Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

Complete Results Team Results - Top 24 Individual Scores Psyche Sheet - Meet Records 2007 Championship Results

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Williams College put the finishing touches on its eighth consecutive NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving title by capturing two of the seven events decided today, the final day of the three-day championships at Wesleyan University.

Williams team total for points was well above its winning total of 2007. Its 1,853 points exceeded last year's figure by 96 points as the Ephs outdistanced second-place Middlbury by a comfortable 371.5 points. So deep were the Ephs in the pool that the members of the Williams squad took 44 top-eight finishes in the 17 individual swimming events. This compares to 25 by Middlebury and 23 by third-place Amherst. Each of the 10 Eph relay squads placed in the top three throughout the meet. 

The Williams winners today included freshman Ryan McChesney, who took the 1650-yard freestyle to add to the 1000 freestyle title she claimed on Saturday. Her margin of victory was almost half a pool length at 14 seconds. Her time of 17:17.67 qualifies her automatically for the NCAA Division III Championships. She produced one of 16 automatic qualifying times by individuals during the scoring portion of the competition over the three days.

The other Eph to win today was senior Michelle Kurkul, who upset Colby senior Kelly Norsworthy in the 200-yard breaststroke with a tremendous final 50 yards. Norsworthy, who swept the three breaststroke events during the 2007 championships and had captured both the 50 and 100 breaststroke earlier in the meet, had more than a one-second lead after 100 yards but Kurkul made up one-third of a second in the next 50 yards and blew past Norsworthy in the final 50 to take the victory by 0.55 seconds.

The most outstanding effort of the day was turned in by Lord Jeff first year Kendra Stern, whose :50.56 time in the 100-yard freestyle was a NESCAC, NESCAC meet and Wesleyan pool record as well as an automatic qualifying time for the NCAAs. Her margin of victory was a cool 1.48 seconds. That win gave Stern a sweep of the sprint freestyle events this year. She earned NESCAC Swimmer of the Meet honors. Stern also was part of Amherst's NESCAC, meet and pool record setting 400 free relay squad today. Amherst captured all three free relays during the meet with Stern aboard.

Tufts senior diver Kendall Swett repeated as three-meter winner with a NESCAC, NESCAC meet and pool-record score of 536.85. Winning both diving events for the second consecutive year, Swett was named Diver of the Meet.

Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Williams College dominated the second day of the 2008 NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships in search of its eighth straight conference crown. Leading by 164.5 points after the first day, Williams nearly doubled its margin over second-place Middlebury by adding 514 points to its total to stand at 1244 points. Middlebury is 305.5 back with 938.5, followed closely by Amherst with 935.5 as the battle for second place looks to be a dog fight. A pack of five teams are crowded within 45 points of each other for places four through eight, adding more excitement to the final outcome tomorrow as the three-day affair draws to a close.

Four individuals became NESCAC champions for a second time in this 2008 meet with three of them successfully defending their titles from a year ago. Repeating as a winner in the 100-yard backstroke for a second year was Amherst senior Brittany Sasser. She also captured the 200 individual medley on Friday. Middlebury senior Marika Ross added the 100-yard butterfly title to her credits for a second consecutive year to go along with her 50 fly crown yesterday. Kelly Norsworthy, a senior from Colby, won the 100-yard breaststroke for the second year in a row, something she accomplished the day before in the 50 breast.

Newcomer Kendra Stern, a first year student at Amherst, had the day's greatest accomplishment when she won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:49.18, becoming the first NESCAC woman in history to get below the 1:50 mark. She eclipsed the previous NESCAC record of 1:50.32 set by her sister Meaghan for Amherst in winning last year's title. Meaghan, a junior, placed second three seconds behind her sister this year. The two combined with Sasser and junior Alex Lee to win the 800 free relay in a NESCAC meet-record time of 7:30.29.

Williams had three winners on the day - first year Ryan McChesney in the 1000 free, junior Amanda Nicholson in the 400 individual medley and the 200 medley relay squad of freshman Olivia Card-Childers, junior Courtney Asher, first year Nancy McInerney and sophomore Lisa Cucolo.

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Williams holds an early lead after day one at the 2008 NESCAC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships. The defending champion Ephs have accumulated 730 points and sit 164.5 points ahead of second place Middlebury. Amherst, the runner-up at last year’s meet, is third with 538.5 points. Rounding out the top five are Bowdoin in fourth with 292.5 points and Tufts in fifth with 288.

A total of five pool records were set at Wesleyan on Friday. The Middlebury 200-yard freestyle relay team set a new Wesleyan Natatorium record with a 1:35.43 showing, as the Panthers edged Amherst for the 200-yard freestyle relay title by 0.05 seconds.

After breaking the pool record in the 50-yard breaststroke during the morning preliminary session, Colby senior Kelly Norsworthy (West Hartford, Conn.) set another new standard in the evening with a time of 29.65. Junior teammate Kelsey Potdevin (Juneau, Alaska) had a record-breaking time of 27.09 in the 50-yard backstroke, and Tufts senior diver Kendall Swett (Akron, Ohio) set a new mark in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 473.45, just over 13 points shy of the championship record she set at last year’s meet.

Amherst senior Brittany Sasser (Belmont, Mass.), the 2007 NESCAC Swimmer of the Meet, broke the pool and championship record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.97. In her first championship, rookie Kendra Stern (Albuquerque, N.M.) broke a six-year championship record in the 500-yard freestyle by over two seconds with a time of 4:57.42.

The top six finishers in the 50-yard freestyle were all first year swimmers. Williams’ Olivia Card-Childers (Houston, Texas) edged Middlebury’s Emily McDonald (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) for the 50 freestyle title.

Competition resumes on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Wesleyan Natatorium with preliminary races in the morning and championship events in the evening.