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Women's Swimming and Diving Recap
Three Meter Diving
Trinity went 1-2-3-4-5-7 in Nashville in the 3 -meter diving, and will be even stronger in this event in 2010. Junior Hayley Emerick broke her own SCAC record a year ago, tallying 630.40 points on her way to her second consecutive conference 3-meter win.
She and senior Lindsay Martin, SCAC runner-up, finished 3-5 at the 2009 NCAA Championships (held at the University on Minnesota in March). Joining the two All-Americans for another year on the boards will be Amy Oliver, Rebecca Parrish, Lynne Bettinger, and Kristin Nordstrom. First-year divers Ruth Hahn and Madison Kahler will make a strong team even more exceptional. There is no better collection of divers anywhere in the country, and Coach Randall will again have a chance to work his magic as he helps each of his athletes shine a little brighter than ever before. Trinity has made a considerable commitment to its diving program, and its women's team is poised to again dominate the SCAC diving scene.
500 Freestyle
Sophomore Raelle Smiley finished second to DePauw's Callie Boehme in the 500 at the 2009 SCAC's in Nashville, and is Trinity's only championship heat finalist returning. Junior Mary West is capable of scoring in the big final, and class-mate Darcy Wheeler was 12th overall here last winter.
This event has gotten deeper each of the last three seasons as conference schools have added talent to their distance freestyle line-ups. Losing Lindsay Weigley to graduation hurts T.U.'s depth here, and the Tigers do not have a distance specialist in their new collection of FY swimmers. They will have to pay attention to this need as they go about recruiting this winter if they hope to continue their long tradition of excellence in both the 500 and the 1650.
200 IM
Alison Gizinski and Sonya Karbach both hit PRs in the 2009 big final of the 200 IM last February - great swims for each in their final SCAC title meet. Losing them to graduation is a bummer. Fortunately, Centre, DePauw, and Colorado College graduated the conference's three fastest 200 IM finalists, easing some of the sting that T.U. is feeling from their loss. T.U. replaces Gizinski and Karbach with FY Lisa Tucci. She's pretty good, but adding one and subtracting two yields fewer points on the scoreboard. That means returning junior Leigh-Anne Ladymon will have to step up and swim more like she did in 2008, when she earned All-SCAC honors with a 2:12.77 PR. If she does that and Tucci gets the job done, the Tigers will fare well overall in Louisville in the short IM.
50 Freestyle
Trinity has not had a top 3 conference finalist in the women's 50 freestyle since Jessica Isenberg ripped off a record swim of 23.63 back in the pre-high tech suit era (the year was 2005). It will be interesting to see how the 2009 SCAC returning finalists do when the "no flotation" mandate the NCAA is imposing for 2010 takes this event back to yester year. Senior Renee Ulrich was 7th in last year's final, while Jessica Schwartz and Kristen Zinser both scored in the consolation heat. None were adorned in Lazers or Blue-70's, so they won't miss them. FYs Rachel Berude and Ana Price are pretty quick for 50 yards, which bodes well for the Tiger's ability to hang closer to DePauw in the sprint scoring column. Centre, however, returns three finalists in the 50 - including last year's winner. Ouch !
400 IM
DePauw's Callie Boehme will return to defend her 400 IM title, while runner-up Emily Stumhofer of Colorado College graduated. This is an event with lots of opportunity for anyone with some talent and the moxie to train hard enough to go under 4:40 in Louisville. Junior Mary West and senior Maria Lopez finished 7th and 8th in Nashville last February - while seniors Lara Bahr, Sonni Szymczak, and Annia Parra all scored in the consolation final. Lopez has the talent to excel here, but is studying abroad (Australia) for the fall semester and may not reappear for her last chance at competing for her first conference title in this or any event. Either way that goes, the rest of the Tigers else will have to step it up a notch or two if the team is to hang tough in the long IM at the 2010 championship meet.
100 Butterfly
Trinity returns conference championship finalist Leigh-Anne Ladymon, who was the only 2009 top 6 finisher not wearing a Lazer or a Blue-70. The SCAC's two fastest sprint flyers both graduated, creating quite a bit of opportunity here for anyone ready to pay the price required to earn all-conference honors for the coming season. Joining Ladymon in the Tiger line-up will be three talented FY flyers - Leslie Butts, Lisa Tucci, and Kate O'Brien. All are fast enough to score somewhere in the 2010 mix. Returning senior Jessica Schwartz achieved a PR of 1:00.42 while winning the consolation final in Nashville, while Sonni Szymczak was 13th in that same race. All in all, it looks like the 100 butterfly is going to be a strong event for T.U. this winter.
200 Freestyle
Trinity lost 2009 conference runner-up Lindsay Weigley to graduation, but brings back sophomore Raelle Smiley. The T.U. sophomore from Texas was 3rd here last February, and she's the highest finishing non-senior returning for the 2010 campaign. First-year Rachel Berude will likely score points for T.U. in the 200, as she has a high school PR of just under two minutes. Tiger junior Darcy Wheeler almost made the 200 consolation final in 2009, and is hard-working enough to improve upon her previous best performances by the time the team arrives in Louisville. The jury is, of course, out on how the suit rule will affect the times and places of those returning for this race. This could be the most unpredictable race contested at the SCAC Championships come February.
