Saturday arrived with temperatures much more typical of Billsville than Boca, with yesterday’s sixties being replaced by thirties and predicted to fall further. But the cold weather had no chilling effect on the swimmers here at Williams College on the second day of the NESCAC championships. Host Williams came out strong early to set the stage for building a larger lead tonight over arch-rival Amherst, currently more than 100 points behind.
The Ephs posted the fastest qualifying time in the 200 medley relay with anchor Carolyn Geller again posting an inspiring :23.01 split. Geller made three trips to the top spot on the podium last night and appears determined to make another one tonight. Williams then grabbed four of the top eight spots in the next two events, the 400 IM and the 100 fly. It is the Ephs’ signature event; Eph fans well remember their 1-2-3-4-5 finish at last year’s meet. The 100 fly qualifiers were led by Logan Todhunter’s :56.04.
Lost to some of us in the drama of last night’s Day 1 finals was that Hamilton freshman Maggie Rosenbaum led off the 400 medley relay in :56.65, well under the NCAA “A” cut time and setting a new Williams pool record in the process. In today’s qualifying swims, Rosenbaum proved it was no fluke, qualifying first in :56.67. The air will be heavy with anticipation tonight. Asked about her first NESCAC meet, Rosenbam said, “Everyone on our team’s doing very, very well. We’re excited!”
Amherst, however, looks well-positioned to maintain its hold on second place, with strong qualifying performances this morning by Andrea Jenson and Cassandra Farnow in the 400 IM, Allison Merz in the 100 fly (seeded second tonight with a :57.27), five of the top 14 qualifiers in the 200 free, and two finalists in the 100 breaststroke, led by top qualifier Rebecca Kelley (1:06.17). And with the 800 fee relay being contested tonight and having Kendra Stern in your arsenal, there should be a very high finish for Amherst in that event too.
Connecticut College continued its strong performance this morning. Camel senior Sarah Murphy, who is aving a great meet, swam to a second place seeding in tonight’s 200 free in 1:51.84, behind Stern, who cruised to a 1:50.05. The 200 in fact presents a pleasantly diverse field, for in addition to Conn Coll and Amherst, there will be championship final appearances by swimmers from Colby, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Tufts and Williams.
Tonight will also feature the finals of the 1000 free, another NESCAC tradition (the 1650 will be contested tomorrow).