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Saline Stingrays Coaches Corner
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Nick Munsell: Head Swim Coach
I started swimming when I was 8 years old for the Milan swim team. I started swimming for SST when I moved to Saline in 7th grade. I swam for the Saline High School men’s team and was varsity all four years. As a Junior and Senior I was the presenter of the "Dough Boy" Award (awarded to the MVP at the end of each high school meet). As a Senior I was a captain for the team. I began coaching after high school when I helped coached the men’s high school team. After that I started coaching at Travis Pointe Country Club. I started coaching for Saline Stingrays in 2004. Swimming has always been a big part of my life and I enjoy passing that on to young swimmers. I have been involved in Saline swimming in one way or another since I was thirteen, which is over twelve years. I am passionate about continuing the traditions of this team and passing that on. Other than coaching I work at the pool lifeguarding, running pool events, and taking care of the pool. When I am not at the pool I enjoy going to movies and hanging out with friends.
Favorite stroke?
Breaststroke
Least favorite stroke?
Backstroke
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Megan Crosbie: Swim Coach
I began my swimming career on the Saline Swim Team at the age of six. I continued swimming throughout high school, earning a varsity letter all four years. My senior year I was Captain of the Women’s Varsity Swim & Dive team and the Women’s Varsity Water Polo team. I began my coaching career as a senior, in 2003, for the Saline Stingrays (when we swam at the Saline Rec Center).
I graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2008 where I studied Marketing. I am the membership sales & marketing coordinator for the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce. I am entering my seventh year at Travis Pointe Country Club this summer where I lifeguard. I am also a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. In my spare time, which is rare, I enjoy watching sports, running and reading.
Favorite Stroke: Freestyle and Backstroke
Least Favorite Stroke: Butterfly and Breaststroke
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Dane Horowski: Swim Coach
I began swimming when I was six for the Ludington Recreation Swim Team. I swam for Ludington High School (DII) earning two all-state titles and a conference (Coastal Conference) record in the 100 yard breaststroke. I was a captain and MVP my senior year. I have five years of swim lesson and lifeguard experience where I taught swimmers from ages three to thirteen. I love working with kids, especially in a sport that meant a lot to me growing up. I’ve missed being around the pool since graduating high school and am very excited to be back on the pool deck. I’m currently a senior and the University of Michigan studying ecology and evolutionary biology. In my free time I love taking photographs and working on getting a small side-photography business up and going. My favorite stroke: Breaststroke. Least Favorite: Backstroke.
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Justin Duong: Swim Coach
I started swimming when I was 6 years old. My first experience swimming was at Vet’s pool. I swam there for about a year then started swimming with Wolverine Aquatics until 7th grade. About the middle of 7th grade, I moved to Saline and started swimming with SST and the middle school. I also swam for the Saline High School men’s swim team and was varsity all four years. During my Junior and Senior year, I was the presenter of the “Dough Boy” award which was awarded to a person that had the best performance of the meet. During my senior year I was one of three captains for the team. I have earned 5 All State Awards and 2 All American awards throughout the years I swam for the High School. I started coaching the fall of 2008 with the Stingrays. Swimming is something I would like to pass down to kids as a great way to promote physical activity and gain new friends. I also coach because I love working with kids and enjoy watching them grow from a first time swimmer to an advance swimmer. In addition to coaching, I also work as a lifeguard at Travis Pointe Country Club. I am currently attending Eastern Michigan University and studying Biochemistry. I am also training to try and get onto the swim team there. In my free time I like to draw, break dance, and play sports or just doing something active outside. When I’m not at the pool, I am either in class, doing homework, or hanging out with friends.
Favorite Stroke = Backstroke and Freestyle
Least Favorite Stroke = Breast Stroke
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Pat Wickering: Swim Coach
I started swimming when I was 8 years old. My first experience swimming was at Chippewa Country Club. I swam in high school at Ypsilanti High School. I was captain of the team my junior and senior year.
I began my coaching career shortly after I graduated from high school. My first coaching job was with the Ypsi Otters swim club. I learned from one of the best young coaches in the state, Kelton Graham. He taught me a lot about the sport of swimming that I had no clue about. I started to coach at Chippewa shortly after I started YOSC. I coached there in the summer for 3 seasons. After that I started to coach high school boys with Mike Holtz in Saline. I have been the assistant swim coach in Saline since 2005. During my first season with Saline, Derek Samuelson asked if I could help out with the Saline Stingrays. I accepted and have been coaching the Stingrays since the Summer of 2006. Currently I’m coaching both the girls and boys high school programs as an assistant to Todd Brunty.
