Posted on August 20, 2020 in Articles
Beaumont School’s head swimming coach, Tania Younkin, jokes that much to the dismay of Clevelanders, she grew up loving former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway. Younkin attended Poudre High School, located about one hour north of Denver. Elway, a two-time Super Bowl champion, was of course known for preventing the Cleveland Browns from reaching the Super Bowl twice in the late 1980s.
He ended his career enshrined alongside the game’s immortals in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Tania hopes to visit Canton every February, not to see Elway, but to attend the Ohio High School Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium. She was there this past February as Ella Lisac ’21, Ellie Hanna ’22, Camryn Koonce ’22 and Mateja Rudmann ’22 qualified for the state meet in the 200 yard freestyle relay. That quartet finished 20th in the state after they clocked in at 1:43.34, just off the school record time of 1:43.23 they swam at the Northeast District’s Division II Meet held the week prior at Cleveland State University.
This trip marked the first time Beaumont had been represented at the state meet in seven years. The last time a Beaumont relay team advanced to the state meet was back in 2007.
The plan is to get back to Canton this February with all four swimmers returning. Ella Lisac is a rising senior while Ellie Hanna, Camryn Koonce and Mateja Rudmann will all be juniors when school resumes this fall. Camryn is Tania’s daughter, which made the trip a little bit more special.
Ella, who was named to the News-Herald’s Honor Roll, after the 2019-20 season, gives a lot of credit to Tania.
“Coach has made a world of a difference in my swimming career. I started swimming my sophomore year without any previous experience. I’m quite certain that I wouldn’t be at the level I am today without her,” Ella says. “In just one season, she taught me how to swim a proper freestyle stroke, do a flip turn and dive off the blocks. Now, only two seasons after being coached by her and I have made it to districts and have my name on the school record board.”
Ella’s story is an incredible one, but also believable, according to Assistant Coach Margaret Eppright Casey ’07, who was an accomplished swimmer in her own right, having swam collegiately at the University of Missouri and later Miami University.
“Tania takes the time to get to know each of her athletes and then develops an individualized program designed to create optimal performance,” Margaret says. “She is constantly looking for ways to improve the program and is the master of swimming technique, transforming swimmers’ strokes almost overnight.”
Tania learned from some good coaches herself during her decorated competitive career.
She was a big part of a Poudre High School’s lone girls swimming state championship team in 1992-93 as she won the state title in the 100 yard butterfly event. After graduation, she went on to swim collegiately at the University of North Dakota.
Tania won the Division II 100 yard butterfly in 1997 and the following year was a member of the national champion 200 yard medley relay team. The 16-time All-American was one of just four Bison swimmers in program history to earn the Grace Rhonemus Award, extended annually to UND’s top female student-athlete.
While juggling the demands of high level swimming, Tania graduated from UND with a degree in chemical engineering.
“I began my career as a chemical engineer doing battery design for Energizer and moving through the ranks of middle management,” Younkin says. “While there, I earned my MBA with a marketing concentration from Case Western Reserve University and later moved away from batteries and corporate America into marketing and nonprofit work.”
She now works as the Director of Marketing for the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. It’s a part-time role that allows her the flexibility to coach swimming, but also to be a mother and meet the needs of her family.
Tania has been married to Andrew Koonce for 18 years and the couple has three children: Camryn (16), Elsie (13) and Magnolia (7).
“I couldn’t coach without my husband’s support,” Tania says. “He is the best girl dad ever and keeps our family supported and calm during the hectic season when I am coaching.”
Tania hopes that next year’s hectic season ends in late February back in Canton, Ohio.
Original Article From: https://www.beaumontschool.org/news/2020/08/20/beaumont-news-summer-2020-mary-grimaldi-the-dean-of-college-counselors-retires-after-41-years