Alexis D Keto
CEO/Head Coach
Email
4th year at New Trier
Aquatics
24th year coaching
CEO/Head Coach
Lead Coach: Senior High Performance, Masters, Semi-Pro Elite
B.A. Northwestern University
M.A. North Carolina State University
Coach Alexis Keto is the current CEO & Head Coach of New
Trier Aquatics in Winnetka, IL. She believes in the well-rounded,
socially-aware athlete and infuses this philosophy into each
workout, competition & team endeavor. Each swimmer has the
potential to be successful, and she feels that coaches should help
swimmers discover their pathways to success and to their goals on a
personal and individualized level.
Over her 20-plus years of coaching, Alexis has had the good fortune
of coaching at every level of the sport - summer league, high
school, club and college. In her twelve years at Colorado, the team
grew from 4 state qualifiers to 75 state qualifiers, 40+
Sectional qualifiers, Multiple State Record Holders, Junior
National (USA/NCSA/ISCA) Qualifiers and National/Olympic
Trial athletes. This tradition of excellence continues at NTA
with World Championship Trials and Senior National finalists.
Perhaps her greatest pride, however, is her ability to use her
college coaching/recruiting experience at NC State &
Northwestern to help athletes find the perfect college - whether at
Division 1 schools or NAIA schools. Over 50 athletes have continued
their swimming career at the collegiate level with an
impressive number becoming team captains during their college
tenure.
Every swimmer has something to give to the team and has something
to gain from the sport and Coach Alexis is eager to develop all
facets of the athlete. She is also actively involved in
the development of the sport of swimming at state and national
level, currently serving on national committees, formerly very
active in the development of the Western Senior Zone Championships
and she has held several positions in the Colorado LSC. Her
involvement is not just in governance, as she has coached and
developed several local, zone and national camps & teams
- as part of the task force for the inaugural 2018 Leadership
Summit and as head coach of the 2018 Eastern Zone Select Camp. She
currently is on the USA Swimming Club Development Committee and the
Awards Committee.
Matt T Zachan
Head Age Group Coach
Email
7th year at New Trier
Aquatics
10th year
coaching
Head Age Group Coach/Director of
Sports Performance
Lead Coach: Junior Performance,
Assistant Coach: Senior/Age Group
Programming
B.S. California State University,
Chico
M.A.T. National Louis
University
Matt began his coaching career in
Atlanta with Dynamo Swim Club, a perennial USA Swimming gold medal
award winning club. While at Dynamo Matt was fortunate enough to
work alongside some of USA Swimming's best coaches and coach some
of the top athletes in the country. In his time at Dynamo he
coached swimmers who achieved first place finishes at Age Group
State, multiple top 10 finishes at Age Group State, multiple top 10
Power Point scores in the Georgia LSC, multiple Senior State
qualifiers and was selected as a Georgia Zone coach in
2011.
Matt came to New Trier Aquatics in the
fall of 2013. In his time at New Trier, Matt has coached athletes
who have achieved USA Swimming Summer National and Junior National
time standards, top 20 all time USA Swimming times, NCSA
Junior National top 3 finishes, Illinois Swimming records, NCSA
Junior National time standards, first place finishes at Age Group
State, multiple Illinois Swimming top 10 times, team records,
Summer and Spring Sectional times, and Senior State
times.
Matt is a firm believer in creatively
approaching swimming. He consistently strives to keep swimming
interesting by inventing new drills and writing innovative
workouts. His creativity can be seen on the Drill of the Week along
with other videos that showcase the things he does in practice
everyday.
Matt grew up in the San Francisco Bay
Area and now lives in Park Ridge with his wife, son, and two
dogs.
Laszlo Hruza
Director of Water Polo
Email
3rd Season at
NTA
15th year of
coaching
B.A. Arizona State University
-Tempe
Laszlo comes to New Trier Aquatics
with a wide range of coaching experience throughout all ages and
skill levels. The Hungarian native built a well-known reputation of
developing players and programs both domestically and
internationally. He coached on four different continents and his
players continuously compete and won in the NCAA, University Games,
World Championships and some even made Olympic teams for various
Nations.
