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Stanford University swimming and diving had a huge night tonight, picking up three verbal commitments for the Class of 2021. While Junior National Champion Brooke Forde was the first to publicly share her news, Hannah Kukurugya and Ashley Volpenhein followed with commitments of their own later this evening.
Hannah Kukurugya
The butterflier lives in Highland, Indiana. She swam for Crown Point Swim Club last year, though is currently unattached.
Her best times are:
- 100 Fly 53.44
- 200 Fly 1:55.64
- 200 IM 1:58.59
- 200 Free 1:47.10
At Olympic Trials this summer she swam the 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 IM. Swimming for Crown Point High School at the incredibly competitive Indiana High School state meet, Kukurugya was the runner up in the 200 IM (1:59.28) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (53.94) last year.
https://twitter.com/Hann_kuk/status/785642900558405634
Ashley Volpenhein
Volpenhein is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. She hails from Mason, Ohio where she trains with the Mason Manta Rays.
At Olympic Trials this summer Volpenhein swam the 50 and 100 freestyle. At the Ohio High School Division 1 State Championships, she won the short course versions of both of those events last year, while representing Mason High School.
Her top times are:
- 50 Free 22.35
- 100 Free 48.96
- 200 Free 1:49.39
- 100 Fly 54.73
Stanford Impact
The Cardinals were already strong favorites for the NCAA title in the coming years and they’ve only strengthened that position. Simone Manuel will continue to lead the way in the sprint events, but Volpenhein is just outside NCAA scoring in the 50 free and about a half second shy of Stanford’s 400 freestyle relay splits last year. With her best 200 butterfly, Kukurugya would have been a B finalist at last year’s National Championship. Both ladies will be significant contributors at the Pac 12 level.
To report a verbal commitment email HS@swimmingworld.com.
This is absolutely, positively cruel and unusual punishment to inflict on the rest of the collegiate swimming world!
All three of these young women are potential Tokyo Olympians (just look at what Ella Eastin did @. NCAAs last March not to mention what Simone Z
Manuel and Maya DiRado did @. Rio)
Stanford women in the aughts are becoming what Indiana and USC men were in the late sixties/early seventies, overwhelming. ‘Course NCAAs are won in the pool in March and not on the recruiting trail buy having the ” hirses” (Cardinal/ Trees?) in hand is a very good starting point.
One might presume Stanford ‘s a lock to win umpteen national championships starting next year but things don’t always work out as expected. Just ask the coach of a team that had a very high- profile London Olympian/ wr-holder for two seasons quite recently.
Congrats to Ashley V. , Cincinnati’s next Olympian!
Quite a run for the Mason Manta Rays. They’ve produced highly competitive swimmers for all collegiate levels for the past 10 years or so. D1, D2, D3, NAIA–it doesn’t matter. There are Manta Rays everywhere!!!