Four more records fall as Bates women place ninth at NESCACs
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Drake |
Green |
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Barton |
Swenson |
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Lamdin |
Rudis |
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Four more Bates College women’s swimming records fell on Sunday, the final day of the NESCAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Wesleyan University.
While setting 10 program records in the three-day meet, the Bobcats finished ninth out of 11 teams at the meet with 582.5 points, between Colby (653) and Hamilton (519), their best team finish since 2005.
Sophomore Katelyn Drake (Hudson, Ohio) broke her own school record in the 200-yard backstroke, placing fourth with a time of 2:07.92 and meeting the B standard for NCAA Championships qualifying. Drake’s former record from a year ago had been 2:09.81. Earlier in the meet Drake broke the Bates record in the 50 back and reset her own record in the 100 back.
First-year Charlotte Green (New Canaan, Conn.), meanwhile, set her second Bates record of the meet in the 100 free, where she placed fifth, despite being seeded only 16th, in the championship final with a time of 53.09, shaving 0.26 seconds off of the school record set by Nicole Sparks in 2003 and meeting the B standard for NCAA Championships qualifying. Green broke Sparks’ Bates record in the 50 free on Friday with a time of 24.55 seconds, good for fifth place in the NESCAC. Senior Annie Barton (Holladay, Utah) placed 14th in the event in 54.58 seconds.
And the quartet of Green, Drake, senior Emilie Swenson (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and Barton set its third Bates relay record of the weekend in the 400 free relay, finishing fourth at the meet in a time of 3:36.00, breaking the former Bobcats record of 3:38.03 set in 2003 by Nicole Sparks, Jill Kopicki, Vanessa Williamson and Kate Gatti. The same four Bates swimmers broke the school mark in the 200 free relay on Friday and the 800 free relay on Saturday. (Of particular note on the relays, Bates was seeded ninth in both the 200 and 400 but finished fourth, and hadn’t even raced the 800 relay all season.)
“Having the four same girls, in just three days, finish up as the fastest in school history in all their relays is nearly impossible to even comprehend,” penned head coach Peter Casares in his blog, “The Bobcat Chronicles.”
Also on Sunday, junior four-time All-America diver Kelsey Lamdin (Brunswick, Maine) finished third in the 3-meter diving event with 444.90 points, establishing a new 3-meter, 11-dive record for Bates, breaking the former mark of 431.55 set by Kara Seaton in 2004.
Saturday’s Recap
Saturday’s highlights for Bates lead off with the final event of the day, the 800 freestyle relay. Going from Annie Barton to Katelyn Drake to Emilie Swenson to Charlotte Green, Bates touched the wall at 7:54.05, good for fifth place, shaving 0.68 seconds off of the 2003 record posted by Vanessa Williamson, Kate Gatti, Jill Kopicki and Nicole Sparks.
Drake broke the 1-minute barrier twice more in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday, a day after becoming the first Bates woman to accomplish the feat. Drake broke the Bates record on Friday in her leg of the 400 medley relay. On Saturday in the individual 100 back event, she recorded a preliminary time of 59.04 seconds and a finals time of 58.94 seconds, good for third place in the championship final. Drake has met the B cut to compete at the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time. Emilie Swenson also qualified for the championship final with a prelim time of 1:01.52 and finished eighth in the final in 1:01.63.
Other Saturday highlights for Bates included a fifth-place showing in the 800 free relay, with Annie Barton, Drake, Swenson and Charlotte Green timing in 7:54.05 for 50 team points.
Green also placed 12th in the 200 freestyle with a finals time of 1:58.42.
Friday’s Recap
Bates women’s swimming and diving team had an excellent first day at NESCACs, with five team records falling.
Katelyn Drake first met the B qualifying standard for the NCAA Division III Championships, while swimming the leadoff leg of the 400 medley relay during prelims. Drake’s 100-yard backstroke in the relay timed in 58.89 seconds, shattering her own school record of 1:00.32 set a year ago at NESCACs. Drake hopes to join Lamdin on her first trip to nationals, and Casares liked her chances. “She posted a time that was faster than last year’s qualifying time, so it looks as though she has a very good chance of making the national meet,” said Casares.
Drake also finished fifth in the championship final of the 50-yard backstroke with a finals time of 27.82 seconds following a preliminary time of 27.68, a new Bates record. Drake broke the school record of 28.78 seconds set by Denby Johnson in 1998 and now owns the Bates records in the 50, 100 and 200 back. Drake finished eighth at NESCACs a year ago in 28.82 in the 50. Drake scored 25 points for Bates with her effort.
Charlotte Green, meanwhile, broke the Bates record in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing fifth in the championship final (belying her No. 18 seed entering the event) with a time of 24.55 seconds, identical to the time she checked in with in prelims. Green’s time beats the old Bates record of 24.79 seconds set by Nicole Sparks in 2003.
And in the 1-meter diving event, Lamdin took second place for the second straight year behind Tufts senior Kendall Swett with 434.50 points in the finals following a prelim score of 451.00, which is a career high and a new Bates 11-dive, 1-meter record. Lamdin set the meet record two years ago with a score of 423.25 points and scored 445.85 points last year to establish the former Bates record.
Sophomore diver Annaliese Rudis (North Andover, Mass.) qualified for finals with a prelim score of 376.50 points, and she finished eighth in the finals with 384.00 points. Senior Tasha Rosener (Dillon, Colo.) placed 14th with 354.80 points.
Bates placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Green, Drake, Emilie Swenson and Barton finished the race in 1:38.85, beating the 1996 former program record of 1:41.62 set by Melissa Sander, Emily Preissler, Beth Sawyer and Denby Johnson.
Other highlights for Bates on the first day of NESCACs included Swenson placing 11th in the 50 fly with a finals time of 27.08 seconds. Barton was right behind her in 13th place, with a finals time of 27.56 following a prelim time of 27.39. Barton also placed 14th in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:14.13, following a prelim time of 2:13.00, to score 13 team points. Sophomore Sarah Reingold (Oakland, Calif.) placed 18th in the 500 free in 5:16.85.
Coach Peter Casares is continually updating his blog. Click here for “The Bobcat Chronicles”.