Penn State men's swimming coach Bill Dorenkott was faced with a dilemma when he first saw this year's schedule. This first weekend was the only chance of the second half of the season to honor the team's seniors. After pulling some strings, Dorenkott was able to schedule this one last meet, which is geared primarily to recognize all the work his senior class has put into the program.
"This is the only opportunity in the second half of the year to honor our seniors," Dorenkott said. "The focus of this weekend is to make sure we recognize our seniors."
There will be four seniors competing in their last meet at Penn State tomorrow. The departing swimmers and divers are Shawn McLin, Adam Pierce and co-captains Richard Kornacki and Christopher Ippoliti.
Even though tomorrow's meet is for the seniors, Dorenkott is still going to be looking for certain things from his swimmers to make sure they are on the right track to start the second semester.
"At this point of the year, I want to see a little bit more speed," Dorenkott said. "I want to see guys a little bit lighter in the water. Success at this point of the season is in the details and that's going to be our focus."
Dorenkott realizes how much he owes this team's success so far and promising future to its talented group of seniors.
"This group of seniors has been a special group," Dorenkott said. "They've been with us during a transition from a single-sex program to a combined program. And that transition was rocky at times but these guys stuck with us and that means a lot. It means a lot to me as the head coach. But it also means a lot to our program. I'm just hoping that those guys recognize that they have made a difference."
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