Currently, he is a FINA lecturer,
conducting coaches’ clinics around the world in his free
time. In addition, recently he worked with the International
Olympic Committee’s Solidarity program to reestablish a
sustainable water polo program in Barbados and this fall in
Ghana.
In Illinois, he worked tirelessly with
numerous programs and athletes to try to grow and elevate the
prestige of Illinois Water Polo. He has worked with several high
school and club programs and helped many athletes to get to the
collegiate level. He even started an “elite” water polo
training session where he invites the top players from around the
State for some high-performance training.
On the colleigate level, he worked
with Arizona State University and Michigan State University - the
latter to back to back Big Ten Championship (2008, 2009) and to the
National Championship (2008). He also, earned the prestigious Big
Ten Coach of the Year Award in 2009.
“I am very excited to get this
opportunity with New Trier Aquatics. The club’s vision for
water polo is unparalleled in the State of Illinois or even in the
Nation, and I’m so honored to lead it. As a director of Water
Polo, I can promise you that I will work tirelessly to help every
single athlete to reach their full potential, not just as an
athlete, but as a successful member of our
community.”
Gregory L Hartman
Senior Program Coordinator
Email
9th Season at New Trier
Aquatics
23rd Year Coaching
Head Senior Assistant
Coach
Lead
Coach: Senior Performance
B.S. University of Illinois at
Chicago
Throughout his
career he has proudly guided swimmers to multiple
Club Team Records, ISI Regional, ISI State, Central Zone, Speedo
Sectional, NCSA National, USA Junior
National, USA Senior National, and Olympic Trial
Levels. Many of his former athletes have moved on to compete and
excel at the collegiate level. Greg believes in
a “Think, Swim,
Fast, Win” philosophy.
This philosophy lends the various aspects of commitment and hard
work developed through the sport of competitive swimming to overall
development of an individual. This belief provides the competitive
athlete an experience that will extend well beyond the
pool.
Greg most recently was with the
Patriot Aquatic Club and Stevenson High School from 2006-2015.
Greg served as the Head Age Group coach from 2006-2011 and the
Senior Advanced Coach 2011-2015. He had helped coach the program to
multiple ISI Age Group Top Ten Finishes and ISI Senior State
Championships. He had crowned multiple ISI Regional and ISI Age
Group State Champions. Greg also served as the Head Boys
Swimming and Diving Coach at Stevenson High School and had lead the
program 2008-2015. During his tenure the program flourished
posting a 39-6 Dual Meet Record, 3 Lake County Championships,
6 North Suburban Conference Championships, 3 IHSA Sectional
Championships, an IHSA Top Ten Finish, and multiple NISCA All
Americans. In 2012 he was named by Pioneer Press Lake Shore Coach
of the Year and in 2014 was named IHSA Sectional Coach of the Year.
This past summer Greg was inducted into the Evanston Township High
School Hall of Fame along with the 2005 State Champion Boys
Swimming and Diving program.
Greg currently holds an ASCA Level IV
coaching level. He graduated from the University of Illinois at
Chicago in 2002 with a B.S. in Kinesiology. Greg currently resides
in Norwood Park with his wife, 2 daughters, and
his dog.
Amanda Shomgard
Assistant Coach & Tryouts
Email
1st Year at NTA
14th Year Coaching
B.S. Towson University - Exercise Science
Lead Coach: A8 and A9
Scheduling & Tryout Coordinator
Coach
Amanda started coaching for New Trier Aquatics in the spring of
2019. Coach Amanda was previously the head coach of Big Blue
Aquatics for over two years before the two teams merged. She
works primarily with A8 and A9 as well as assisting with all other
groups on the team.
Coach Amanda began her coaching career in Pennsylvania where she
grew up helping her coach build a brand new team. She decided to
follow her passion of coaching throughout her college career and
coached for six years for Merritt Athletic Swimming in Baltimore,
Maryland creating a full-time position in aquatics. Coach
Amanda then moved to New York City to coach full-time for Asphalt
Green Unified Aquatics, a USA Swimming National Club Excellence
Gold Medal Club, and then moved back to be closer and help her
family in Pennsylvania as full-time Head Age Group Coach for Blue
Eagle Swim Team. Throughout the years, she was able to work in all
areas of aquatics including teaching lessons for the Michael Phelps
Swim School, Head Coach of two summer swim teams, competitive
swimming clinics, lessons, and camps, and masters swimming.
