WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY SWIMMING & DIVING

Both squads continued success in the 2010-11 season with the women finishing third at the Big East Championships, while the men finished in fourth place. A total of six school records were broken throughout the season, one being a Big East record.

For the men, Jared Goldthorpe broke the 200 back school record with a 10th-place finish in the NCAA Championships to earn honorable mention All-America status.

The women’s squad saw Burnett and Nugent named the co-Big East Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmers at the Big East Championships. Burnett took wins in both the 500 free and 400 IM at the championships, while finishing sixth in the 200 fly. Nugent won the 200 fly on the final day of competition after setting a new Big East and school record time of 1:56.64 in the preliminary session. Nugent also finished second in the 100 fly and fourth in the 500 free.

The women’s squad earned CSCAA AllAcademic Team honors with Andrews and Callaway being named CSCAA Scholar AllAmericans in 2009 and 2010, while Lindsey Largo and Ashley Malik earned the honor in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The men’s team was named an AllAcademic Team for the spring 2010 and spring 2011 term. Individually, Brandon Robinson was named a CSCAA Scholar AllAmerican in 2010, while Pablo Marmolejo earned the honor in 2009.

Riggs had an astonishing season in 2009-10, with the women breaking three Big East records, 12 school records and three pools records, while the men broke four school records and two pool records.

At the NCAA Championships, Burnett, Andrews, Morgan Callaway and Shaunna Purtell earned honorable mention AllAmerica honors with their 15th-place finish in the 400 free relay.

Andrews, Burnett, Callaway, Goldthorpe, Nugent and George Farquhar were all individual Big East champions as well.

In 2008-09, there were 11 school records broken for the women’s team and five for the men. The women also sent three athletes to the NCAA Championships, with Michael Walker representing the men, finishing the 400 IM with honorable mention All-America honors. Andrews, Callaway, Largo and Walker were all Big East champions, with Callaway being named women’s Big East Most Outstanding Swimmer at the meet.

The 2008-09 recruiting class also was a best for Riggs and his staff, as the men’s class was ranked 17th nationally and the women 24th.

Academically,

Nick Delic earned ESPN

The Magazine Academic All-American Third Team honors during the 2008-09 season.

In 2007-08, Riggs’ first season, the West Virginia women’s team broke 12 team, three pool and one Big East record. They also had three individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. On the men’s side, the squad broke four pool, three team records and three Big East records, while Kevin Donohue became a First Team AllAmerican. Donohue placed fifth in the 100 breast at the NCAA Championships and helped the Mountaineers to a 33rd place overall finish.

Riggs guided the team to third- and fourth-place finishes at the Big East Championships as well. The Mountaineers had nine individual champions and two relay champions.

Throughout his coaching career, Riggs has coached numerous U.S. National and NCAA Qualifiers, along with 12 Olympic medalists.

Success As An Assistant

Riggs came to West Virginia from Georgia, where he served as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs in 2006-07. There, Riggs assisted in daily workouts and designed and implemented the sprint program, while also assisting with the meet lineups.

Prior to his stint at Georgia, Riggs coached at USC under Mark Schubert, guiding numerous Trojan sprinters and breaststrokers to All-America recognition.

In his first year at USC, he worked closely with the distance and mid-distance freestyle and 400 IM athletes. Riggs helped guide Erik Vendt, Kaitlin Sandeno, Lindsay Benko and Kalyn Keller to Olympic berths for their respective 2004 Olympic teams. He also was the recruiting coordinator at USC.

The Club Years

Riggs previously served two years as head coach and owner of the Gator Swim Club in Gainesville, Florida. He also served as head coach for the U.S. National Distance Camp in 2000 and 2002.

From 1995-2001, Riggs and his wife, Renee, directed the Nellie Gail Saddleback Valley Gators, coaching novice to Olympiclevel swimmers. Among the athletes Riggs coached during that time was the USC AllAmerican Kaitlin Sandeno, who was a part of the 800 free relay that won a gold medal and broke a world record at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Riggs also served as the age group head coach at Saddleback Valley Aquatics in Lake Forest, California, from 1991-95. He was an assistant coach at Cal State San Bernardino from 1990-91 and served as head agegroup coach for Riverside Aquatics in that time. He began his coaching career as the senior assistant at Fullerton Area Sports Team (FAST) in 1989.

Prior To Coaching

Riggs competed at California-Berkeley, earning All-America honors in 1986 and swam on Cal’s second-place NCAA team. He was ranked seventh in the world in the 1,500 free and ninth in the 400 free in 1985. He was in the top 25 in the world in both events in 1984.

A 1985 World University Games participant for the U.S., he was an Olympic Trials qualifier in 1984 and 1988. He was a 28-time qualifier for the U.S. Senior Nationals from 1983-89 and won a junior national title in 1982.

Personal

Riggs and his wife, Renee, have four daughters: Abigail, Kathryn and twins Caroline and Irene.

Rick West

Rick West enters his second year as Associate Head Men’s Swimming coach and eighth year with WVU. West assists head coach Vic Riggs in all aspects of the program, including day-to-day operations, recruiting and academics.

