Prep Swimming Preview: Talented Central teams have new coach

Ex-Urbana University assistant baseball coach takes over deep Irish.

Barbara J. Perenic Chip Samuelson swims during SPY practice. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 11:19 PM Friday, December 9, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — Bret Miller is a baseball guy first and also a runner, but he’s learning fast about swimming.

“I’ve ran marathons before and trained for them,” he said. “That’s grueling, but I never felt as tired running a marathon as I do when swimming. To see swimmers cranking out 5,000 yards in practice and the next day doing it again, it gives you a lot of respect.”

Miller, a 1994 Northeastern High School graduate who was an assistant baseball coach at Urbana University for seven years, is the new swimming and baseball coach at Catholic Central. He replaces Connie Koehler, who coached for two seasons. Miller takes over a talented and deep swimming team that is sure to send a number of individuals to state.

“I feel like I inherited a great amount of talent,” Miller said. “It’s pretty easy to take over a team that has so many motivated swimmers.”

Miller learned a lot about swimming from his wife Liz, a state-level swimmer in Iowa when she was in high school. She’ll help him coach the teams, and he plans to pick her brain all season. Their daughter Ali swims with the Springfield YMCA SPY program.

“Just being a parent and a coach, I’ve learned quite a bit,” Miller said.

Catholic Central has 31 swimmers, and 12 train with the SPY team. The Irish return three-time state qualifier Allison Lohnes and a pair of two-time state qualifiers, Jeff Ross and Chip Samuelson. The freshman class has talent, too, with YMCA national qualifiers Matt Pettit and Regan Engle joining the team.

“One thing about this team that’s great is it’s really close,” Miller said. “They love high school swimming. It’s so much fun to be around.”

Ones to watch

Individuals

Kendra Crew, Shawnee: She had two top-ten finishes at state last season as a sophomore.

Chip Samuelson, Catholic Central: As a junior last season, he placed 11th at state in the 100 freestyle.

Erika Chick, Yellow Springs: Last season as a junior, she had two top-five finishes at state.

Teams

Catholic Central girls: Led by state qualifier Allison Lohnes, the team has 25 girls on the roster.

Kenton Ridge boys: The Cougars return three district qualifiers.

Shawnee boys and girls: Both teams placed second in the CBC last season behind Tippecanoe.

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