Courtesy Williams Sports Information

HARTFORD, Conn. – Williams captured its second consecutive conference title at the NESCAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by the Ephs over the weekend. Williams finished more than 150 points ahead of runner-up Amherst. Middlebury placed third in the 11-team meet.

Senior Cristin Brennan of Williams was named "Swimmer of the Meet" and earned the "Senior Four-Year High Point Swimmer Award" honors. In this year’s championship, Brennan won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:53.47, the 500-yard freestyle in 4:59.59, and the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:13.88. Her time in the 1,650 freestyle set a NESCAC Championship record and qualified her for the NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Miami University Sports and Recreation Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio March 14-16. She also swam on the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team that finished first in 7:45.78. Brennan’s time in the 200-yard freestyle set a NESCAC Championship record and qualified her for the national meet.

Sophomore Rachel Gealy of the Ephs was named "Diver of the Meet" after winning the one- and three-meter diving events with NESCAC Championship records in each. She won the one-meter board with 390.45 points and the three-meter board with 459.95 points. Her preliminary score of 482.85 points on the three-meter board set a NESCAC conference record.

Cathy Poor of Amherst earned the "Senior Four-Year High Point Diver Award", placing second in the one- and three-meter diving events in this year’s championship. Kit Callahan Koch of Williams was named NESCAC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year and Steve Kuster of the Ephs was named NESCAC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year.

First-year swimmer Kate Kovenock of Connecticut College set a NESCAC Championship record and qualified for the NCAA championship by winning the 100-yard freestyle in 52.22 seconds. She also qualified for the national meet by winning the 50-yard freestyle in 24.06 seconds. Senior Jess Knight of Colby set a NESCAC Championship record by winning the 100-yard Individual Medley in 1:00.60. Junior Morgan Bayer of Amherst qualified for the national championship by winning the 200-yard butterfly in 2:06.93.

First-year swimmer Lindsay Payne of Williams won the 50-yard breaststroke in a NESCAC Championship record time of 29.89 seconds, and automatically qualified for the national championship in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes in NESCAC Championship record times. She won the 100 breast in 1:04.28 and the 200 breast in 2:22.74. The 2001 Swimmer of the Meet Meredith Olson of the Ephs won the 200-yard Individual Medley in 2:08.27 and the 400-yard IM in 4:33.83, qualifying her for the NCAA meet in each event.

Williams swept all three relays, including a NESCAC record performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Ephs qualified for the national meet with a time of 1:35.78. The Ephs set NESCAC Championship records and also qualified for the national championship by winning the 200-yard medley relay in 1:47.49, the 400-yard medley relay in 3:55.37, the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:31.79, and the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:45.47.

Other individual winners included Laura Miller of Colby in the 50-yard butterfly (:26.06), Lizzy DeWitt of Middlebury in the 50-yard backstroke (:28.21), Kellianne Egan of the Panthers in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:34.43), Zibby Stokes of Williams in the 100-yard butterfly (:58.68), Jessica Yankura of the Ephs in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.05), and Sarah Murchison of Williams in the 200-yard backstroke (2:07.56).