During his eight years with West Virginia, West has seen 30 program records and one Big 12 Swimming Championship record, had 12 NCAA Championship qualifiers, seven Big 12 individual champions, six AllAmericans and five Olympic Trial qualifiers. He’s led the team through major milestones – David Dixon became the first Mountaineer to earn five consecutive bids

West At A Glance

BORN: August 25

HOMETOWN: Moundsville, West Virginia

ALMA MATER: West Liberty State College

COACHING EXPERIENCE: to the NCAA Championships, six second place team finishes from the men’s team at Big 12s, while the women earned two and a new home to the WVU Swimming & Diving team with the Aquatic Facility at Mylan Park in 2019.

Additionally, West has contributed to the academic success of the Mountaineers as well. The team has had over six Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement recipients, five Big 12 Swimming & Diving Scholar Athletes of the Year, the women have had 29 consecutive semesters of being recognized as a CSCAA Scholar All-America team, while the men have had 10 consecutive semesters, and countless All-Big 12 Scholar Athletes.

Before he was hired in 2015, West was a volunteer coach with the team from 2012-15.

Prior to his time in Morgantown, West served as head coach, as well as Aquatics Director, at Wheeling Jesuit from 2001-02 and 2007-12. He was responsible for the organization, compliance, budgeting and recruiting for the NCAA Division II program in the Appalachian Swimming Conference and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In 2002, 2010 and 2011, West was awarded Appalachian Swimming Conference Men’s Coach of the Year.

As an assistant coach at Pitt in 200304, he assisted in coaching the Panthers to their eighth consecutive men’s Big East Conference championship, their 19th title in 22 years. He helped coach the men’s team to the most dual-meet wins (14) in the university’s history in 2003, and he helped the women’s team reach its first winning dual-meet record in four seasons (8-6).

At Duquesne in 2002-03, West led the Dukes to their first ever Atlantic 10 champion swimmer in the school’s 26-year history as head coach. Prior to working with the Dukes, he was an assistant men’s swimming coach at Ohio State in 2002. West was responsible for the recruiting process including scouting, contacting prospects and implementing a thorough follow-up plan for the incoming opportunities.

West attended West Liberty, earning a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1997. In 2010, he received a master’s degree in athletic coaching education from West Virginia University. Dr. West received his Doctorate in Education from WVU in Coaching and Teaching studies in 2021, his dissertation focused on the Barrier to Volunteerism for Division I Coaches.

He and his wife, Sarah, have four children, Carleigh, Sydney, Quinton and Alec.

Lauren Cassano

Lauren Cassano enters her first season as the women’s associate head coach with West Virginia University’s Swimming Team.

Cassano spent last season as the assistant swim coach at Saint Francis University. Under her guidance, a pool record and long-standing school record fell as she helped develop an NEC Rookie and multiple NEC Players of the Week. While coaching at SFU, Cassano oversaw the progression and execution of the sprint and distance IM training groups working on the development of body mechanics for maintaining shoulder health, increasing mobility and overall strength. Understanding the importance of believing in yourself, she worked to lay a foundation of confidence training for the Red Flash swimmers.

The Venetia, Pennsylvania, native also supported the University’s academics for her Student Athletes. The Red Flash were able to maintain their success in the classroom as well. As a team, the swimmers held a GPA of 3.5 for the year, with 8 women achieving a 4.0 GPA. SFU Swimming was awarded the highest percentage of athletes on the North East Conference (NEC) Honor Roll with 88.4% as well as a continued 100% graduation rate.

While there, Coach Cassano signed 6 incoming highly ranked freshman, built up the recruiting platform, assisted with travel plans, budgets, and meet origination.

Prior to SFU, Cassano was the assistant swim coach at Allegheny College for two seasons. While there, the Gators achieved their highest North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standing in recent years for both the women and men, third & sixth respectively. The women broke the 400-freestyle relay record and multiple athletes were named NCAC Athlete of the Week.

Academically, while under Cassano’s guidance, the men and women Gators achieved high honors, 3.5 and 3.7, respectively. Ten (10) athletes were named to the 2020 Honor Roll and a total of 16 for 2021.

Coach Cassano contributed with roles in recruitment, fundraising and the organization of Learn to Swim.

Before entering into the collegiate level of swim coaching, Cassano spent four years as a strength and conditioning coach with UPMC Sports Performance under the direction of one of the top sports performance experts, who has worked with numerous Division I and professional athletes.

Cassano oversaw the evaluation, production, progression, and execution of all training plans for high school prospects and collegiate level athletic training. This included training for top performance, injury prevention and return to play.

Lauren graduated from Grove City College in 2015 as a decorated Student Athlete with a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science.

Ranked 10th in NCAA Division III, she earned four-time All-American Consideration, was a four-year letter winner, four-year All-Conference and President Athletic Conference (PAC) Champion in the 100 and 200 backstroke and a two-time PAC Champion 200 IM. She broke school records in the 100 and 200 backstroke, contributed to the 400 medley relay school record as well as the pool records for the 200 freestyle and medley relays.

Cassano was named Captain her senior season.

Cassano is excited to join Coach Riggs, his Staff, and the Swimmers – Go Mountaineers!

