Main | Meet Head Coach Kirk Sanocki | Meet the Assistant Coaches
Meet the Bulldogs | Season Outlook | 2007-08 Results | 2006-07 Results
Swimming Records | Frequently Asked Questions | Photo Galleries
Men's Swimming Archives | Swimmer Profile Questionaire

2006-07 Men's Swimming Season Outlook

The Wingate University men’s swimming team was introduced as a varsity sport during the 2005-06 season. As a first-year member of the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, the team finished sixth overall in the Conference meet. The Bulldogs were only 100 points out of second place during the 2006 BGMC event. The ten-member squad established all new team records to set the tone for the future of men’s swimming at Wingate University. 

The 2006-2007 men’s squad will consist of 16 swimmers from around the world. Their goal will be to climb the ladder at the conference championship and mirror the success established by the women’s swimming program, which competed as a varsity sport for the first time in 2000.

The journey to the top of the conference will once again begin with a number of formidable tests throughout the swimming season. The Bulldog men will get underway with a Division I tilt against Howard University of the Northeast Conference. They will then take on BGMC foes Catawba, Pfeiffer and Limestone.

The first half of the dual meet season is rounded out with Florida A & M and the University of the Cumberlands. The halfway measuring point will be in Savannah, Georgia the first weekend of December with the SCAD Invitational, a three-day trials and finals format they will see at the Conference Championship.

After the SCAD Invitational, it is back to the books for finals. The team will spend much time preparing for its annual training trip. The Bulldogs will travel to Orlando, Florida for winter training trip this year. Training trip for Wingate is synonymous with competition. The men be competing in the Winter College Invitational at Daytona Beach. The team will also face Rollins College at Winter Park. In addition, the team will participate in daily inter-squad challenges.  

During the second half of the season, the men will face their most challenging conference opponent in Washington & Lee. They will finish the 2006-07 dual meet season with meets against SCAD, VMI and Davidson. In February, the Bulldogs will travel to the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in Charlotte. The men’s second appearance at the championship will be defined by their aspirations for a conference title.  

When the Wingate University men’s swimming team dives into the season, freshman Kyle Corcoran (Kent, Wash.) will lead the IM and distance freestyle events. He will be joined by sophomores Matthew Dugan (Wilson, N.C.) and David Swanson (Charlotte, N.C.) to provide a formidable trio in the distance free events.  

Sophomore Ben Schoenbachler (Monroe, Ga.) and freshmen Carlos Jones (Decatur, Ga.) and Scott Stephens (Columbia, S.C.) will handle the sprint fly. Bulldog sophomore Stephen Kesler (Decatur, Ga.) will be assisted in the backstroke events by freshmen Brian Parks (Cary, N.C.) and Daniel DeFrancisco (Cali, Colombia). 

DeFrancisco will also provide support in the sprint freestyle events. Sophomore Robbie Alexander (Rockwell, N.C.), the lone returning breaststroker, will gain three outstanding counterparts in junior transfer Sergey Vlashchenko (Habarovsk City, Russia) and freshmen Kevin Hennessy (Yorktown, Va.) and Nick Inabinet (Greenville, N.C).

Rounding out the team in the sprint and middle distance free events will be freshman Mason Norman (Duluth, Ga.) and sophomore Bailey Noel (Seaford, Del.). Both Norman and Noel will see action in others events, utilizing their versatility.     

“I think we will be very strong in the stroke events,” head coach Kirk Sanocki said.  “I would say anything we swim between 200 and 500 is an absolute strength. We’re solid in the distance events, but we are not as deep as the 200 and 500 events,” Sanocki added. “I think we are the strongest in the 200 IM, 400 IM, 500 FREE, 200 Breaststroke. These are our strongest events.” 

With the mix of a strong returning nucleus and a solid recruiting class, Sanocki is excited for the season to begin. “There is absolutely no way that I could have predicted that we’d have as good a recruiting class as this one,” Sanocki beamed. “If I can use a baseball analogy, I feel like we (the coaching staff) hit a home run with this class.”