Drogemuller signs letter to attend Lewis Univ. in Illinois
San Benito High senior Brandon Drogemuller had a rather
important decision to make about seven years ago, one that had more
of an affect on his life than he perhaps ever realized at the
time.
Soccer or swimming.
Drogemuller signs letter to attend Lewis Univ. in Illinois
San Benito High senior Brandon Drogemuller had a rather important decision to make about seven years ago, one that had more of an affect on his life than he perhaps ever realized at the time.
Soccer or swimming.
Soccer was the old friend; the sport he had played almost solely the previous six years. But swimming was new, and a sport that piqued Drogemuller’s interest after lessons as a 10-year-old.
“I had been doing soccer for six years and swimming only for one year,” Drogemuller recalls. “I just felt I wanted more out of swimming. Something just made me choose it.”
Eight years later, it appears he made the right choice.
Atop the pool deck at San Benito High School Tuesday, Drogemuller signed a National Letter of Intent to swim next year at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., a Division II school of about 4,000 students located approximately 30 miles southwest of Chicago.
Drogemuller said he followed the team online during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and couldn’t help but notice the Flyers’ strong distance swimming program, which is currently anchored by sophomore Kevin Coates.
Just last month, Coates earned all-American status in the 1650 freestyle, a non-high school event Drogemuller competes in during the club season, and an event in which he excels.
“I contacted the coach and we got along,” said Drogemuller of Lewis University head coach Steve Thompson. “He made sure I felt comfortable with the school.
“They did really good in the distance (at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships), which is what I do. I just wanted to go out and help their team, and they could help me with the guys they have.”
Competing with the Monterey Bay Swim Club, Drogemuller recorded a 15:43.44 in the 1650 freestyle and a 9:31.70 in the 1000 freestyle at a meet in December, which placed him in ninth and 14th place overall, respectively, among his 13- to 33-year-old age group in Pacific Swimming.
“It’s something I got into when I was younger,” Drogemuller said of the long-distance races. “I just seem to keep going. I don’t have the fastest speed, but I can keep going.”
In the 1650 freestyle, though, seven of the eight swimmers in front of Drogemuller recorded their times at the collegiate level, and San Benito High head coach Christine Schafer feels Drogemuller’s potential is about to be tapped in to.
“He was recruited for distance,” Schafer said. “What I think you’re going to find with Brandon is that he’s done nothing to date that’s going to touch what he does in [the future]. As good as he is, he’s just getting ready to blossom.”
The University of the Pacific in Stockton was also eyeing Drogemuller, but the size of Lewis University as well as Romeoville, the connection with the coach and the team environment, and the team’s strength in the distance department all sold the SBHS senior on the Flyers.
And Schafer points out Drogemuller may have become more attractive considering he doesn’t always swim twice a day, nor does he lift weights on a regular basis.
“College coaches are looking at what they haven’t done to see what they can do with them,” Schafer said.
“He’s physically very young, and when men develop fully … then you have that much muscle to bring to your technique. I just think he’s going to take off.”
SB swimmers Reed and Larson sign on to colleges as well
San Benito High head coach Christine Schafer can’t recall the last time – if ever – three swimmers signed letters of intent to college all in the same season.
But already this year, Brandon Drogemuller has committed to Lewis University in Illinois, Shelli Reed intends to compete at the University of New Hampshire, and Lacey Larson is ready to sign her name on the dotted line to Cal State East Bay in Hayward.
“It’s very rare,” Schafer said. “But none of [the signings] came as a shock.”
While Drogemuller signed Tuesday atop the pool deck at SBHS, Reed actually signed her letter privately back in November. Picking UNH over Washington State and even the University of Hawaii, Reed chose the Wildcats after the Durham, N.H., school provided information that piqued the speed swimmer’s interest.
Reed said she got along with UNH head coach Joshua Willman, and after making an official visit – Reed was able to see the New England campus during fall foliage – the choice was easy.
“I didn’t feel comfortable (in Hawaii) and I didn’t click with the team like I did at UNH,” Reed said.
“I got along with the team at Wazzu as well, and one of the girls is from Monterey, Sierra Burton. But I just felt UNH was the place for me.”
Just last week Reed, who finished sixth in the 100 free (52.23) and seventh in the 50 free (24.27) at last year’s Central Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships, was first in the 50 free (24.42) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:10.95) at the Far Western Championships in Morgan Hill – considered the largest swim meet in California.
“She’s a great sprinter, but Shelli is an extremely well-rounded swimmer,” Schafer said.
Although she can only compete in two events, Reed has already qualified to the CCS this year in seven of the eight individual events.
Said Schafer, “We’re going for that eighth one (the 100 breast), and I don’t know anybody who’s done that.”
Reed says she plans on competing in both the 50 and 100 freestyle and possibly the 100 butterfly at UNH, which recently finished fourth at the America East Swimming and Diving Championships.
“He doesn’t have as many butterfliers as he would like, and he would use me as depth,” Reed said.
Teammate Lacey Larson is expecting to compete in the 200 and 500 freestyle at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, which recruited Larson along with Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.
Larson chose East Bay, however, which recently finished 16th at the NAIA Championships in St. Peters, Mo., after she fell in love with the campus and got along with head coach Anthony Garcia.
“His personality and mine just went really well together,” Larson said.
“I didn’t think I was going to go until I met [Garcia], and he just had my mom’s sense of humor – sarcastic, extremely … That just made me feel at home.”
Larson qualified to the CCS Swimming and Diving Championships last year in both the 200 free (2:02.26) and 500 free (5:29.50), recording times that put her in 38th and 34th place, respectively.
“She’s amazingly hard working, determined, great attitude and she’s a distance girl,” Schafer said. “And both Shelli and Lacey, we make it a point not to over-train. We don’t do doubles and they don’t do weights.
“College coaches are looking at what they haven’t done to see what they can do with them.”
While some college-athletes-to-be usually feel less pressure after the letter of intent has been signed, sealed and delivered, both Reed and Larson say they aren’t going to be taking it easy any time soon.
There may be less pressure to impress recruiters, but now Reed and Larson have new coaches that are watching.
“To me, it’s actually more pressure,” Larson said. “I have a new coach that I want to make proud, a new team I want to make proud.”
