NCAA Division III Day Four Team Recaps

Carleton Women: Zicafoose Races to All-America Award, Knights' Relay Grabs Fourth All-American Honorable Mention
The final day of racing at the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships saw Kale Zicafoose (So./Omaha, Neb./Westside) grab All-American distinction with her seventh-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke. She also participated in the Knights’ 400-yard freestyle relay that placed 15th to secure All-America Honorable Mention.

Carleton concluded the weekend with 49 points, good for 17th out of 58 programs to tally points during the four-day competition at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center. The Kenyon College women won their third consecutive team title and 23 overall.

Zicafoose broke the school record during the preliminary round of the 200-yard backstroke, qualifying for the evening swim with a time of 2:02.58. She bested that during the championship heat, touching the wall seventh at 2:02.21. She matched national champion Carolyn Barer of Kenyon with the fastest final 50-yard split in the heat.

Joining her on the 400-yard freestyle relay were Becky Alexander (Sr./Tigard, Ore./Tualatin); Kaarin Taylor (Sr./Gainesville, Fla.); and Maggie Alexander (Fy./Tigard, Ore./Tualatin). The quartet posted the 15th-best time during the prelims with at time of 3:34.07. The Knights re-arranged the order of the participants at night and shaved more than 1.3 seconds of time off during the finals, finishing at 3:32.75.

Maggie Alexander also captured individual All-American Honorable Mention with a 12th-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.02. In her first trip to nationals, she earned honorable mention in all three of her individual events.

In other action on Saturday, Becky Alexander finished 33rd in the 100 freestyle with a collegiate-best time of 52.57. Kate Alexander (Jr./Tigard, Ore./Tualatin) was 27th in the 200-yard breaststroke.

For the weekend, all five Carleton women swimmers earned All-America or All-American Honorable Mention at least two times, with Zicafooe leading the way with five such swims. Seniors Becky Alexander and Kaarin Taylor capped their careers with four honors.

Carleton Men: Marschall Takes Home Eighth All-American Award
Senior Ted Marschall (Burnsville, Minn.) capped his fourth trip the NCAA Swimming Championships with the eighth All-America swim of his career as he finished eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke. Swimming without the benefit of teammates, he finished the weekend with 34 points in the standings, ranking 25th out of 57 swim programs to tally points at the 2009 Division III national meet.

When Marschall touched the wall with at time of 2:02.55, it brought to an end a storied collegiate career. In individual 12 events at his four trips to nationals, Marschall earned All-America distinction eight times along with a trio of All-American Honorable Mention.

St. Mary’s: McDowell Takes Fourth at NCAAs
Brie McDowell (Doylestown, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) ended her career as the most decorated Seahawk swimmer, claiming her fourth career All-America honor Saturday as the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships came to a close at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
 
The 2007 and 2009 Capital Athletic Conference Women’s Swimmer-of-the-Year, McDowell notched the program’s highest ever finish at the NCAAs as she finished fourth in the 200 backstroke event in 2:01.32, just under a second out of third place behind Emory University’s Tess Pasternak (2:00.69).  Carolyn Barer of Kenyon College won the event in 2:00.15 after finishing third in the prelims (2:00.47).
 
The senior captain, who had entered the 200 back seeded first (2:00.92), came in second in the morning swim as she touched the wall in a school record time of 2:00.32 behind Pasternak’s 1:59.54. 
 
To recap, McDowell earned three All-America citations with a second-place finish in the 200 back, a ninth-place finish in the 100 back and a 10th-place finish in the 200 individual medley event.  The holder of 12 school marks (8 individual, 4 relay), she picked up the program’s first-ever All-America award at the 2007 NCAA Championships with her ninth-place finish in the 100 back. 
 
Junior Rachel Hotchko (Yakima, Wash./A.C. Davis) wrapped up her second consecutive trip to the NCAAs by finishing 60th in the 100 freestyle event in 54.49.  Hotchko registered her career-best finish thus far at NCAA championships as she took 23rd in the 100 butterfly event on Thursday.
 
Kenyon’s dominance of the NCAA swimming championships continued as the Lords captured its 30th consecutive NCAA men’s championship title, while the Kenyon women won their third straight team national crown and 23rd overall.
 
St. Mary’s finished 22nd out of 56 teams with 31 points.
 
This was the fourth consecutive season that St. Mary’s has been represented at the NCAA championships, which were hosted this year by Macalester College at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.  It was the first-time ever that the men’s and women’s swimming championships were held at the same time and place.

Wheaton: Lyons Finish NCAA Championship with Program's First Placement
The Wheaton College women's swimming & diving team wrapped up the four-day NCAA Division III Championship with the first national placement in the program's 18-year history on Saturday, tying for 48th among 58 scoring teams with six points at the University of Minnesota's University Aquatic Center.

Sophomores Samantha Farrell (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial), Stephany Perkins (Monmouth, ME/Monmouth Academy), Dania Piscetta (Belmont, NH/Belmont) and Nicole Zais (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional), who earned the program's first All-America honors on Thursday, posted a 20th-place finish during the 400-yard freestyle relay trials.

The Lyons edged out New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Springfield College by 1.66 seconds during the relay in 3:36.22.  Piscetta and Zais also swam individually during Saturday's preliminaries, with Zais placing 25th in the 200-yard breaststroke and Piscetta taking 42nd in the 100-yard free.

On Friday, the Wheaton quartet was in action for another relay, finishing 18th in the 800-yard freestyle event with a time of 8:00.37. Also in the morning session, Zais touched the wall during the 100-yard breaststroke trials in 1:05.96, good for 23rd overall.