West Virginia University Athletics

Liz Iliff begins her first year as Associate Head Women's Swimming Coach and enters her 10th season with the West Virginia swimming and diving program.

With a shortened 2020-21 season, Iliff still managed to help WVU see success in and out of the pool. At the Big 12 Championships, nine Mountaineers earned a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team, while 19 were recognized on the All-Big 12 Second Team. The men’s squad earned their sixth consecutive second-place finish, while the women finished fourth.
 
Additionally, the West Virginia collected 11 medals at Big 12’s, four silver and seven bronze. The women’s 200 freestyle relay accounted for one silver medal setting a new program record, touching in 1:31.05.
 
Senior, David Dixon, became the first Mountaineer from the men’s squad to have four consecutive NCAA Championship appearances; he took 12th in the 200 butterfly to earn Honorable Mention All-American Honors. Dixon also represented WVU at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, competing in the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter IM.
 
Academically, Iliff helped lead 40 Mountaineers to become recognized as a part of the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Swimming & Diving Team; eight student-athletes earned the honor with a 4.0 GPA. Seniors, Kayla Gagnon and Ryen Van Wyk were named recipients of the 2021 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award. Once again, both squads earn CSCAA Scholar All-America honors during the 2020-21 campaign.
 
Iliff helped produce another stellar season for the Mountaineers in 2019-20, as the squad moved into its new home at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. The team hosted nine home meets, including the WVU Invitational and the 2020 Big 12 Championship.
 
At the Big 12 Championship, the men’s team finished second, while the women placed fifth. The Mountaineers collected 11 total medals at the conference meet, including five silver and six bronze. Twelve members of the squad were named to the All-Big 12 First Team.
 
Four members of the men’s squad qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championships, including a pair of divers and two swimmers in junior David Dixon and freshman Hunter Armstrong. Although the championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the four qualifiers were honored as CSCAA All-Americans after the CSCAA Board altered the All-America selection criteria. The honors were the first for the Mountaineers since 2014.
 
In addition to their success in the pool, Iliff helped guide the team to success in the classroom as well. Thirty-one Mountaineers were named to the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Team, with seven student-athletes earning the distinction with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages. Additionally, seniors Ryan Kelly and Jack Portmann were named recipients of the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award.
 
Iliff played a major role in the season-long training and development that led to an accomplished season in 2018-19. The season featured three NCAA qualifiers, two Big 12 individual champions, nine combined school records and extensive academic accolades.
 
Sophomore David Dixon earned a pair of Big 12 individual championships, becoming the first Mountaineer to win multiple titles at the conference meet since 2014. Nine WVU swimmers collected All-Big 12 First Team honors, while 12 others landed on the Second Team.
 
Three swimmers – senior Jake Armstrong, junior Morgan Bullock and Dixon – qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
 
2018-19 proved to be another successful academic year for WVU, as the two teams were again named CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams. Individually, seven student-athletes were named CSCAA Scholar All-America Individuals, while 29 earned Academic All-Big 12 honors. Junior Ryan Kelly was honored as the Big 12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, marking the fifth consecutive season WVU has won the conference honor.
 
In 2017-18, the Mountaineers’ season featured five NCAA qualifiers, two honorable mention All-Americans, two Big 12 individual champions, 15 combined school records, an undefeated dual-meet season for the men’s team and a variety of academic accomplishments.
 
Juniors Jake Armstrong (100 breaststroke) and Tristen Di Sibio (200 breaststroke) won conference titles at the 2018 Big 12 Championship, leading a group of 15 Mountaineers to the All-Big 12 First Team. Twelve others reached the Second Team.
 
WVU also featured five swimmers who qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2017-18 – Armstrong, Morgan Bullock, Di Sibio, David Dixon and Emma Harris. For the men, it was the most swimmers qualify for the national meet since 2014, while the two women’s qualifiers became WVU’s first since 2013.
 
Armstrong and Bullock went on to grab honorable mention All-America honors at the national meets. Armstrong placed 14th overall in the 100 breaststroke (52.69), while Bullock finished 15th in the 200 butterfly (1:54.77).
 
As has become the norm of the years, WVU also excelled in the classroom in 2017-18. Thirty members of the two teams were named to the Academic All-Big 12 First or Second Team. Individually, senior Amelie Currat repeated as the Big 12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large team. Senior James Koval took home the Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, marking the Mountaineers’ seventh winner of the award.
 
Iliff also aided in multiple Mountaineers winning conference awards in 2016-17, including Currat being named the Big 12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Morgan Carr earning the Big 12 Women’s Newcomer of the Year honor. Currat was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American.
 