She believes that swimming is a very rewarding sport that helps
athletes develop many important skills that benefit them throughout
their life. She believes in strong communication with parents and
athletes, a technique-first approach with training, and to create a
unified team where swimmers feel motivated, respected, and
supported by their teammates, parents, and coaches in a fun,
educational environment. She is committed to helping all
athletes set goals and help them through the steps needed to
achieve them. Coach Amanda is eager to be part of New Trier
Aquatics and apply everything she learned throughout the
years!
Brendan C Hulseman
Lead Coach
Email
2nd Year at New Trier
Aquatics
2nd Year
Coaching
Lead Coach; Junior Advanced,
SHP Assistant
B.S. St. Louis
University
Brendan is joining the NTA Staff as
our Lead Coach for both the Senior and Junior Advanced level. He
swam for NTSC (2007-2016) under the direction of Bob
Kizer, Kyle Bubolz, and Andrew Hodgson. He Graduated from Loyola
Academy in 2012 where he was a multi sport athlete excelling in
swimming and water polo. In 2011 and 2012 he was an All American on
the all of the Relays for Loyola Academy. Brendan attended St.
Louis University where he continuted to excell in pool as varisty
member from 2012-2016. He was school record holder on all the SLU
Relays as well as 200 Freestyle and 100
Butterfly. Brendan earned his degree in B.S.
Buisness Administration with a concentration in Sports
Buisness. After graduating from SLU Brendan served as the
general manager for Cyclebar in Evanston. He also currently serves
as an assistant coach for the boys water polo coach at Loyola
Academy. Brendan currently resides in Lincoln Square and when he is
not on the pool deck you may find him on a bicycle, as he is an
avid rider.
Marie Antoinette Flores
Lead Coach
Email
3rd year at New Trier Aquatics
11th year in Aquatics Instruction
B.A. - Roosevelt
University
Lead
Coach; Novice; Assistant Coach; Age Group
Marie Antoinette Flores hails from the
Texas border city of El Paso. Marie started swimming at the early
age of 4 years old and was in competition by the age of 6. Joining
a top private international team, El Paso Aqua Posse, Marie swam
competitively for all of her childhood, high school and one season
at UT Austin. Marie was a four time Texas Age Group Swimming
champion from 1988-1992, and was a long time Southwest region
record holder for girls 10 & under 200 meter IM and 100 meter
Butterfly.
Marie chose to follow the performing
arts upon entering her second year of college and moved from Austin
to Chicago to pursue a Bachelors in Vocal Performance and Theater
from Roosevelt University. Ms. Flores has performed in many Chicago
theatre/opera productions and can be heard in various voice over
spots in local and national commercials.
Marie Antoinette loves being a part of
the New Trier Aquatics Coaching team and is delighted to be working
in an inclusive, nurturing and dynamic swimming
community.
Keith Yavitt
14 U Water Polo Coach
Email
3rd Year at NTA
10+ Years Polo Coaching experience
14U Lead
Coach
James R Helm
Lead Coach
Email
2nd Year at New Trier
Aquatics
8th Year Coaching
Lead Coach
A10
Assistant Coach; Age Group
B.S. University of Findlay
James Helm will be entering his second
season and first full year at New Trier Aquatics. He restarted his
coaching career working long course seasons with the Lincolnwood
Lightning 8 years ago. He has spent the last 6 seasons with the
Iguanas Swim Club (Chicago) where he was an extremely successful
lead age group coach.
Coach James has proven track record of
developing proper stroke technique had the unique opportunity to
work with and successfully develop swimmers of multiple skill
levels. He is extremely excited to bring his energy, passion and
love of swimming to New Trier Aquatics. Helm has been privileged to
work with multiple Club Team Record Holders, ISI
Regional, ISI State, Central Zone and Speedo Sectional
Levels qualifiers and Champions.
James is a native of the south side
and attended Mount Carmel High School (Chicago)
where he swam and played water polo all four years. Helm continued
his swimming career at
the University of Findlay (Ohio), excelling in
short distance sprints. He was an individual record holder,
National Qualifier and member of four school record setting
All-American relays.
