University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLUNTEER SWIM PROGRAM ADDS FOUR MORE FOR 2002-03
June 05, 2002 | Women's Swimming & Diving
June 5, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
University of Tennessee Women's Swimming Head Coach Dan Colella announced the signings of four more student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for competition beginning in the 2002-03 campaign. The four will join five other signees from the fall signing period to form the class of 2006.
"The addition of these four athletes to the five we signed in the early period makes this one of the most talented groups we have brought to UT," Colella said. "With the walk-ons that we will add in the fall, we'll have 13 individuals to bolster our lineup. As a staff, we are excited about the team's potential in the coming year."
Joining the team will be a total of three swimmers and one diver, incuding Graciela Breece-Rodriguez (Boulder, Col./Fairview H.S.), Betsy Brockman (Batavia, Ohio/Williamsburg H.S.), Heather Chapman (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central H.S.), and Taryn Ternent (Edenvale, Galiteng, South Africa/Washington State University).
Graciela Breece-Rodriguez will enter UT as a two-time high school All-American in the 100y butterfly. An all-state selection in 1998 and 2002, Breece-Rodriguez broke the Colorado record in the 100y fly in 1998 and reigned as state champion in 2002. She holds the Fairview H.S. record in that event. Breece-Rodriguez helped guide her team to a second-place finish at the 2002 State Championships as well as the 2002 Boulder County title.
"Graciela is a strong butterflier and backstroker who will give us some much needed depth in those areas," Colella said. "We are looking forward to her making an immediate impact on our program."
Also joining the Lady Vols will be Betsy Brockman, who spent her prep career racking up honors on the league, state and national levels. Brockman, a two-sport athlete at Williamsburg H.S., earned honorable mention All-American honors in 2001 along with all-state, league and city honors. She followed that success by earning the 2002 Cincinnati Enquirer Swimmer of the Year honors while repeating on the all-state, league and city lists. Brockman won the 200 IM Ohio State Championship while finishing as runner-up in the 100y breaststroke in 2002. She also helped Williamsburg's volleyball team become league champions.
"Betsy is an exciting addition to this crop of newcomers because of her versatility," Colella said. "She is capable of competing in the breaststroke, distance freestyle and her specialty of the 200 and 400 IM. She along with Kara Boland, a signee in the fall, will give us depth in events in which we have been lacking and will help us score points in those events at the Southeastern Conference Championships."
The lone diver in the class of 2006 will be Heather Chapman, who was a member of the same club team as current Lady Vol diver Kylee Wells (Russiaville, Ind./Western H.S.). Chapman had a number of top-three finishes in the Marion County (Indiana) Diving Championships over her four-year career. As a sophomore she broke a 13-year old six-dive (10M) record and 23-year old 11-dive (10M) record only to shatter her own tallies in each of her remaining years of competition. She earned a sectional diving crown in 2000 and finished in eighth place in the Indiana State Diving Championships. In 2001, she improved her finish at state's by two places and ranked fourth as a senior in 2002.
"Since day one in the recruiting process, Heather has made it very clear that she really wanted to be a part of the Lady Vol program," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "She will bring energy and enthusiasm to the team. Along with that, she has the ability to contribute, especially on the 10M platform and 3M springboard events, where she has shown much progress at the junior Olympic level."
Rounding out the class of 2006 is Taryn Ternent, a transfer student from Washington State University. Ternent, a native of South Africa, has represented her country in international competition while also holding a number of age group records in the 18-and-under grouping. She has recorded top times of :50.44 in the 100y free and :23.26 in the 50y free. At Washington State, she notched the top time of any Cougar in the 50y free.
"Taryn was a last-minute find. She is transferring from Washington State and will bring some extreme speed to our program, something that we will welcome. Along with the ability she possesses, Taryn also has collegiate experience which gives her an edge over some of the other newcomers."
The 2002-03 edition of the Lady Vols will start fall workouts in August. Various members of the team will compete in club and international competition throughout the summer, including diver Lauryn McCalley (Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt County H.S.), who recently finished in fourth place on the 3M springboard at the Russian Diving Championships.
