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swimming
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head coach gregg sarbak
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Head Coach Gregg Sarbak
Former McDowell High School
and Edinboro University standout Gregg Sarbak begins his second season as
Gannon’s head swimming coach.
His first season at Gannon in 2006-07 couldn’t have gone better. He guided
the women’s team to a 12-1 dual record and fifth-place finish at the GLIAC
Championships. It marked the women’s highest finish since 1997 and the best
place since the GLIAC increased to nine teams in 1999.
The Lady Knights finished one dual victory shy of the school’s first-ever
undefeated regular season, splitting a tri-meet on the final day of the regular
season. The 92.3 winning percentage was the best in school history. The 12
victories also tied a school record for most victories in a season.
The men’s team posted a 6-4 dual record during Sarbak’s first season at the
helm. It was the sixth consecutive winning season for the men’s program.
The two programs combined to break seven individual records, four relay records,
and four diving records during the 2006-07 campaign. In addition, 11 “B”
cuts were recorded.
Individually, Todd Gibson earned All-America honorable-mention accolades
twice at the NCAA Division II National Championships with a pair of 13th-place
finishes in the one-meter and three-meter diving events. He became the first
Gannon swimmer or diver to achieve All-America status since Justin Piazza
earned All-America honorable-mention accolades in the one-meter and three-meter
diving events at the 2004 NCAA Division II National Championships.
Gannon was also unbelievable outside the pool. The men’s team posted the
eighth-highest team grade-point average (2.99) among NCAA Division II teams,
according to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
The women’s team produced the ninth-highest team GPA (3.31) in the country.
Sarbak has 14 years of coaching experience. Prior to coming to Gannon, he
was the head coach at Division I William & Mary for two seasons (2002-04).
He tutored one male and four female conference champions during his stay
at William & Mary, including 2003 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
Performer of the Year Ruth Anne Miller. The 2002-03 women’s team placed third
at the CAA Championships.
“Gregg’s Division I experience and strong ties to the swimming and water
polo community in Northwest Pennsylvania made him a great fit for Gannon
University,” said Director of Athletics Bill Elias upon his hiring. “Gregg
has been both a swimmer and coach on the collegiate level and has a thorough
knowledge of the sport. He is enthusiastic about swimming and will make an
immediate impact on the Gannon swim teams.”
One of the highlights of Sarbak’s tenure as the head coach at William and
Mary was his tutelage of Miller in her final year of swimming at W&M.
Miller, already a phenomenal swimmer, reached even greater heights under
Sarbak’s direction. She became the first Tribe swimmer to capture three CAA
event titles in the same season (100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM) and shattered
five school records. More impressive was Miller’s dominance in the CAA, where
she broke two conference records and two championship meet records.
One of the hallmarks of Sarbak’s tenure there was the continuous improvements
his swimmers underwent while with the program. This philosophy saw six school
records fall in Sarbak’s first season and 45 all-time top-10 times recorded.
Prior to being named head coach at William & Mary, Sarbak served as an
assistant coach for the Tribe for two seasons. In that time, Sarbak helped
guide the women’s team to its best performance ever at the CAA Championships
with a second-place finish. During the 2001-02 season, Sarbak helped coach
three individual swimmers and the women’s 800-freestyle relay squad to first-place
finishes at the CAA Championships.
The men and women broke 26 team records and reset 137 all-time top-10 marks
during his time as assistant and head coach at William & Mary. Additionally,
Tribe swimmers stood at the top of the podium at the CAA Championships 11
times.
Before coming to William and Mary, Sarbak spent nine years coaching at various
programs in Pennsylvania. As the assistant men’s and women’s coach at Allegheny
College, Sarbak coached the Division III team to a seventh-place national
ranking. There, he coached five NCAA Division III All-Americans and seven
NCAA Qualifiers.
The Erie, Pa., native also spent several years coaching the Millcreek Swim
Team and the McDowell High School swimming and water polo teams. He helped
produce an Olympic Trial Qualifier and 16 United States Swimming Eastern
Zone qualifiers with the Millcreek Swim Team. Meanwhile, the McDowell High
School swim team produced eight All-America and eight all-state swimmers,
two state champions, one state record holder, 11 district champions, and
two top-five team finishes at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
championships. His water polo squads finished in the top three at the state
championships twice, with three All-Americans and 12 all-state players.
Sarbak graduated from Edinboro University in 1996 with a B.A. in natural
sciences and mathematics, earning Academic All-America status. Sarbak was
an 11-time All-American and swam to a fifth-place individual finish at NCAAs
in 1994. He held five school records during his three years at Edinboro and
was a team captain both his junior and senior years, leading his team to
a fourth-place finish at the Division II National Championships. Among his
many accomplishments, Sarbak became the fifth person ever at the time to
swim the 26 miles across Lake Erie.
Gannon University~University Square ~ Erie, PA 16541-0001
Toll
Free: 1-800-GANNON-U
Sports Press Box E-mail
updated
12/11/07 by: drt
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