100 Breaststroke
No question about it, Trinity is weak in the sprint breaststroke - with little help in sight. Alison Gizinski was 5th in the 100 in Nashville, and has graduated. Senior Annia Parra was 12th at conference last year, but has always competed more successfully over the 200 distance than the 100. Five of last year's big finalists graduated last spring, leaving lots of places open for up-and-coming first-year talent with the desire to excel and/or represent their respective team at the SCAC's premier meet. Trinity must recruit a couple of breaststrokers for the 2010-2011 season or the Tigers are in big trouble, as Parra will be graduating. If they don't fill this hole in their line-up, T.U. will have to find three more divers to help generate some extra points for their annual run for the SCAC team championship roses.
100 Backstroke
Sonya Karbach capped a terrific career with a PR in the 100 backstroke last winter - her 1:00.98 was Trinity's fastest finish in the 2009 conference meet. Junior Kristen Zinser achieved a PR while finishing 7th here in 2009, while seniors Renee Ulrich and Bryden Banister were 12th and 13th . FY Jennifer Ince joins the Tigers with a high school PR that would have ranked 6th in the SCAC at the 2009 championship meet. If she, FY Mary Price, and their upper-class teammates all improve just a bit in 2010, T.U. will hold its own here in Louisville. Overall, it will be interesting to see who swims how fast once the "high tech" suits are in mothballs and the athletes are all racing on even terms. Trinity may benefit from the suit ban in this event, as the Tigers all did it the old-fashioned way last winter.
One-Meter Diving
The TU women went 1-2-3-4-5-7-9 in the 1-meter diving event at the 2009 SCAC Championships. Leading the way was Junior Hayley Emerick, who recorded a new conference record of 489.95 points, edging teammate Lindsay Martin for the win. A month later at the 2009 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Martin put together a great list and took 3rd on the low board, as both she and Emerick (who finished 6th) earned All-American honors. All in all, an awesome year for the whole team. The good news is that everyone is returning. Martin and Emerick will be joined by senior Bryden Banister, juniors Amy Oliver and Rebecca Parrish, and sophomores Kristin Nordstrom and Lynne Bettinger. Can it possibly get any better than this? According to Coach Stan Randall, the answer is "Yes!". The team is adding two new first-year divers, Ruth Hahn and Madison Kahler. This will help make Trinity's line-up even deeper and more talented than ever. Look for excellence and a lot of points at the conference meet in Louisville.
1650 Freestyle
Sophomore Raelle Smiley nearly broke the T.U. 1650 freestyle record on her way to finishing in the runner-up spot at the 2009 SCAC Championships - her third top three finish at the meet. Juniors Mary West and Darcy Wheeler finished 8th and 10th in the 2009 mile, helping Trinity score some important points at the beginning of the final session of the Nashville conference meet. Senior Lara Bahr did likewise, clocking the 13th fastest mile of the day. Three top nine conference finalists graduated (including T.U.'s Lindsay Weigley), so the list of 1650 returnees is a long one. People have to train hard to do well in this event - so here's hoping T.U. will get the job done again in 2010. Work ethic is certainly the key to success in this event.
200 Backstroke
Trinity and Southwestern were the only two teams in the SCAC with two big finalists in last year's 200 backstroke in Nashville. Sonya Karbach has graduated and the Tigers will miss her. Kristen Zinser, who finished 5th in 2009, is the lone Tiger returnee. Bryden Banister and Lara Bahr both scored in the 200 consolation final, while first-year Jennifer Ince is untested at this distance. It will be interesting to see if any of the conference's 9 schools has a red hot rookie 200 backstroke specialist in their line-up. The results may move around a little due to first-year talent and/or the new suit rule. This is another event that defies accurate prediction based on anything seen last season in-so-far as times are concerned. Talent will tell in Louisville.
100 Freestyle
Wow ! How do you suppose so many women suddenly went 52 plus in the 100 freestyle last winter ? Want to bet on whether we'll see that kind of speed again in Louisville ? In the good old days, Trinity had the two fastest 100 freestylers in the conference record books (Jessica Isenberg and Leta Gatton). They've been pushed down the chart by, arguably, "the suits" rather than true talent. That said, last winter Trinity was the weakest it has ever been in the 100 freestyle at an SCAC Championship meet. For the first time ever, not a single T.U. swimmer scored in this event. Fortunately, FYs Rachel Berude and Ana Price will hopefully change that in 2010. Centre and DePauw are fast and deep here, but Louisville will be better than Nashville for the Tigers in the next SCAC century sprint.
200 Breaststroke
Catie Baker of DePauw took the SCAC 200 record down a couple of notches with an outstanding time of 2:22.01 in Nashville. Trinity's Alison Gizinski had a 200 PR going, but unfortunately got DQ'd for something that Coach John Ryan is still trying to comprehend. She has since graduated. Annia Parra, meanwhile, finished 10th and salvaged a few 200 breaststroke points for the Tigers. DePauw owned the race in '09, and their two top entrants were first-year swimmers. While Baker may have trouble going faster, she's clearly the favorite to repeat as conference champion. Don't underestimate Parra's chances at this distance, though - especially with three of last winter's top five finishers now graduated. Trinity is likely to get a good performance from her here.
200 Butterfly
Amanda Steir (DePauw) and Liz Starr (Centre) have both very thankfully graduated. That opens the door for several women (Trinity junior Leigh-Anne Ladymon among them) to step up and claim conference honors in Louisville. Sonni Szymczak and Jessica Schwartz scored points in the 200 for the Tigers last year, and first-year swimmers Leslie Butts and Kate O'Brien will hopefully step up and help out here as well. If everyone does their job, it will go a long way to contributing to T.U.'s run at a seventh consecutive SCAC team title. Here's hoping the butterfly brigade works hard, stays healthy, and goes to Kentucky ready to swim fast come February. This event may determine which team leaves Louisville with a trophy on the night of Saturday, February 20.