I coach to help young athletes excel in the sport of swimming and to promote physical activity. I also coach because I am a physical educator and believe in motivation through physical activity. I have a passion for building an athlete from beginner to advance swimmer. I also coach because I love all sports and coaching is a way to still be involved in that particular sport.
I graduated from EMU with a Bachelors degree in Physical Education/Health Education. Currently, I am teaching Health in the Ypsilanti Public Schools.
Some hobbies of mine are playing sports, such as softball, indoor soccer, basketball, and of course swimming. Other hobbies of mine include video games, watching Detroit sports on television and being active outdoors during my time off from teaching and coaching.
Favorite Stroke = Freestyle
Least favorite stroke = Breaststroke
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Kelli Littlejohn: Swim Coach
I have been swimming my entire life, but started swimming competitvely when I was eight years old. My swimming career was launched while taking swim lessons at the Saline Rec Center. I swam for Saline from the time I was eight years old, until I graduated from high school in 2006. While in high school I earned my varsity letter all four years, went to High School State Meet my junior and senior year, and served as a captain in my senior year. I started coaching for the Stingrays in the fall of 2005, and I typically coach the developmental groups. I started coaching because I love to teach. I started teaching swim lessons at the Rec Center when I was fourteen years old and developed a passion for helping kids learn how to swim. Working with kids brings me a lot of joy and I would like to continue doing so for the rest of my life. In addition to coaching I am also currently in nursing school and will begin my senior year at the University of Michigan in the fall. I also work in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at U of M?s Mott Hospital. When I am not at the pool I am either working in the PICU, going to school, or hanging out at home reading, watching movies, or playing with my puppy Moe. I look forward to working with each and every swimmer that comes through our pool and hope to help them find the same joy and accomplishement in swimming that I did.
Favorite Stroke: Breaststroke
Least Favorite Stroke: Butterfly
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Andrew DeVries: Head Dive Coach
I started swimming when I was seven years old and I picked up diving at age ten. I swam for the Saline Seawolves (now Stingrays), Travis Pointe Country Club, Wolverine Aquatics, Chippewa Aquatic Club, and for both the Saline Middle School and High School teams. My favorite stroke is breaststroke, and my least favorite is butterfly. I started diving at Travis Pointe, and continued at Legacy Diving, Chippewa, Saline Stingrays, SMS, and SHS. I think my favorite dive is back twister (1 flip, 1 ½ twists), and my least favorite would have to be Reverse 1 ½. I am a Movement Science major at the University of Michigan, but I don’t swim or dive for them. I started coaching diving in April of 2007 for the Saline Stingrays, and I also coached the Saline Middle School team. I really love coaching because I am very passionate about diving. Helping kids learn not just how to dive, but how to enjoy diving is a very rewarding experience. This summer, I will be a lifeguard at Georgetown Country Club in addition to coaching. Some of my hobbies outside the pool include playing tennis, reading, hanging out with my friends, and taking naps.
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Lindsay Schmitt: Dive Coach
I started diving in high school on the Saline high school women’s swim and dive team in 2005. In 2007 Coach Lindsay, the high school coach, at the time, asked me if I wanted to assist her in coaching the Saline Stingrays. I was extremely excited. I helped Coach with one of the other girls on the high school dive team and loved it, so, of course I knew that I would enjoy this opportunity. My favorite dive is back 1 1/2, and my least favorite dive is reverse. Other than coaching, I am attending Washtenaw Community College and then plan to transfer to Eastern Michigan University to earn my degree in physical therapy.
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Chalmers McGillivray: Dive Coach
It all started when I joined my high school water polo and swimming & diving teams my freshman year (1998). I have stuck with both sports ever since. My senior year I was captain of both teams as well as an all-state swimmer in our medley relay and an all-American diver for Birmingham Seaholm high school. I continued to dive in college for EMU where I competed at the Div. 1 NCAA zone championships, diving alongside some of the best divers in the country (I got my butt kicked)
I have been coaching both diving and water polo since 2006. I have previously coached the EMU women's club water polo team and the Ypsilanti high school Men's and Women's dive teams. I’m currently asst. coach for the Saline high school women's water polo team and also a dive coach for SST. I have been working for an environmental non-profit and coaching as much as possible since graduating from EMU in 2007. In my free time I enjoy riding my bike everywhere I can, playing cards (poker), watching movies, reading, playing and listening to music, and anything competitive.
Favorite Stroke: any sprinting event (mainly 50 free and 100 free)
Least Favorite Stroke (event): anything more than 100 yards.
Favorite Dive: Anything from the three meter springboard. Specifically, 205C Back 2.5ss Tuck, or 5136D Front 1.5ss 3 twists Free
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