Williams Wins 2011 Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Real-Time Meet Results - Live Webcast   Complete Results Championship Schedule Psych Sheet - Meet Records 2010 Championship Results

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams College won its 11th consecutive conference title on Sunday as the Ephs posted 1,923 points over the three-day NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at Muir-Samuelson Pool. Following Williams was Amherst, which finished as the runner-up for the third year in a row with 1,603 points.

Swimmer of the Meet honors went to Amherst senior Kendra Stern, the third time she has won the honor. Stern tied Williams' Lindsay Payne for the most all time Swimmer of the Meet awards. Stern also was the senior high point award winner for her four years of excellence. Diver of the meet was Amherst senior Meggie Meisinger, who came in first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. Meisinger was also the senior diving high point award winner.

The first event of the evening, the 1650-yard freestyle, saw the reigning national record holder, Williams sophomore Caroline Wilson, competing alongside three of her teammates in the final heat. Wilson would win the event in 16:54.11, a new pool and NESCAC championship record.

Hamilton first year Maggie Rosenbaum continued her dominance in the backstroke events in the morning preliminary heats of the 200-yard backstroke, shattering a 21 year old pool record with her time of 2:03.16. Rosenbaum would significantly lower even that record with her finals swim of 2:01.72, which earned her a third individual title in her first NESCAC championship meet.

In the 100-yard freestyle Amherst senior Kendra Stern captured her third individual title, having previously won the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Stern swam away from the 100 field early and maintain her lead until the end, finishing in 50.43, a new pool record.

Amherst first year Abby Hahn emerged from the pack in the 200-yard breaststroke in the final 50 yards to take the victory in 2:21.27.

The final individual swimming event of the meet, the 200-yard butterfly, saw another final heat stacked with swimmers from the host school. Williams placed five out of eight swimmers in the final heat, including the reigning national champion, Logan Todhunter. Todhunter was narrowly upset by Connecticut College senior Sarah Murphy, who placed first in a time of 2:02.98. Todhunter came in second, with a time of 2:03.60.

The finals of the 3-meter diving events opened up with Amherst senior Meggie Meisinger possessing a comfortable lead over second placed Taylor Stevens from Williams following the voluntary dives this afternoon. The order at the top would not shake itself up too much in the finals, with Meisinger coasting to a 20 point victory over Stevens. Meisinger posted a combined score of 451.

Williams capped the weekend in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.14.

Following Williams and Amherst in the team scoring was Tufts in third with 1,192 points, while Connecticut College and Bates rounded out the top five with 1,114 and 883.5 points respectively. Hamilton was in sixth with 699 points; Colby seventh with 665 points; Wesleyan eighth with 595 point; Middlebury ninth with 593 points; Bowdoin 10th with 565 points; and Trinity 11th place with 469.5 points.

Connecticut College head coach Marc Benvenuti was named as coach of the year, while Kit Callahan-Koch of Williams was named as the diving coach of the year.

Williams in Command Following Day Two at Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Real-Time Meet Results - Live Webcast   Complete Results Championship Schedule Psych Sheet - Meet Records 2010 Championship Results

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams College nearly doubled its lead over the rest of the field on Day Two at the NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, which are being held at the Ephs' Muir-Samuelson Pool. Williams' two-day total of 1,366 puts it 273 points ahead of rival Amherst (1,093). Tufts is in third with 931 points.

The first race of the evening, the 200-yard medley relay looked like it was going to be easy going for Williams, whichhad broken a 17 year old pool record in the preliminary heats with a time of 1:46.45. Although no other team had come within two seconds of the Ephsi in the preliminary heats, the final raceproved to be a whole different affair, with all eight squads staying close up until the final 50. With Williams holding a slight lead at the 150 yard mark junior Carolyn Geller, the current NESCAC champion in the 50 yd freestyle, entered in the water and proved unbeatable once again, bringing the Ephs home victorious in a time of 1:46.82.

Williams senior Erin Altenburger would go out quickly in the 1,000-yard freestyle, opening up a large lead en route to finishing in a time of 10:02.82, a new championship and pool record. Altenburger shaved nearly three seconds off the previous record, and finished over 20 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

The Ephs packed the final heat of the 400-yard IM, an event in which they took first through fifth at last year's NESCAC championships. With four out of those five swimmers in the race again, it promised to be an exciting intrasquad showdown. Williams sophomore Caroline Wilson pulled away in the breaststroke leg, leading to an anticlimactic but dominating finish in a time of 4:23.97, nearly five seconds under the previous pool record. Teammate Katherine O'Leary came in second with a time of 4:27.65. Williams junior Bonnie Patchen came in third in 4:28.28, ahead of teammate Ellen Ramsey, who finished fourth in 4:31.51.

Logan Todhunter, the two time defending NESCAC champion in the 100-yard butterfly, got her third title in emphatic fashion, cruising to victory in 55.84.

Amherst senior Kendra Stern continued her dominance in the 200-yard freestyle. The three-time champion cruised to her fourth title with a time of 1:47.21.

