Eight-time NESCAC Women’s
Swimming & Diving Champion Williams College will look to add to
its legacy this weekend when the Ephs join the rest of the
conference at the 2009 NESCAC Women’s Swimming and Diving
Championships. The three-day event begins on Friday, Feb. 20 with
preliminary heats in the morning and championship races in the
evening at the Leroy Greason Pool on the campus of Bowdoin College
in Brunswick, Maine. Fans unable to attend the event can follow all
of the action live via the Internet on JumboCast.
Williams cruised to the 2008 crown with a 1,853-point performance,
well above the second-place showing of 1,481.5 points from
Middlebury. The Ephs were able to claim six events at the 24-event
championship as their depth was once again enough to lift them to
the overall title for the eighth year in a row. The Panthers
finished as the runner-up for the second time in three years,
swapping places with Amherst after the Jeffs placed second in 2007.
Connecticut College edged out Tufts for fourth place for the
second-straight year, as the Camels had a 17-point advantage over
the Jumbos.
In the freestyle events, all eyes will be on Amherst sophomore
Kendra Stern (Albuquerque, N.M.) to see if she will repeat the
performance at last year’s championship that earned her 2008
Swimmer of the Meet honors. Stern already holds the NESCAC meet
record for the 100, 200 and 500-yard freestyle races and has posted
the top times in the conference for those events so far this
season. Older sister Meaghan, participating in her final NESCAC
championship this weekend, will look to team up with Kendra in the
hopes of giving Amherst a dominant finish in the mid-distance
freestyle events. Youth will once again be on display in the
50-yard freestyle this year, as 10 of the top 11 times in the
league belong to first year and sophomore competitors. Last
February the top six individuals in the championship final were
rookie participants, with Williams’ Olivia Card-Childers
(Houston, Texas) coming away with the title. Joining Card-Childers
in the pursuit of the 50 title will be sophomores Charlotte Green
(New Canaan, Conn.) of Bates and Emily McDonald (Glenwood Springs,
Colo.) of Middlebury along with Connecticut College first year
Erika Fernandes (Westport, Mass.). McDonald was second to
Card-Childers in 2008 by four-tenths of a second, while Green
placed fifth.
The Ephs may have the advantage in the long distance freestyle
events. Sophomore Ryan McChesney (Atlanta, Ga.) will be back to
defend her individual titles in both the 1,000 and 1,650-yard
freestyle. Joining her in the hunt will be classmate Erin
Altenburger (Mendham, N.J.) and senior Mary Wilson Molen
(Birmingham, Ala.). Molen has placed in the top four in both events
during each of her three previous championship appearances,
finishing second in the 1,650 in 2006 and again in 2007.
The backstroke races will feature plenty of competition. Colby
senior Kelsey Potdevin (Juneau, Alaska) returns in search of her
third 50-yard crown after taking the title in 2006 and again in
2008. Potdevin will face stiff competition from Bates junior
Katelyn Drake (Hudson, Ohio), as she finished fifth in the 50 and
third in the 100 and 200 last year. The Williams tandem of senior
Amanda Nicholson (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and sophomore Ellen Ramsey
(Belmont, Mass.) also have their eyes on the 200 title. Nicholson
currently holds the fastest time in the NESCAC in the 200, while
Ramsey is the top returner from the 2008 championship, placing
second.
The breaststroke events feature a talented pool of competitors all
vying for their first individual title. Williams junior Lisa Cucolo
(Glenville, N.Y.) currently holds the inside track on the field as
she owns the fastest times in the conference in the 50, 100 and
200-yard breaststroke. Cucolo’s competition will include
senior teammate Courtney Asher (Berwyn, Pa.), who finished third in
the 100 and fourth in the 200 last year. Other swimmers in the hunt
for the breaststroke titles will be Bowdoin sophomore Caitlin
Callahan (Essex, Conn.) and Middlebury senior Catherine Suppan
(Burlington, Vt.). Callahan is the top returner from last
year’s 50, while Suppan placed in the top eight in the 100
and 200.
Markia Ross of Middlebury dominated the butterfly events for three
consecutive years, winning the 50, 100 and 200-yard events at each
of the last three conference meets. Looking to usher in a new era
will be Williams first year Logan Todhunter (Ithaca, N.Y.).
Todhunter holds the fastest times in the conference in all three
races, marks that rival the championship record times in the
butterfly events.
The top three places in four of the five relay events were held by
Amherst, Middlebury and Williams a year ago, with the Jeffs setting
the championship mark with their victories in the 400 and 800
freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. This year, the Ephs
appear to have the upper hand as they enter the weekend with the
top times in four of the five contested relay events, however
Williams will be challenged by Bates, Bowdoin, Colby and Tufts in
addition to old foes Amherst and Middlebury.