Nov. 27, 2001

OXFORD, Ohio - In an effort head coaches Dave Jennings and Todd Spohn hope will keep Miami's women's swimming and diving team near the top of the Mid-American Conference, the RedHawks have gotten commitments from four athletes in the early signing period.

Swimmers Maggi Bulla (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy), Katie Forster (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and Katie Unger (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and diver Christin Eberst (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendewoha) comprise this year's class of fall signees.

Bulla has swum in several relay events at Senior Nationals as a member of the Cincinnati Marlins Swimming Team, and her backstroke times are just off the Senior National standards. She is expected to solidify the 100 and 200 back, 200 individual medley and sprint freestyle events.

A top-five finisher at the state championships the last three years, Forster is regarded as one of the top distance swimmers in Ohio. Her specialties are the 200, 500 and 1,650 free and the 400 IM. She competes for the Washington Township Swim Club.

An extremely versatile swimmer, Unger has placed in the top three in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly at the state championships. She comes to Miami from the Lake Country Swim Club.

Eberst, a member of the Flip & Rip Diving Club, has qualified for East Junior Nationals four times and Junior Nationals twice, and participated in the U.S. Diving National Select Training Camp, to which the country's top divers between the ages of 16 and 18 are invited, in Indianapolis in May 2000.

"I'm very pleased with the quality of this recruiting class," Jennings said. "I believe they're going to be consistent performers, and on top of that they are very nice young women."