DRAGON SWIMMING & DIVING
Press Release
DRAGONS SIGN SIX MORE SWIMMING RECRUITS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2008
Minnesota State University Moorhead women’s swimming and diving coach Todd Peters has announced the signing of six recruits, including Jessica Belden and Tara Cherry of Missoula, MT, Jessica Doar of Maple Grove, Angela McCollam of Tucson, AZ, Tiara Nelson of Bemidji and Jessica Tauber of Fargo, ND.
Belden helped Missoula Sentinel High School to a second place finish at the 2008 Montana State Championships. Belden was a state champion as a member of the winning 400 freestyle relay and also claimed two individual fourth place finishes in the 200 and 50 freestyle events and a third place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Belden also finished second in the 500 freestyle at the 2007 state championships.
“Jessy Belden comes to us highly recommended by her club coach, Kirby Majerus, who is a former Dragon swimmer,” said Peters. “She has shown great promise in the middle distance events and has experienced major time drops in the sprint events. She is also improving rapidly in backstroke and IM events.”
Cherry swam for Helgate High School while Majerus was her club coach. She finished ninth in the 500 freestyle and helped two relays finish in the top 10 at the 2008 Montana State High School Championships.
“Tara is one of those people you meet and you can see she will become the heart of your team – dedicated, hard working, and willing to do anything for her coaches and teammates,” said Peters. “I’m excited to have Tara join our team and watch her improve and mature. She will add depth to our distance swimming.”
Doar competed at Osseo High School and NHCP. She posted lifetime bests at the Minnesota State High School meet last November and shattered personal bests at the recent Minnesota USA Swimming State meet. She also earned awards for Most Inspirational, Most Improved Veteran, Hardest Worker, and Team MVP, and was a two-year captain.
“Jessica has improved tremendously in the past year, including huge time drops in the spring USA Swimming Minnesota state meet,” Peters said. “Her event improvements include the 500 free (5:51 to 5:34), 200 free (2:09 to 2:03), 100 free (59.68 to 57.34), and 50 free (26.7 to 25.9). We expect Jessica to continue this trend.”
McCollam is a four-year honor roll student and member of the National Honor Society at Marana High School. She is a four-time regional qualifier, a two-time state qualifier, a school recordholder in the 400 free relay and a four-year varsity letter winner.
“Angela has shown us right from the start how excited she is to become a Dragon and we’re excited to have her join us,” said Peters. “She will really help us in the mid-distance and distance freestyle and we think she has talents in many other areas yet to be discovered.”
Nelson excelled at Bemidji High School but has not competed in two years.
“Tiara contacted me last fall about getting back into competitive swimming and her excitement was very apparent,” Peters said. “She misses the sport so much and is willing to make sacrifices to get back into competition. She has been working out regularly in preparation for her fall return. She may be a little rusty, but her dedication and determination will help her return to form by the end of the season.”
Tauber logged an impressive career at Fargo South High School. She finished third in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 free at the November 2007 North Dakota State High School Championships.
“Jessica is pure raw talent,” said Peters. “She is a high school only swimmer with limited experience in the water and with dryland training. Jessica will become a national level swimmer with increased training.”
The six new signees join Carolina native Claire Caron who signed with the Dragons in the November early signing period. Caron is a 400 IM specialist with national level personal best times in the 200 and 400 IM and the 200 events for backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.
Jessica Belden’s Best Times
50 Free – 25.69
100 Free – 55.87
200 Free – 1:59.97
500 Free – 5:22.48
100 Bk – 1:05.30
200 Bk – 2:16.57
200 IM – 2:18.07
400 IM – 4:52.90
Tara Cherry’s Best Times
500 Free – 5:42.61
1000 Free – 11:41.59
1650 Free – 19:35.29
100 Br – 1:17.64
200 Br – 2:48.73
Jessica Doar’s Best Times
50 Free – 25.94
100 Free – 57.34
200 Free – 2:03.19
500 Free – 5:34.76
1650 Free – 20:08.51
200 IM – 2:24.20
100 Br – 1:13.20
200 Br – 2:44.36
Angela McCollam’s Best Times
50 Free – 26.68
100 Free – 57.99
200 Free – 2:06.82
500 Free – 5:43.02
1000 Free – 12:30.81
Tiara Nelson’s Best Times
50 Free – 26.45
100 Breast – 1:08.43
200 Breast – 2:34.34
Jessica Tauber’s Best Times
50 Free – 24.73
100 Free – 55.04
200 Free – 2:10.86