Additionally, Emma Skelley, who broke the WVU pool record in the 1,650 freestyle on Oct. 15, 2016, and Merwane El Merini were named the Big 12 Swimmer of the Week during the season. Skelley and Bullock also were named WVU Student-Athlete of the Week.
 
Under Iliff’s guidance, the Mountaineer men finished second at the Big 12 Championship, while the women placed fourth. Eleven WVU swimming and diving members were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while 14 others earned second-team honors.
 
The 2015-16 season was monumental for the Mountaineers in and out of the pool. Four members of the men’s team qualified to compete at the 2016 Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. WVU graduate Bryce Bohman, seniors Andrew Marsh, Max Spencer and junior Nate Carr raced in a total of nine events at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
 
For the first time in program history, a Mountaineer set a new Big 12 Championship record as Marsh set the mark in the 100 backstroke with a 45.41 as he took home the gold medal at the championship meet. Marsh also set a WVU school record in the 100 butterfly, with a prelims time of 46.59 to advance him to the A final. Eighteen Mountaineers earned medals at the four-day championship with eight All-Big 12 First Team performances and 12 All-Big 12 Second Team honors.
 
Iliff helped coach the Mountaineer men to a second-place finish at the 2016 Big 12 Championship, posting their best finish at the conference championship since joining the Big 12, and the women’s squad to a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship.
 
For the second consecutive year, Marsh qualified to compete at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. He met qualifying time standards in three events, the 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle.
 
Academically, junior Nathan Howells was named the 2015-16 Big 12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the third Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the men and the fourth overall for the WVU swimming and diving program at the time. Howells also was named to the 2016 Academic All-District At-Large Team. Twenty-four members of the team were named to the 2016 Academic All-Big 12 Team. Additionally, the women’s team earned Scholar All-America Team honors by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
 
In 2014-15, Iliff helped coach the WVU men’s squad to a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference and the women to a fourth-place showing. With a team goal of making it back to the NCAA Championships, Tim Squires and Marsh helped accomplish that. Marsh, a junior, qualified in three events, while senior Squires qualified for two events in his second consecutive NCAA appearance.
 
A total of 20 Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 honors for their exceptional performances at the 2015 Big 12 Championship.
 
The Mountaineers continued to excel in the classroom again in the 2014-15 season. In total, 26 swimmers and divers earned Academic All-Big 12 honors, and nine earned Scholar All-America accolades by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Additionally, four Mountaineers were named Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
 
In 2013-14, Iliff saw the WVU women record a fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship and the men place third overall. Iliff coached four women to second-place results at the Big 12 Championships and helped Bohman to Big 12 Swimmer of the Year honors.
 
Bohman became the latest men’s swimmer in WVU history to earn First Team All-America honors at the 2014 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. Bohman set three individual school records (100 back, 200 back, 100 fly), was named the Big 12 Male Swimmer of the Year and earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors.
 
In 2012-13, the inaugural season in the Big 12, Iliff helped the women to a second-place showing and the men a third-place finish at the 2013 Big 12 Championships. Rachael Burnett was named the Big 12’s Most Outstanding Swimmer, finishing first in the 200 free, 500 free and 1,650 free.
 
Burnett also earned honorable mention All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, while Mandie Nugent became the first female swimmer in WVU history to be named a First Team All-American with a seventh-place finish in the 200 fly. Christopher Brill led the men with second- and third-place finishes in the 200 breast and 100 breast, respectively, at the Big 12 Championships. Ross Glegg added a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 free and 200 free.
 
Eighteen Mountaineers were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team, and David Palley and Jenelle Zee were named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-District 2 At-Large Teams. Additionally, Liam McLaughlin was named the inaugural Big 12 Swimming and Diving Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
Iliff came to WVU in August 2012 after spending two successful seasons at New Mexico State as an assistant. She helped the Aggies to 20 school records and 17 NCAA provisional times, while Aliena Schmidtke was named the WAC Freshman of the Year following the 2011-12 campaign, and became the second Aggie in school history to swim at the NCAA Championships. During the 2010-11 season, Tricia Kiss was named the WAC Freshman of the Year, a first in program history.
 
Prior to New Mexico State, Iliff was an assistant coach at Xavier during the 2009-10 season, while also serving as a senior assistant coach for the Cincinnati Aquatic Club from 2008-10.
 
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Iliff was a team captain as a sprint free and fly specialist at Missouri. She is a former school record holder in the 100 fly and was a part of several Tiger relay records.
 
She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Missouri in 2007. Iliff and her husband, Luke, reside in Morgantown.