up finishes in the 100 breast and 200 free relay along with a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay. As a freshman, she was part of the aforemention 200 medley relay champions as well as the 200 free relay championship foursome, and finished fifth in the 100 free and sixth in the 100 breast.
Competing for Oregon City Swim Team, Pinger finished ninth in the 100 breast at the Speedo Western Section Long Course Senior Championships in July. She went on to compete at the USA Swimming Junior National Championships this past summer, taking 10th in the 100 breast and just missing the 200 breast cut with a 27th-place finish.
“Robin has dual citizenship between the U.S. and Germany, and has a chance to compete at the German Olympic Trials later this spring,” Kipp said. “Robin will bring an international view to swimming and has major international goals for her career. She is the reigning Oregon state champion and knows how to win and compete. She will add immediate depth to our sprint and breaststroke groups.”
Schultz, a middle-to-long distance freestyler out of William S. Hart High School and Canyon Aquatics club, is a three-time Foothill League champion in the 500 free (2013-15). She also captured a league title in the 200 in 2014 before capturing a 400 free relay title in 2015. At the 2015 meet, Schultz also posted runner-up finishes in the 200 free and 200 medley relay.
She went on to finish 10th in the 500 free at the CIF Southern Section meet, and was named to the All-Santa Clarita Valley Team in 2014. At the 2015 CIF Southern Section Division I meet, Schultz finished ninth in the 500 free, 11th in the 200 free, third in the 400 free relay and seventh in the 200 medley relay while being named to the Los Angeles Daily News’ All-Area Team.
“As assistant coach Meghan Hawthorne and myself have been in Southern California for the past few years, we were excited that Ally decided to join us out in Boise,” Kipp said. “Ally fell in love with the natural beauty of our campus and the genuine relationships she was able to develop with our women. Ally swims with one of the most unique coaches in the country in Coley Stickels and is familiar with high-level training and intensity. We are pumped to add her approach to our training group.”
Zacest comes to Boise State all the way from New Zealand, where she at the 2015 New Zealand Open Championships. There, she took 19th in the 200 back and 50 free, 21st in the 100 back and 23rd in the 100 free.
She also captured the senior 50 free and 50 back for St. Cuthbert’s College in 2014, being one of three swimmers to earn the overall senior championship at the meet.
“Georgia marks the first Kiwi in program history and we are so excited to be bringing her aboard from New Zealand,” Kipp commented. “Georgia is graduating from high school in December and will be joining our team in January, but we are going to take our time with her and let her develop as she redshirts the semester. At 6-feet-1 she is built to swim fast and has excellent underwater skills. Our strength coach is chomping at the bit to start developing Georgia’s strength so she can develop into a top-flight sprinter.”
On the boards, Hosein finished a perfect junior season at Milan High School which included league, regional and state titles by being named Monroe County Region Girls Diver of the Year by the Monroe News. At the SMISL Championships, Hosein scored a school-record 464 points, then captured the state title with a score of 449.8.
It was her second-straight state title, as she captured the 2013 crown with a score of 425.60 after finishing fourth as a freshman in 2012.
Hosein finished 10th in 1-meter at the 2015 USA Diving National Preliminary Zone C Championships, following a fourth-place finish in the Girls 16-18 group at the Junior Region 5 Championships. She also finished 13th on 3-meter at the latter meet.
“Taylor comes in as a four-time Michigan High School State qualifier, two-time state champion and one-time state runner-up. She comes from a well-known diving club powerhouse and what comes with that is a lot of technical and dryland training,” said Boise State diving coach Brandon Blaisdell. “Taylor also has plenty of experience on the USA Diving national stage, making multiple top-12 finishes. She loves to compete, has a good attitude and will make an immediate impact on our program here at Bose State.”
McCord, diving for Robert McQueen High School, finished fourth on 1-meter at the 2014 Nevada state championships. She was named to the Sierra Sun Northern All-Region Second Team for her performance.
At the USA Diving Junior Region 10 Championships, McCord finished 29th on 1-meter in the Girls 16-18 age group. A year prior, she took ninth on 3-meter at the Far Western Diving Championships.
“Casey has only been diving a short time but has already shown a lot of progress, placing fourth in her first appearance at the Nevada High School State meet,” Blaisdell noted. “Prior to her start in diving, Casey did gymnastics for 10 years. It takes a very disciplined and motivated athlete to be competitive in gymnastics and Casey seems to apply those same attributes towards her diving.”
Swimming news courtesy of Boise State Swimming & Diving.
