Nov. 26, 2001

Chicago, Ill. - Swimming and Diving head coach Paul Moniak is already making strides towards improving the future of the Flames program. He announced today the signing of two athletes in the early fall signing period.

For the men, Moniak received a commitment from Jose Lopez-Lago. The senior from Naperville Central has proved throughout his prep career that he is a top-level student-athlete. To go along with his academic accolades, including being a National Merit Semi-Finalist with a 3.7 GPA, Lopez-Lago finished in seventh-place at the IHSA State Finals in two events (200-yard IM and 100-yard butterfly) his junior season.

"Jose is a gifted athlete and student," said Moniak. "He is a solid butterflier and great in the individual medley as well. He will fill the void we will have in those events next year."

Lopez-Lago's best time is 1:55.4 in the 200-yard individual medley, while in the 100-yard butterfly, his personal-best is 51.95. He also swims the 200-yard butterfly, with a top-time of 1:56.4 to his credit.

On the women's side, Moniak inked Laura Martensen of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Ill.

"Laura comes from a nice tradition at Fenwick and in her club team at Chicago Latin," Moniak said. "She will add depth to our middle distance events."

An honor student, Martensen is a four-time qualifier of the IHSA State Finals, and has personal bests of 5:13 (500-yard freestyle), 1:01.1 (100-yard fly) and 2:15.9 (200-yard individual medley). She also competes under Celeste Laub-Norman with the Chicago Latin Swim Club.

As for the current Flames, they will be back in competition this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when Bradley visits UIC.