May 16, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Matt Nalbone, a two-time Junior National Qualifier and one of New York's top high school swimmers, has signed to compete on the college level at Western Kentucky University.
"Matt is a fine high school sprinter coming into a great sprint program," veteran WKU head coach Bill Powell, the third-winningest coach in the history of intercollegiate swimming, said. "We look for him to make an immediate impact on our team and look forward to his carrying on our tradition of great sprinters."
Nalbone, a product of La Salle High School in Niagara Falls, is a three-time champion in the Niagara Frontier League and a two-time state qualifier, winning both the 50 and 100 freestyle events at the Section 6 Championships each of the past two seasons. He finished third in the state meet in both events as a senior. And, he has qualified for the U.S. Open competition.
He holds LHS school records in six individual events (the 50, 200 and 500 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and breaststroke, and the 200 individual medley) and he shares school marks in three relay events (the 200 medley and the 200 and 400 relays).
Nalbone earned six varsity letters in swimming, captaining his team three years, and was also a standout in the Empire State Games in water polo, helping pace his team to three gold medals and a pair of bronze medals in five years.
He is the fourth swimmer to sign with Western this spring. Distancemen Kevin Kleeman (Covington, Ky.) and Jonathan Stearchy (Spring, Texas) have signed with the Hilltoppers while Penta Stanley (Lubbock, Texas), who competes in a variety of events, inked with the Lady Toppers.
Nalbone will be the second outstanding product of a Niagara Falls area high school to compete for the Toppers -- Chris Jircitano (1979-82), who still holds a WKU school record in the three-meter dive, came out of Naiagara Wheatfield High School.
