University of Nevada Athletics

RENO, Nev. - In an effort to continue the program's recent upward trend of success, Nevada swimming and diving head coach Brendon Bray inked five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent (NLI). With one of his goals being to replace the graduating seniors from this year's squad, Bray also plans on this dynamic class to be versatile pieces for the program in years to come.

"We had two goals in recruiting for the fall and one is to replace the senior class that is graduating," Bray said. "The second goal is to improve our team and I think we did that with the people we are signing. We have people that swim multiple events and have chances to score in multiple ways at the conference meet."

Outside of the pool, this class features athletes who have succeeded as students, with many of them excelling in the classroom. It is a characteristic which Bray believes can become a valuable asset for his team heading in the future, as some of the newcomers plan on being part of the Honors College once they step on campus.


Alexandra Hartman
Mountain View High School: Mountain View, Calif.
Club Team: Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics
Club Coaches: Joey Sementelli and Joe Brinkman

Specializes in the IM, freestyle and breaststroke … A six-time California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)-Central Coast Section (CCS) Finalist … Her best times are in the 400 IM (4:25.36) at the 2016 Santa Clara Walk-On Meet, the 200 IM (2:05.01) at the CCS Championships this past May and the 200 freestyle (1:52.92) at the 2015 Holiday Swim Festival … Lists her proudest swimming accomplishment when she placed in the top eight for both of her events at the section championships this past spring … Reason for choosing Nevada: "I picked Nevada because I felt the coaching staff and team would do everything they could to push me to reach my full potential in swimming and to push me outside of the pool - in academics and life." … Has sister, Samantha, who attends UCLA … Daughter of Robert and Cynthia Hartman.

Bray on Hartman: "Alex comes from one of the well-known clubs in northern California. She is a very diverse swimmer and competes in the IM, which is a huge need for our recruiting, but she can also swim breaststroke and freestyle. She is really hard-working and that's what attracted me to her. We knew that she would be coming in and setting a really good example for the other girls, in terms of their training. I also think she can improve quite a bit as well."

Top Times:
200 IM - 2:05.01 400 IM - 4:25.36 200 Free - 1:52.92 200 Breast - 2:22.60


Caitlyn McHugh
Allatoona High School: Acworth, Ga.
Club Team: Stingrays Swimming
Club Coaches: Ian Goss and Michael Soderlund

Won the Georgia High 1-5A State Championship in the 500 freestyle … Placed in the top 10 twice at Southern Premier Championships … Recorded personal bests in the 200 and 1,500 freestyles at the Atlanta Futures Championships … Ranked as 12th overall recruit in Georgia … Swam the 20th fastest 1,650 free time in the country for 2017 US graduates. Reasons for choosing Nevada: "I love how beautiful the campus is and it'll be neat training at elevation. Coach Bray seems not only incredibly passionate about the sport, but incredibly passionate about the individual as well and I can't wait to work with him."… Daughter of Darrel and Christy McHugh.

Bray on McHugh: "Caitlyn is a great distance swimmer, who will help us in those types of races. We don't have a true distance swimmer on the team this year, so she will come in and be able to fill those swims for us. Just like everybody else in this class, she can also swim other events. She is a great 200, 400 and 500 freestyler, and has a great attitude. We expect her to be an instant leader."

Top Times:
200 Free - 1:49.63 500 Free - 4:51.14 1650 Free - 16:39.76 400 IM - 4:26.21


Isabella Sangraw
Granite Bay High School: Granite Bay, Calif.
Club Team: Sierra Marlins
Club Coach: Scott Shea

Named to the 2015 USA Swimming Scholastic All-America team … Placed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2015 Speedo Champions Series with a time of 1:04.60 … Lists her proudest swimming accomplishment when her high school 200 medley relay team placed second at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship meet in 2016 … Reason for choosing Nevada: "I love the coaches and team, as well as the family vibe from the athletic community."… Daughter of Frank and Cheryl Sangraw.

Bray on Sangraw: "Isabella swims on a very well-known club. We think she has a high-level of improvement in her future. She already is a very good 100 and 200 breaststroker but we project her to drop a lot of time. Like the other girls, she has a very good work ethic and will instantly help us make an impact on the breaststroke events, after graduating two of our top three breaststrokers this season."

Top Times:
100 Breast - 1:04.37 200 Breast - 2:19.61


Donna DePolo
Bishop Manogue High School: Reno, Nev.
Club Team: Reno Aquatic Club
Club Coach: Brian Holm

Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., after winning the 100 breaststroke at the Summer Sanders Invitational in 1:11.25 … Placed in the top 10 in three different events at the 2014 Nevada State Championships … Ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in Nevada … Holds the 19th fastest 100m breaststroke time for 2017 US graduates … Has two older sisters who are enrolled at the University of Nevada, as well as both of her parents who have been employed by the university as well … Interested in the honors college and studying Physics and Astronomy.

Bray on DePolo: "Donna is a really special swimmer to me. We swam on the same club (Reno Aquatic Club) growing up and she is also one of the first examples in recent history of an Olympic Trials and national-level swimmer to stay in Reno and choose to swim for the Wolf Pack, which means a great deal to our program. She is not only a great swimmer but a fantastic student and person as well. Donna will bring a really high academic profile to our program and plans on being in the Honors College. So in terms of her well-roundedness and high level of swimming and academics, we're really excited about that."

Top Times:
100 Breast - 1:02.38 200 Breast - 2:18.99 400 IM - 4:24.28


Andressa Lima
Escola Estadual Governador Milton Campos: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Club Team: Minas Tenis Clube
Club Coach: Eduardo Almeida Dos Santos
*Will join the team in the winter and is eligible to compete during the spring.

Placed sixth in the 4x200 freestyle at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Dubai … Set a championship record in the 4x100 freestyle at the 2015 South America Championships … Has a background of world-class experience, where a large number of swimmers from her club represented Brazil in the Olympics… Reason for choosing Nevada: "I chose Nevada mostly because of the Wolf Pack swimming team and because of Coach Bray. It seems that everyone is part of a big family of passionate and hard-working athletes - a family that also welcomes a lot of international students."… Daughter of Lidia Mello Cholodovskis and Ediney Zeferino de Lima.

Bray on Lima: "Andressa is somebody I've had on my radar for a very long time. She has continually dropped time each season and her improvement rate is great. She competes in a very diverse group of events but is a high level talent in the 100 and 200 freestyle. I think she can provide a great training challenge to our current middle-distance freestyle group and even though I think the 100 and 200 freestyle is the strength of our team, it will be bolstered even more with Andressa. She is a very sweet person and I know will fit right in with our current team when she joins us in January."

Top Times:
SCM: 100 Free: 55.02, 200 Free: 1:59.88, 200 IM: 2:14.62