In his spare time when not coaching
swimming, basketball or baseball, Coach James enjoys spending time
with his family and walking his disobedient dog,
Daisy.
Christopher L Kearney
Assistant Coach
Email
Robert Stafford
Assistant Coach
Email
Rob is excited to begin his
first season as Lead Coach of D5 at NTA, after spending 2 years at
Big Blue Aquatics . He began his swimming career at the age of 8
for Willow Knolls Country Club in Peoria, Illinois. Shortly after,
he began swimming year round for Brian Points of Docs Swimming and
continued every year in high school. After high school, he found
his passion for teaching swim lessons while at the University of
Iowa. While teaching swim lessons, he worked individually with
swimmers to improve their skills and successfully achieve goals of
swimming competitively. In addition, he has previously worked
with adults with special needs and specialized in developing
adapted swim programs for non verbal adults and children with
autism. Rob believes swimming is an inclusive sport that teaches
lifelong motivational skills and patience. As a coach, he views
being safe while having fun, is the first priority and is
constantly looking for new and creative ways of teaching technique.
He also believes strong communication between parents, athletes and
coaches is key to success.
Rob resides
in Lakeview and in his spare time he can be found playing pickup
basketball, and bass fishing in one of the many surrounding Forest
Preserves.
Josh Runkle
NTHS Boys Head Coach
Email
3rd Year with NTA
20th Year Coaching
BS - Western Illinois University, 1995
M.Ed - National Louis University, 2002
Coach Runkle is currently the Head
Coach of the New Trier Boys Swimming & Diving team and serves
as the Aquatic Director and teacher in the Kinetic Wellness
Department at NT. Prior to coming to New Trier, Coach
Runkle was the Head Coach of the Boys Swimming team at Glenbrook
North for 11 years. During his tenure, he coached 11 HS All
Americans and his was named Sectional Coach of the Year 3
times. While at GBN, he also served as an assistant with
Glenbrook Aquatics as well as coaching football and water
polo. His first head coaching job came at Highland Park
High School, where he was in charge of both high school programs
and worked with the COHO Swim club.
Coach Runkle lives in Highland Park
with his wife, Amy, and daughter, Ellie.
Kristen Tanakatsubo
NTA Business Manager
Email
4th year at New Trier Aquatics
First year as Business Manager
15+ years of coaching and Yoga Instruction
Kristen comes to us as an active
teacher at North Branch Yoga and figure skating coach. She uses her
background in independent athletics as well as body balance
awareness and mental training and coaching for athletes.
We are excited to bring Kristen in as our Business Manager after a
long spell as part of our support staff.
Robert Miner
Strength and Conditioning
Email
3rd Year at New Trier
Aquatics
6th Year Coaching
B.S. - University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay
M.S. - Concordia College
Lead Coach- Strength and
Conditioning
Coach Rob comes to New Trier with a
diverse coaching background. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, he
started his career in athletics teaching lessons at the age of
fourteen. Since then he has progressed and enhanced his
passion for teaching, motivating, and learning. Rob has
served as a Head Coach as well as various other positions
within organizations and clubs throughout the
Midwest. During his career, he has experience through the full
spectrum of talent, from novice
beginners to athletes competing at the national level. No
matter the ability, Rob takes great pride in getting young athletes
excited about the sport that he loves. He brings a fresh, new
approach to swimming and all it has to offer.
Rob graduated from the University of
Wisconsin, Green Bay where he was a 4 year Division 1 athlete,
serving as team captain his senior year. Rob finished his athletic
career with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Minor in Human
Development. He has recently expanded his education by
pursuing a Master's Degree in Kinesiology. For additional
hands-on experience, outside of the pool, Rob also
completed two Sports Performance Internships, one with
the University of Minnesota and one with Northwestern
University. Rob has a unique way of combining all he has learned
both as an athlete as well as with his academic and fieldwork.
He applies this experience and knowledge with the goal to
make each swimmer faster, stronger, healthier, and better
athletes as a whole.
Along with his work with NTA, Rob also
works as a Strength Coach for New Trier High School. Outside
of work, Rob enjoys playing a variety of sports with friends and
family as well as travel.
Josh Queyquep
Strength & Yoga
Email
2nd Year at NTA
10+ Years of Coaching and Instruction
Experience