David Dixon

David Dixon enters his first season as an assistant coach with West Virginia University’s Swimming Team.

The Richmond, Virginia, native joins the WVU staff after spending the last five seasons as a member of the Mountaineer swimming and diving team. Prior to joining the Mountaineers’ coaching staff, Dixon was the assistant coach of Club Mountaineer Aquatics, where he led a group of high school-aged athletes, created specific practice plans to reach their goals and assisted in the running of meets.

Dixon graduated from West Virginia in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise psychology and a bachelor’s degree in athletic coaching education.

A three-time Big 12 Conference champion and an NCAA All-American, Dixon became the only Mountaineer in program history to earn a bid to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in five consecutive seasons. Additionally, he is the current record holder for the men’s 200yard butterfly (1:41.59) and sits in the No. 2 spot for the men’s 100 fly (46.65) and the 200 individual medley (1:45.47).

Dixon At A Glance

BORN: December 16

HOMETOWN: Richmond, Va.

ALMA MATER: West Virginia University

COACHING EXPERIENCE:

2022-present West Virginia Assistant Coach

Karla Helder enters her third season as the head diving coach of the West Virginia University swimming and diving team.

During Helder’s second year with WVU, she had seven divers qualify for the 2021 NCAA Zone A Diving Championships –seniors Camille Burt, PJ Lenz and Nick Cover, juniors Marian Tiemeier and Owen Johns, and freshmen Sarah Krusinski and Glenn Eloriaga. Lenz’ second-consecutive NCAA Championships bid highlighted the 2021-22 campaign.

At the 2022 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships, WVU had two divers earn All-Big 12 First Team Honors, while six earned second team recognition. Lenz took him silver on men’s platform and went on to finish second at Zones.

Out of the diving well, Helder continued to lead her team to success inside the classroom. Two senior divers, Lenz and Burt, were named as 2022 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Recipients.

Helder led the Mountaineers to success during her first year at WVU. Four divers qualified for the 2021 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, this marked the first time in program history that multiple divers competed at a single championship. Jacob Cardinal Tremblay made his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships; while Jake Lowe (Sr.), Owen Johns (So.) and PJ Lenz (Jr.) qualified for their first time.

Eight Mountaineer divers qualified for the 2021 NCAA Zone A Diving Championships: Camille Burt, Jacob Cardinal Tremblay, Holly Darling, Owen

Johns, PJ Lenz, Emma Longley, Jake Lowe and Marian Tiemer.

West Virginia broke five program records during the 2021 campaign, four of which were a part of Helder’s diving team. PJ Lenz earned a pair of records during his 2021 campaign, scoring a 377.00 on men’s platform at the Big 12 Championships and a 398.98 on 3-meter to open the season at Pitt. Freshman, Sara Haggerty, earned a spot in the record books on women’s platform notching a score of 269.33.

Academically, the Mountaineers were also a success. Both squads were named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams during the 2020-21 season. Forty studentathletes were named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Swimming & Diving teams; six divers were named to first team and two were recognized on second team.

Helder arrived in Morgantown in August after serving as the diving coach at San Jose State from 2018-20. While coaching at SJSU, Helder led every diver to personal-best scores on 1-meter and 3-meter springboard. During this time, she also served as the assistant diving coach and development coach for the Santa Clara Diving Club, where she facilitated meet management, diver progress reports, recruiting videos and parent communication.

Prior to her time with the Spartans, Helder spent 12 seasons as the diving coach at Buffalo, where she was instrumental in developing a strong diving program that featured school records for both the men’s and women’s teams. While at UB, she coached an Eastern College Athletics Conference (ECAC) men’s individual champion and two All-MidAmerican Conference divers, including 13 regional qualifiers.

Helder coached a pair of Bulls to qualify for the NCAA championships for the first time in the program’s history and led the school’s only diver to compete at the Olympic Trials.

A two-time NCAA Division II National Diving Coach of the Year, Helder also spent nine seasons at the University of California at Davis, where she coached four national champions and 36 All-Americans. She was named the Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (PCSC) Men’s Diving Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003, while also earning the conference’s 2001 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year award. Helder also has earned quite a few national and world diving titles herself, most recently at the 2008 U.S. Master’s Nationals, where she won her age group events, setting two new American records in the process, breaking her own records set in 2004. In May 2008, she traveled to Perth, Australia, for the World Master’s Diving Championships, where she won a pair of gold medals and broke both the 1-meter and 3-meter world records in her age group (50-54).

A graduate of California State University, Chico, Helder earned a Bachelor of Arts in physical education with a minor is psychology in 1982. During her college career, she was an NCAA Division I AllAmerican and Academic All-American status, a two-time Division II individual national champion and a member of a Division II national championship team under coach Pete Accardy at CSU Northbridge.

Following her successful college career, the Suisun, California, native was inducted into the Chico State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

Helder At A Glance

BORN: April 21

ALMA MATER: California State University, Chico, 1982 (Bachelor’s)

DIVING EXPERIENCE:

1978-82: California State University, Chico

1994-2004 University of California, Davis Men’s and Women’s Diving Coach