Terray before departing for the NCAA national championships which begin today. Photo courtesy of Tom Fox, The Express.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Terrific Terray

Freshman making history at Lock Haven U.

* Article Courtesy of The Express, Lock Haven, Pa. and Sports Editor Tom Fox

(Article appeared in today’s (Wednesday, March 12, 2008) edition of The Express)

It wasn’t racing against a higher level of competition.

It wasn’t adjusting to the pool because, according to Amanda Terray, water is the same no matter what structure you are swimming in.

Instead, it’s the answer you expect from any typical college freshmen when asked about the biggest adjustment from high school to collegiate life.

Ah yes, the joys of taking those morning classes.

Better yet, those before-the-sun-pops-out practices — strolling across the Lock Haven campus to Zimmerli Gymnasium to drop into the warm water before the sun drops down in the sky.

“It’s pretty hard when you have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to come to practice for 6 a.m.,” she smiled.

Despite that pesky time dilemma, Terray has been riping up opponent’s pools — one of many accomplishments in her record-setting freshman season at the Clinton County university.

Now, after becoming the first LHU swimmer to reach champion status in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, she’ll also become the first Lady Eagle to compete in the NCAA Division II National meet in Missouri, which begins today.

She qualified in four events — the 50 and 100 freestyles, and the 100 and 200 backstrokes — but it’s expected that she may pull out of the 100 freestyle to concentrate on the 200 backstroke on the competition’s last day.

“If she doesn’t let the meet get to her, I think she might even surprise herself on how fast she can go,” LHU head coach Andy Waeger said.

It’s been quite a freshman campaign for the Panther Valley product, which earned numerous honors during her high school career.

She was a three-sport star in volleyball, swimming and track.

But she’ll admit it was a difficult transition at the very beginning.

“It’s a lot more time you have to put forth toward it,” Terray said of collegiate swimming. “It’s just not high school where you go and swim after classes for two hours then you are done. You have to work outside the pool, keep up on classes and do other things to make yourself a stronger swimmer.

“For the most part, I think I adjusted well. In the beginning of the season, it was hard. It’s not like high school swimming, it’s not even close. It’s a lot harder. I pushed through it and pretty much achieved what I wanted to do.”

She didn’t wait very long to introduce herself to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

In a contest at East Stroudsburg — Lock Haven’s first dual meet of the season in October — she smashed the ESU pool record in the 100 backstroke.

The next week, she broke LHU’s record.

Down went Indiana’s pool mark one month later.

It was quite the attention-getter for the freshman.

“A lot of swimmers come into college based off year-round programs. Amanda was a three-sport athlete where she did volleyball, swimming and track. She never strictly focused on swimming,” Waeger said. “Our season is one of the longer ones where you go from the first week of classes until the end of March. It took her some time, and she battled through some injuries. I don’t think there is anyone who is more competitive or a better racer. That’s the strong qualities that have gotten her through this season.

“She is a strong girl, and has that racer’s mentality. She is a person that hates to lose more than she likes to win. And that’s what champions are made up.”

A champion is what she became at the PSAC meet in February.

She finished seventh in the 50 free. Terray followed that up with an impressive second-place honor in the 100 backstroke, defeated by national standout Jackie Borkowski of West Chester.

It was the 200 backstroke, an event she really only began swimming in college, where she earned top honors.

The Lady Eagle and Clarion’s Lori Leitzinger were neck-and-neck the entire race. At the final turn, both were tied. But Terray was able to hold off the strong-finishing Leitzinger by three-tenths of a second for the victory.

“It was fun because Clarion has one of the strongest teams in the country,” Waeger said. “The place was going nuts the whole race. You feel for the girl who lost, but it was such a satisfying feeling for us as a program. It was the first time that Lock Haven has ever had a PSAC champion.”

Although Terray admits the 100 backstroke is her best event (“I have been working on the 100 back since I was in like seventh grade,” she said), the PV grad has been really improving in the 200 back, where she already holds the school record.

“I have been looking forward to it for a while, and I have been working hard all season to get to this point,” she said of the national meet. “My times from last year in high school were close to the national cuts. I am just looking forward to bettering my times and perfecting those starts and turns.”

When she hops into the water today for the first time at the national meet, Waeger’s advice won’t be much different than any previous talk: Swim hard, swim fast, compete like a champion.

“At the national meet, it’s going to be the first-time jitters, like everyone has,” the LHU head coach said. “Once she gets in the water, she is going to race. She is a naturally-gifted athlete that thrives on competition.”

Article Courtesy of TheLock Haven Express and Sports Editor Tom Fox, article written by Tom Fox (tfox@lockhaven.com)