York College has announced that Erin Kurtz has been hired as the school's first full-time head swimming coach and director of aquatics.

The school said Kurtz was named to the position after an extensive national search.

Kurtz comes to the Spartan program after spending last winter as a volunteer assistant at her alma mater, Shippensburg University. Kurtz served as the interim head coach for the Red Raiders during the 2009-2010 season.

Kurtz spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Kutztown University before her stint at Shippensburg. Kurtz also has NCAA Division I coaching experience. She was a graduate assistant coach at Texas Christian University.

York College's assistant dean for athletics and recreation, Paul Saikia, is confident that Kurtz is the right choice.

"We were very pleased with our pool of candidates for the position," he said. "We interviewed several very qualified people _ Erin stood out. The committee is excited about her experiences, her competitiveness, and how she will integrate with our staff and our plans for the future."

In her time at Kutztown, Kurtz coached two swimmers to NCAA automatic cuts while the Golden Bears broke 13 school records.

Kurtz is excited to get started in York.

"I'm very excited to be joining York College as the men's and women's swimming coach and aquatic director," she said. "I'd like to sincerely thank Dean Merkle, Paul Saikia and the rest of the search committee for this wonderful opportunity. The demand for excellence is very apparent throughout the athletic department, and I am determined to meet those demands in the water."

Kurtz was a four-year All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) swimmer at Shippensburg. She earned All-America status in the 500, the 1,000 and the 1,650-freestyle in all four of her seasons as a Red Raider. She won the PSAC title in the 1,650-freestyle during her junior year. She picked up seven All-America awards as a sophomore, including four in relay events at the NCAA Division II Championships.

She finished her career with four individual PSAC championships and 16 NCAA Division II All-America awards. Kurtz still holds Shippensburg school records in four of the six freestyle events. All four of those record finishes came during the 2004 NCAA Division II Championships, where she finished third in the 1,000-yard freestyle, fourth in both the 200 and 500 freestyle and ninth in the 1,650-yard free.

"My immediate goal is to impact the current team with tough workouts, a great dry land program and a fantastic academic experience," she said. "I'm looking forward to continuing to build two programs who will be a strong force within the Capital Athletic Conference. As the season gains speed, I'm eager to coach our current athletes to new personal bests on an individual and team level all while bringing in top notch talent to York College swimming. We've got beautiful facilities at York College, and I'm looking forward to giving our students, staff and community new opportunities to gain access to the natatorium."

Saikia agreed.

"We have an awesome opportunity to push two of our NCAA programs to a new level and to generate more use of our facility," he said. "We've set some lofty goals - we're energized by the progress and we are thrilled that Erin is taking the lead in these ventures."

Kurtz, who is a Reading native, is married to Chris Kurtz. She will officially begin her on-campus duties on July 1.

OTHER YORK COLLEGE NOTE

SPARTANS LOSE REGULAR-SEASON FINALE IN MEN'S LACROSSE: The York College men's lacrosse team suffered an 11-10 loss to Capital Athletic Conference foe Mary Washington in the Spartans' final regular-season contest on Wednesday during Senior Day in York.

The defeat dropped the Spartans to 8-6 on the season and 4-4 in league play. The Eagles improved to 10-4 and 5-3. The contest determine the fourth and fifth seeds for the upcoming CAC Tournament.

Tyler Hutson posted four goals and two assists for York. The freshman standout has now totaled 45 goals during his first collegiate season. B.J. Blaker added a trio of goals and one helper for York, while Seth Krolus netted a goal and distributed two assists.

Tyler Roy won 17-of-23 faceoffs for York and collected 11 ground balls. Tyler Powell took the loss in the cage despite making seven saves.

With the win, the Eagles grabbed the No. 4 seed in the upcoming CAC Tournament. They will play host to the fifth-seeded Spartans at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Fredericksburg, Va., in a first-round contest.