Stephanie Juncker - Swimming & Diving Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Lindauer and Juncker coaching their proteges Andrej Barna and Mallory Comerford

Stephanie Juncker

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
stephaniej@GoCards.com
Phone:
852-0992

Stephanie Juncker has been on the Cardinal staff as an assistant coach and women's recruiting coordinator for the University of Louisville swimming and diving team since May of 2014 and was elevated to associate head coach in June of 2021.

In 2022-23, the Louisville women’s swimming and diving team earned a trophy by finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships with eight Cardinals earning First Team All-American honors. The Cardinals finished the regular season ranked No. 8 in the CSCAA poll and placed third at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Gabi Albiero, a three-time ACC Swimmer of the Week, was named to the USA Swimming National Team and represented the USA in the Duel in the Pool, a head-to-head competition with Australia. Else Praasterink became the first UofL women’s diver to earn All-American honors, finalling in both 3M and Platform. Krista Wheeler was named an ACC Top Six for Service. Ten Cardinals were all named to the ACC All-Academic list.

On the men’s side in 2022-23, the Cards finished the season ranked 14^th in the polls and were 13^th at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis after finishing third at the ACC Championships. The Cardinals win two gold medals at ACC Championships (Abdelrahman Elaraby, 50 free; Denis Petrashov, 200 breaststroke) with five Cardinals winning All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. The Cards sent 11 men to the US National Championships to qualify for Worlds and Olympic Trials. Tommy Bried, Michael Eastman, Dalton Lowe and Murilo Sartori named to the ACC All-Academic Team. Elaraby was named as a recipient of the 2023 Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award which honors student-athletes who have overcome great personal, academic, and/or emotional odds to achieve academic success while participating in intercollegiate athletics.

The 2021-22 season saw the Cardinals continue to collect honors and excel in the pool as well as the classroom. The men finished second in the ACC Championship and the women were third. The women finished sixth at the NCAA Championship and the men were 12^th. Both teams were named as CSCAA Scholar All-American Teams. With the NCAA granting an extra year of competition to the sports which were impacted by the pandemic, Nick Albiero and Evgenii Somov had the unique opportunity to win gold medals in their signature events for five straight years: Albiero in the 200 butterfly and Somov in the 100 breast. Another super senior, Daniel Sos, became the first Cardinal to ever win the grueling 400 Individual Medley at ACCs. Arthur Albiero was named as on the of the 100 Greatest College Coaches of the Past 100 Years by the CSCAA and former Cardinals Mallory Comerford and Kelsi Worrell were named as two of the top college 100 swimmers of the century. In all, the Cardinals won four gold medals, six silver medals and 9 bronze at ACCs. At NCAAs, the Cardinal men had seven All-American swims and two Honorable Mention All-American swims. For the women at NCAAs, the Cards had seven All-American swims and 10 Honorable Mention All-American performances. To cap off a stellar career, Nick Albiero was named ACC Swimmer of the Year and ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Juncker's promotion to associate head coach came on the heels of the most unusual season in memory. Despite the challenges of competing during a pandemic, the Cardinals had a historic 2020-21 season highlighted by its first ever ACC Championship for the men and Nick Albiero winning his first NCAA Championship in the 200 fly and leading the Cardinals to their first-ever NCAA Relay Championship when the men won the 200 medley relay. Albiero earned ACC Swimmer of the Year and the Cards finished fifth at NCAAs. The men won seven gold medals at ACCs and produced nine All-American swims. The women finished 3^rd at ACCs and 13^th at NCAAs. Nick Albiero Named ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year and 21 Named as Academic All-ACC. In all 31 Cardinals headed to the US Olympic Trials.

Despite an abrupt end due to the coronavirus pandemic that resulted in the cancellation of the NCAA Championships, the 2019-20 season was still memorable for the Cardinals. UofL qualified 10 men for the national meet and tied their program best with 12 qualifiers on the women's side, and both the women (1105.5 points) and men (1066.5 points) finished third at their respective ACC Championships. Grace Oglesby defended her 200 butterfly title for the third-straight year, Arina Openysheva was the runner-up in the 200 freestyle, and UofL finished in the top-3 in all five relays at the Women's ACCs. At ACCs for the men, the 400 medley relay team, earned gold while setting a new ACC Meet Record. The 800 freestyle relay also won gold, while the 200 and 400 freestyle relays took second. Nick Albiero had himself a meet, winning his third-consecutive 200 butterfly gold also won the 100 backstroke and was named the All-ACC Academic Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Somov defended his 100 breaststroke crown for the third-straight year and made it a sweep after winning the 200 breaststroke. Paulson grabbed the gold medal in the 200 freestyle. The Cardinals concluded the season with final rankings of No. 9 for men and No. 16 for women in the CSCAA Poll, had 31 athletes named as All-Americans, and was again selected as a Scholar All-American team.

