yote notes - edition 13

COMING UP: at NAIA National Championships, Wednesday-Saturday, Oklahoma City, Okla.

LAST WEEK: Idle

LIVE SCORING: The NAIA is expected to have live scoring from the meet available online at http://www.naia.org//SportSelect.dbml?&&DB_OEM_ID=27900&SPID=100501&SPSID=646087.

NATIONALS CALLING COYOTES: The C of I will awake from a three-week layoff for their final competition of the season, the 32nd annual NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships at Oklahoma City Community College Natatorium in Oklahoma City, Okla.  It marks the first time the event has been held in the Sooner State – with diving action beginning on Wednesday and swimming events Thursday through Saturday (preliminaries in the morning, championship heats in the evening.

HISTORY AT NATIONALS: The Coyote men will be looking to finish in the Top-20 for the sixth time, having finished tenth in 2007, 11th in 2006, 12th in 2008, 16th in 2009, and No. 17 in 2010. For the Lady Yotes, they will be looking to finish in the Top-20 for the fourth time – finishing No. 15 in 2007, No. 18 in 2008, and No. 19 in 2010.  C of I swimmers have competed at the NAIA Championships every season since 2006.

TOP TEAMS IN OKLAHOMA CITY: Fresno Pacific will be looking for their third-straight national title on the men’s side in their final trip to the event (the Sunbirds will move to the NCAA Division II next season), with Oklahoma Baptist and Savannah A&D top contenders.  The women’s team race will be a battle between FPU and Concordia-Irvine, as defending champ, Cal Baptist, is no longer an NAIA member.

EVENTS FOR THE YOTES: It will be a jammed-pack three days for the Coyotes, as four athletes will compete in individual events, with the Lady Yotes racing in five relays and the Coyotes in four.  Chrissie Younggren (La Grande, Ore. / La Grande HS) will be the lone women’s individual, racing the 400-IM and 1,650-free events in her third trip to the NAIA Championships.  Lucas Hill (Pendleton, Ore. / Pendleton HS) heads to Nationals for a third-straight year, competing in the 400-IM and 200-fly, while Kemp Smith (Boise, Idaho / Boise HS) will swim the 1,650-free for the second time at Nationals, and Jeremy Erbsen (Denver, Colo. / U. of Colorado) will make his Nationals debut in both backstroke events.  The Lady Yotes will field teams in the 200 and 400-medley relays, along with the 200, 400, and 800-free relays, while the Coyotes will have teams in the 200 and 400-medley and 200 and 400-free relays.

ABOUT THE COACH: Christine Mabile is in her first season as head coach of the Coyotes, taking over the program on January 2.  Mabile comes to The C of I after spending four seasons as a student-assistant coach at Boise State, helping the Broncos to the 2010 and 2011 Western Athletic Conference titles. She has also directed the Streamliner Aquatics program and coached at the Treasure Valley YMCA and at Capital High. A 2010 graduate of Boise State, she earned her degree in Kinesiology-Exercise Science - and currently is a swim instructor for the BSU kinesiology department.   She began her collegiate career at The C of I, swimming for the Coyotes for two seasons - qualifying for the NAIA National Championships in 2006 and 2007. Mabile currently holds a trio of school records - as she was a part of the 200-freestyle, 200-medley, and 400-freestyle relay teams that clocked the fastest time in program history during the 2006-07 season.  A native of Post Falls, Mabile was a member of the 2003 and 2004 state championship teams at Post Falls High.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more on The C of I swimming program, head to the official homepage of the Coyotes, www.collegeofidaho.edu/swimming.