Leah Neiheisel enters her fourth season as the Saint Francis assistant swimming coach in 2016-17.
In 2016-17, Neiheisel helped the Red Flash to a program-record 11 dual-meet wins and an 11-8 record. SFU earned its fifth straight winning season and finished fourth at the NEC Championships. SFU finished first at both the Colgate Fall Classic and Northeast Catholic Invitational, earning wins over six opponents, including Boston College, at the Northeast Catholic Invitational.
Freshman Karilyn Quon had two Top Three finishes at the NEC Championships, placing third in the 500-yard Freestyle, with a time of 4:58.75, and 400-yard IM, with a school-record time of 4:24.95. Quon also broke a school-record in the 200-yard Backstroke, with a time of 2:02.35, to place fourth at the NEC Championships.
Freshman Sabrina Bowman finished second at the NEC Championships in the 100-yard Butterfly, with a time of 56.13, while junior Katie Lafferty placed third in the 50-yard Freestyle, with a time of 23.37. SFU finished third in both the 200-yard Medley Relay (1:43.12) and 800-yard Freestyle Relay (7:29.74).
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.