In a memorable 2018-19, the women finished in fourth place at the NCAA Championship, the highest finish in program history. The Cards earned the program's first-ever team trophy, securing fourth with 235 points. Louisville became the first ACC program in history to have both its men's and women's teams finish in the top five at NCAAs in a single season. Mallory Comerford collected her third consecutive ACC Women's Swimmer of the Year honor after winning two titles at the NCAA Championship and three ACC Championship gold medals. The Cardinal men won five individual and two relay titles at ACCs.

At the 2018 ACC Championships, Evgenii Somov and Nick Albiero were both two-time ACC Champions. The 200 Men's Medley relay won gold at the ACC Championships in Greensboro. For the women, Mallory Comerford was a four time ACC Champion along with Grace Oglesby, a two-time ACC Champion; and Mariia Astashkina, an individual ACC Champion. The 400 Medley Relay team won ACC Gold. Juncker helped coached UofL's fourth NCAA Champion when Mallory Comerford won the 200 free. Nick Albiero was named ACC Freshman of the Year with Mallory Comerford winning ACC Swimmer of the Year, and newcomer Mariia Ashtashkina being named ACC Freshman of the Year for the women. In all, 24 Cardinals were named to the All-ACC team. At NCAAs, the Cardinals seven swimmers earned All-American status and six others earned HM All Americans status as well. On the women's side, eight Cards won All-American status led by Mallory Comerford who was a 6x All-American.

The year 2016-17 saw Mallory Comerford win five gold medals at the 2017 FINA World Championships, and become the champion in the 100m free at 2017 Phillips 66 Nationals. Comerford tied for the 2017 NCAA title in the 200y free with Katie Ledecky. The Cardinals men's team set 11 school records and finished second at the ACC Championship. The women's team finished third in the ACC. In the NCAAs, the UofL men had 10 swimmers qualify and all five relays. The women qualified eight swimmers and all five relays as well. Women's Swimming led the nation in All-Americans with 11, finishing sixth overall to tie the school record for highest finish. The men finished 11^th at the NCAAs with eight All-Americans. Andrea Cottrell and Zach Harting were named to Team USA and represented the Cards at the World University Games. On the international stage, UofL sent 10 swimmers and four coaches to the World Championships in Budapest where they won 11 medals (nine gold and two bronze) which was the third most medals in the NCAA. Juncker served as a national coach for Venezuela in Budapest. The Cardinals were a part of nine championship final appearances, helped set eight American Records and four World Records.

Juncker was there in 2015-16 season when the Cards won two more NCAA Championships with Kelsi Worrell picking up two more in the butterfly events. Worrell went on to make the Olympic team and win a relay gold medal after winning the Honda Award and being named as a First Team Academic All-American. She was named both the ACC Swimmer of the Year, and the 2016 Most Valuable Swimmer. In all, seven Cardinals went to Rio (Joao De Lucca, Andrea Kneppers, Tanja Kylliainen, Marcelo Acosta, Carlos Claverie, Grigory Tarasevich and Worrell). The men were the ACC runners-up and the women were fourth. At NCAAs, the Cardinal men were 11th and the women placed eighth.

The 2014-15 season proved to be a breakout year for the Cardinals. Juncker helped coach the Cards to two NCAA individual championships, 10 ACC Gold Medals, guided a total of 14 Cardinals to All-American status, and 17 to All-ACC honors. The Cardinal men were 2^nd at ACCs and the women were fourth prior to the Cardinal women finishing a school record No. 6 at NCAAs and the men finishing No. 15 in a true team effort. The Cardinals won five Pan American Medals, won two USA National Championships and put five swimmers in the FINA World Championships and two at the World University Games.

After graduating from the University of Louisville in 2012 with a degree in Sports Administration, she spent a year at Fresno State prior to joining the staff at Arkansas. While at Arkansas, Juncker helped guide the Razorbacks to a sixth-place finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships, and took seven student-athletes to NCAA's. She returned to Louisville for her first year on the staff in 2014-15, which proved to be a breakout year for the Cardinals. Juncker helped coach the Cards to two NCAA individual championships, 10 ACC Gold Medals, guided a total of 14 Cardinals to All-American status, and 17 to All-ACC honors. The Cardinal men were 2^nd at ACCs and the women were fourth prior to the Cardinal women finishing a school record No. 6 at NCAAs and the men finishing No. 15 in a true team effort. The Cardinals won five Pan American Medals, won two USA National Championships and put five swimmers in the FINA World Championships and two at the World University Games.

Juncker served as a captain during her senior year at U of L and was the recipient of Central Cardinal Club Leadership Award, presented annually to the senior female student-athlete who has best shown leadership on and off the field at Louisville. As a swimmer who specialized in the individual medley and breaststroke, Juncker led Louisville to back-to-back Big East championships in 2011 and 2012 and was named an All-Big East performer in 2012. She was named to the Big East Academic Honor Roll from 2010-12, and was a BIG EAST SAAC representative in 2010. She also helped organize volunteering and community service opportunities for the team. She qualified for the BIG EAST Championships in all four years, competing in the 200-breast and the 200- and 400-IM.