Coaches: Head Coach Kristie Winter (3 years)
2016 Record: Winless
2016 Post Season: Trinity Kanitz finished 4th in the 200IM and 11th in the 500 free at sectionals. No state qualifiers.
Key Returners: Trinity Kanitz (Soph.)- set new team records in the 200 IM and 500 Free events last year; Katy Ball (Junior)- Junior Captain and team leader, good all-around swimmer; Kaytlin Woller (Junior)- Kaytlin has been working hard in the off season and is a strong freestyler for the team; Stevie Booher (Senior)- Senior Captain, brings experience and depth to many events.
Key Losses: 2017 graduates Rachel Hoeppner, Alexis Kanitz, Caitlyn Kolehouse and Faith Wheat
Key Newcomers: Erin Kanitz – Strong freestyler in all distances, expected to swim a wide variety of events this season; Camryn Schulz – Solid butter flyer and will fill a gap that the team desperately needs to fill; Katie Myszka – All-around swimmer expected to focus on her breast stroke this season filling the spots of lost seniors Rachel Hoeppner and Alexis Kanitz.
Coach Winter Quotable: “2016 was a working year for the team. Our girls worked hard, kept their spirits high and learned to have fun in the pool. This paid off. While we did not win any meets, the entire team saw improvement individually throughout the season. We also had out highest scoring conference meet in at least 15 years and two new team records set.
“We lost four seniors but are gaining three incoming freshmen in 2017, all of whom have swim experience. We are continuing to build the team and are poised to be much deeper in depth this year then we have in years past. And with 12 diversified and experienced swimmers we will be able to cover the entire lineup which is a huge step in the right direction.
“Merrill swimming is growing and we are continuing to build our program year by year. The addition of the PRMS team three years ago is already helping the high school team. Swimmers from the PRMS team continue to add the depth and numbers we so desperately need to be able to cover all the events and relays. Merrill has a great group of kids who work hard in and out of the pool, almost the entire team is on the MHS honor roll. They stay positive and support each other even when the odds are stacked against them. Those odds are beginning to change, as both the PRMS team and High School team continue to grow and mature the sky is the limit for what we can achieve together.”