San Diego State Head Swimming and Diving Coach Mike Shrader has announced the signing of seven athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2010-11 season. Five members of that group are swimmers from California while the other two are divers who will come to SDSU from Washington and Ohio. All seven will join the Aztecs as freshmen next fall.
Jordan Devine is a sprint freestyle specialist from Ballard, Calif., where she attends Santa Ynez High School. At the 2008 CIF championships she finished third in the 100 free and fifth in the 50 free after placing in the top 10 in each of those events the previous year. A Junior National qualifier, she has recorded best times of 24.0 in the 50 free and 52.90 in the 100 free. Devine also competes for the Santa Maria Swim Club where she was a teammate of current SDSU freshman Meghan Zimmer.
Mikaela Macklin is a two-sport athlete at El Dorado High School in Placerville, Calif., where she also plays on the school's basketball team. A U.S. National qualifier, her primary events are the fly, breast and IM. She earned NISCA/Speedo Girls High School All-America honors last season in the 100 free, 100 breast and 200 IM. Macklin's top times include 23.81 in the 50 free, 57.52 in the 100 back, 1:03.66 in the 100 breast and 2:18.25 in the 200 breast. She has also recorded a 56.31 in the 100 fly and 2:02.91 in the 200 IM. As a forward on the basketball team, she was the Pioneer Valley League MVP last season after averaging 12.4 points and 14.9 rebounds a game.
Berklie Oscarson is a backstroke and IM swimmer from San Marino High School in Altadena, Calif, who also competed for Swim Pasadena as a club swimmer. As a junior in 2008-09 she won All-America recognition in both the 100 back and 200 IM. She placed first in the 100 back and second in the 200 IM at the Rio Hondo League championships and was second in the 100 back and third in the 200 IM at the 2009 CIF championships. A member of the school-record setting 400 free relay team, Oscarson is a U.S. National qualifier with best times of 56.11 in the 100 back, 2:04.33 in the 200 back, 2:04.27 in the 200 IM and 4:29.00 in the 400 IM.
Lauren Parrett will come to SDSU from University High School in Irvine, Calif., where she set the school record in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle and was named an All-American in the 100 breast. Primarily a breaststroke and IM competitor, she has notched best times of 1:03.69 in the 100 (a University HS record) and 2:16.48 in the 200. A U.S. National qualifier, she is a member of the school-record 200 medley relay squad and also recorded top five times in the50 and 100 free. Parrett, whose father attended San Diego state, also competed for the Irvine Aquazots and holds the club records for the 100 breast and 100 free.
Taylor Yamagata was named a 2008-09 NISCA/Speedo Girls High School All-American after qualifying for the U.S. Nationals in the 100 breaststroke. She did so by winning the event at the Marin County Athletic League Championships, setting a meet record with a personal-best time of 1:04.91. In addition, she advanced to the B final at the North Coast Section championships. A senior at Novato High School in Marin, Calif., Yamagata also competed as a club swimmer for the Marin Pirates.
In addition to these five swimmers, the Aztecs also signed a pair of divers in Hattie Lamping and Anna Steiner.
Lamping, a senior and two-time state meet qualifier at Jerome high School in Dublin, Ohio, finished eighth in the one-meter board at the state championship meet last season with 374.55 points. As a sophomore she placed 12th at that same event. She holds the school records in the one-meter for both six and 11 dives and ranks among the top 15 in the region in both the one- and three-meter. Lamping, who carries a 3.8 gpa, also competes for US Elite Diving Academy.
Steiner, who attends Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Wash., has finished second at the state championship meet in one-meter diving each of the past two seasons. She has also qualified for the Junior Nationals in the 3-meter board in 2009. In addition to competing for her high school team, Steiner is a member of the Pacific Northwest Diving Club. In 2008 she finished 12th in both the one- and three-meter events at the AAU Nationals.
"I couldn't be more excited about this exceptional group of student-athletes that we've signed to join us in the fall of 2010," commented Coach Shrader. "They will fill several need on our team and their versatility makes them available for a wide range of events.
"Lauren, Mikaela and Taylor will add great depth in the breaststroke events while Hattie and Anna have huge up sides and will be major contributors on our diving squad. Jordan has shown great potential to help us in the sprint freestyle and Berklie is already a national level swimmer in the backstroke and IM.
"These student-athletes are all first-class young ladies and I'm most pleased knowing that they will not only represent San Diego State at a high level in the pool, but also in the classroom and community as well."