University of Alaska – Fairbanks head coach Scott Lemley has announced his retirement at the end of the 2018-2019 season, which will be his 14th at the helm of the program. He’s currently the longest-tenured head coach in the UAF athletics program.
The school isn’t waiting until his departure to plan for his replacement, though. They’ve begun a national search for his replacement, who will spend the 2018-2019 season working alongside Lemley before taking over full-time in 2019-2020.
Alaska-Fairbanks finished 10th out of 13 teams at the 2018 Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships this year. The team graduates only two members of its conference championship squad: Kate Mathews, who was 7th in the 400 IM and 5th in the 200 fly while scoring 64 individual points; and Katie Stark, who had a best finish of 10th in the 100 free.
Alaska-Fairbanks was a perennial NCAA-scoring team through the 2014-2015 season, but served a post-season ban in the 2015-2016 season for “lack of institutional control.” The ban was originally to be served in the 2014-2015 season, but an appeal ran into the next year, with the ban being upheld by the NCAA. They haven’t qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 2 years since that ban.