In the 100-yard breaststroke the race came down to a photo finish between Amherst junior Rebecca Kelley, the two time champion in the 50-yard breaststroke, and newcomer Jenny Hu, a first year from Tufts. Kelley would defeat Hu by the extremely narrow margin of two hundredths of a second with a time of 1:06.26.

Hamilton first year Maggie Rosenbaum tied a 17 year old pool record in the preliminary heats of the 100-yard backstroke, posting a time of 56.67. She would drop nearly a second in her finals performance, claiming the record for her own in a time of 55.70 as well as the NESCAC title.

The final event of the evening was the 800-yard freestyle relay, a challenging mix of speed and distance. Ultimately, though, Williams held on to claim victory over Amherst and Connecticut college in a time of 7:35.75, breaking the 17 year old pool record.

Following Williams, Amherst, and Tufts are Connecticut College and Bates, as the two round out the top five with 797 and 623.5 points respectively. Hamilton is in sixth with 498 points; Colby is seventh with 491 points; Wesleyan is eighth with 452 points; Middlebury is ninth with 450 points; Bowdoin is 10th with 408 points; Trinity is 11th with 345.5 points.

Tomorrow will be the final day of the championship meet. Preliminary heats begin at 10:00 a.m.

Williams Leads Following Day One at Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Real-Time Meet Results - Live Webcast   Complete Results Championship Schedule Psych Sheet - Meet Records 2010 Championship Results

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Defending conference champion Williams College is in charge following the end of day one at the 2011 NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships hosted by the Ephs at Muir-Samuelson Pool in Williamstown, Mass. Williams has 713 points, followed by Amherst in second with 571.5 points and Tufts in third with 492.

Connecticut College and Bates round out the top five with 399 and 308 points respectively. Middlebury is in sixth place with 265 points; Colby is seventh with 258 points; Hamilton is in eighth place with 257 points; Bowdoin is in ninth place with 229 points; Wesleyan is in 10th place with 219 points; and Trinity College is in 11th place with 187.5 points.

In the first championship race of the evening, the 200-yard freestyle relay, four schools entered the race following a morning performance within half a second of each other. With all teams setting a blistering pace it would be Williams which would emerge victorious at the end of the race, wining the event with a time of 1:34.57. The swim would also break the 17 year old pool record, held by Kenyon College, which had stood at 1:34.65. A close race for second place saw Connecticut College beat Amherst by just over half a second, finishing in 1:35.22.

A young final in the 50-yard breaststroke saw seven underclassmen challenging the defending champion, Amherst junior Rebecca Kelley. It would be Kelley’s title once again, as she charged out to the victory in a time of 29.93.

The 50-yard butterfly saw a stacked field, with three swimmers having broken the 22 year old pool record in preliminary heats. Defending champion Logan Todhunter, a junior from Williams, would post the fastest swim of the day in the prelims with a time of 25.24. Todhunter would then capture her third consecutive title in the event in the finals, finishing in a time of 25.40.

The anticipated showdown between Amherst junior Kendra Stern and Williams sophomore Caroline Wilson, two of the top swimmers in the conference, set up the 500-yard freestyle as quite a race. Wilson qualified ahead of Stern in the preliminary heats, however it would be Stern who cruised to victory in the finals. Stern, the three time defending NESCAC champion in the event, dropped nearly 10 seconds off of her preliminary time, winning in 4:48.58. Stern's time of bested her own NESCAC meet record, set at last year's championships, and broke a 17 year old pool record in the event.

Hamilton first year Maggie Rosenbaum broke the 17 year old pool record in the 50-yard backstroke preliminary heats, finishing in a time of 26.44. Rosenbaum would then earn her first career NESCAC title, winning in a time of 26.24, which also set a new NESCAC championship record.

In the 200-yard Individual Medley it was nearly an all Williams final, as the Ephs placed four swimmers in the championship heat. This trend would carry over to the final standings, as the Ephs would end up sweeping the event, taking first through third . Sophomore Katherine O'Leary would win the event in a time of 2:06.12.

Junior Carolyn Geller from Williams set the pool record in the 50-yard freestyle during the preliminary heats, posting a time of 23.66. In the finals the race came down to the wire, but it was Geller who took first place by the narrowest of margins, one one-hundredth of a second, over second placed Hamilton junior Megan Gibbons. Geller would finish in 23.84, Gibbons in 23.85.

The 1-meter diving was a very tight affair, with only four points separating the top three places. In the end, Amherst senior Meggie Meisinger won the event with a score of 413.40. In third place after this morning's preliminaries, Meisinger strung together an extremely impressive six dive list to capture first place.

The final event of the night was the 400-yard medley relay. The Williams squad finished first in a time 3:50.34. The time broke the 17 year old pool record, previously held by Hope College, of 3:53.23.

Action resumes on Saturday with preliminary heats at 10:00 a.m.

2011 NESCAC WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday, February 18 - Sunday, February 20
at Muir-Samuelson Pool, Williams College

Order of Events