Saint Francis University Women's Swimming

Phil Hurley enters his seventh season at Saint Francis in 2025-26. He has coached two NEC Champions, and 10 times a swimmer has earned All-NEC first-team (2) or second-team (8) honors. The Red Flash has finished in the Top 4 twice in his tenure. The Red Flash finished third at the NEC Championships in 2024-25, its best finish since placing third in 2018-19. Aurem Pifarre Planes was named to the All-NEC first team after winning the 1650 free and to the All-NEC second team after placing second in the 500 free. It was the first gold medal for Saint Francis since 2021. Maura Rubio joined her on the second team after finishing second in the 100 back.  Sara Turner finished second in the 2023-24 NEC Championships in the 400 IM, and the 200-free relay team also placed second to earn All-NEC second-team distinctions. Turner (200 fly) and Nicole Lopez Kohlmann (400 IM) finished second at the 2022-23 league championships to earn All-NEC second team honors. Millie Laudenbach became the first swimmer under Hurley to win a race when she won the 200 back at the 2020-21 NEC Championships in his second season at the helm. Lopez Kohlmann earned second-team distinction after placing second in the 200 IM. Laudenbach (200 back) and Sabrina Bowman (200 IM) were the first swimmers to earn NEC accolades with All-NEC second team honors. The Red Flash finished fourth in his first championships at the helm. With over 15 total years of collegiate coaching experience, Hurley came to Saint Francis after spending the last two seasons as the head coach of the Lock Haven University swimming program. In his first season as head coach of the Bald Eagles, Hurley sent seven swimmers to the PSAC Championships, including five who qualified for individual events. At the PSAC Championships, every swimmer who dove into the pool set their personal best time. The relay teams improved their best times by a jaw-dropping 20-30 seconds. Each individual swimmer also crushed personal records by around three to four seconds each. Previously, Hurley was a men’s and women’s swimming & diving assistant coach at South Dakota State University. He played an important role in helping the South Dakota State athletic department and the men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I. Although he was personally responsible for the distance and sprint programs at South Dakota State, Hurley worked with and coached all training groups and strokes. He coached numerous Summit League individual champions and helped numerous student-athletes reach NCAA DI “B” cut standards. While at SDSU, Hurley also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator. In that role, he nearly doubled the team’s roster size. Under the guidance of Hurley, the men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams also excelled in the classroom. The men’s team earned 10 consecutive Scholar Team Awards, and the women achieved a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for every semester Hurley was on campus. Prior to his time at South Dakota State, Hurley was a two-year graduate assistant coach at Division I George Mason University.  A native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Hurley graduated from Dickinson College in 1998 (B.A., economics). He earned his master’s in exercise, fitness, and health promotion from George Mason in 2006. Following his graduation from Dickinson, Hurley was an officer in the United States Army. As a member of the Dickinson College swimming team, Hurley was a four-year letter-winner, three-year team captain, All-Conference performer, and former school record holder.

Neiheisel  enters her third season as the Saint Francis assistant swimming coach in 2016-17. Neiheisel helped Saint Francis to post an 8-7 record in 2015-16, the fourth consecutive winning season for the program. The Red Flash finished fourth at the NEC Championships.  The team also finished second at the Northeast Catholic Invite, hosted by Boston College. Sophomore Katie Lafferty earned three Top Three finishes at the NEC Championships.  She won the 500-yard Freestyle, with a school-record time of 4:53.19.  Lafferty placed second in the 200-yard Freestyle, also with a school-best mark of 1:50.00.  She also took third in the 100-yard Freestyle, with a career-best time of 51.00, the second-fastest in program history.  Lafferty won three NEC Swimmer of the Week awards. Sophomore Mary Kish finished third in the 200-yard Breaststroke at the NEC Championships, with a time of 2:16.56, the second-best in school history. In 2014-15, Neiheisel helped the Red Flash to 10 victories, tied for the most in a season in program history. The Flash competed without a single senior on the roster and finished fourth at the NEC Championships. The team had its best performance at the Northeast Catholic Invite at Boston College in October, placing second in the eight-team field.   Junior captain Catherine Rogers won the 50-yard freestyle at the NEC Championships, and she also set a pool record at Stokes Natatorium in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.08 against Siena. She also earned an NEC Swimmer of the Week nod in Janurary. Freshman Katie Lafferty won two NEC Swimmer of the Week awards in her rookie year, pacing the Flash in that category. Neiheisel came to the Red Flash after serving as an assistant coach with the Mercy Healthplex Sea Wolves (Ohio) club team since 2009. During her time with the team, it has witnessed a dramatic increase in size to over 200 swimmers. Under Neiheisel's guidance, over 60 swimmers have qualified for the Ohio Junior Olympic meet while also overseeing a Junior Olympic State Champion. The team has consistently placed in the top-10 at the Junior Olympics over the past half decade.   While a member of the Nebraska-Omaha swim team, Neiheisel helped the Mavericks to two North Central Conference championships.

Carrie Robinson. begins her first season as an assistant coach under head coach Phil Hurley for the 2025-26 season and the men's and women's swimming team. Saint Francis added men's swimming as a collegiate sport and will begin competing in 2026-27. Robinson came to Saint Francis before the 2025-2026 season after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant swim coach at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. On the pool deck for the Saints in 2025, Robinson helped Head Coach Rachel Curtiss coach swimmers to 39 personal-bests, 89 season-bests and five podium finishes at the conference championships. In all, 33 swimmers made conference finals. In the classroom, eight swimmers qualified for the Liberty League all-academic teams. At the 2024 Liberty League championships, Saints swimmers notched 40 personal-bests, including three program records, and eight individual podium finishes. Thirty-two Saints reached conference finals. Out of the pool, seven swimmers qualified for the Liberty League all-academic teams. Beyond competition, Robinson helped oversee lifeguards, swim lessons and community events in the Frank and Lee Augsbury Pool and assisted with external relations, including the “Here We Go Saints” fundraising campaign, events honoring members of the 1976 national title team and running the swim program’s Instagram account. A four-year letter winner at Hiram (Ohio) College, Robinson served as team captain her senior year and the team’s representative to the student-athlete advisory council for three years.  A freestyle sprinter who converted to backstroke and distance freestyle, she helped the Terriers men and women achieve their best combined season in program history her senior year.  In her first-year at Hiram, Robinson helped the women’s team to its best finish in a decade at the North Coast Athletic Conference swimming and diving championships, a mark tied her junior year and bettered by one spot her senior year.  She has also served as a swim coach for the Clinton County Barracudas during the summer since 2017 where she has coached swimmers to age group records.  Robinson graduated in May 2025 from St. Lawrence with a master’s degree in leadership and she graduated in May 2023 from Hiram College’s honors program with bachelor’s degrees in educational studies and history.