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2005 MIAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Preview
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The 2005 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships are set for Thursday, February 17 through Saturday, February 19 at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The preliminary rounds are scheduled to begin each day at 10:30am with the finals beginning at 6:30pm on Thursday and Friday and 5:00pm on Saturday.
The 2004-05 MIAC women's swimming and diving season is about to come to an end, and the question is, who will be crowned the 2005 MIAC Champions? The defending champions, Gustavus Adolphus College, will be in search of its third conference title in four years. However, the Gusties will have to get past Carleton and St. Olaf, both of which the Gusties lost to in dual meets in the regular season. The rest of the teams in the conference will attempt to close the gap on the big three. The 2005 MIAC Championships could be one of the closest meets in conference history.
Gustavus Adolphus returns all but two swimmers from the 2004 championship team. Head coach Jon Carlson's squad holds the top times in two relays and three individual events headed into the conference meet. In the relays, Gustavus is seeded number one in the 200 yard freestyle relay and the 200 yard medley relay. Individually, the Gusties are seeded number one in three events. Junior Eva Miller, the 2004 champion in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke, has hopes of defending her titles as she recorded the top times in the MIAC in both events this season. Senior Katie Garvey will look to defender her title in the 100 yard butterfly as she is the top seeded individual in that event. Senior sprinter Beth DeLaRosby can not be forgotten, as she is the returning 50 and 100 freestyle champion.
Carleton has hopes of claiming its third title in school history and first since winning two consecutive in 2000 and 2001. The Knights enter the meet as the top seed in the 400 yard medley relay, 400 yard freestyle relay and the 800 yard freestyle relay. Individually, the Knights will be led by senior Marie Marsman. Marsman is arguably the finest women's swimmers in MIAC history. She holds MIAC records in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard freestyle and is the top seed in each of these events heading into the conference meet.
St. Olaf is determined to add another MIAC conference title to the record book. The Oles lead the MIAC with 13 conference titles, most recently winning in 2003. At one point, St. Olaf had won 11 consecutive conference titles from 1986-1997. The Oles are led by senior Katie Detwiler, who claimed three conference titles and was named Swimmer of the Year in 2004. The senior has put herself in great position to repeat as she has four top-six MIAC times, including the best in the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. Other top swimmers for St. Olaf are Kelly Dolan Katy Brentz and Kate Blum. Dolan touts top seven times in six events, while Brentz and Blum each hold top seven times in three events.
Macalester is a favorite to finish in fourth at the conference meet. The Scots have placed fourth in the last two MIAC Championships and will be sending one of their most balanced teams ever to the conference meet. Macalester went 5-2 in MIAC duals this season and have the potential to have finalists in every stroke. The Scots are led by distance freestyler Heather Lendway. At last year's championships, Lendway placed second in the 1650 yard freestyle and 400 yard individual medley, while placing third in the 500 yard freestyle. The junior hopes to improve upon her past performances as she heads into the conference meet as the top seed in the 500 yard freestyle and 1650 yard freestyle. In the relays, the Scots are seeded in the top six of all five events.
The College of Saint Benedict will look to improve upon its fifth place finish at last year's conference meet. Returning point earners for the Blazers will be sophomore Sara Skrbec in the 100 and 200 yard backstrokes and 50 yard freestyle. Junior Katie Jermihov in the 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard freestyle, and 200 yard backstroke. Sophomore Amanda Zacher was all conference in diving last year. Newcomers to the conference meet are Kaelly Simpson, seeded third in the 100 breaststroke, second in the 200 yard breaststroke, and seventh in the 400 yard individual medley. In the relays, the Blazers are seeded in the top five in four out of the five events.
The University of St. Thomas placed sixth at 2004 MIAC Championships. St. Thomas has six individual performances ranked in the top 10 of the MIAC heading into the conference meet. Cathleen Daly is ranked second in the 100 yard breaststroke and third in the 200 yard breaststroke. She took third in the 100 breaststroke last year as a freshman. Heather McFarland is fifth in the 50 free, Kate Boran is fourth in the 100 butterfly, and Ann Hepola is ninth in the 500 free and ninth in the 1000 free. The Toms' will be competitive in the 200 medley relay as they are seeded fourth overall. St. Thomas senior Krysy Harrod, a past MIAC finalist, is sidelined this season and hopes to return in 2005-06.
Concordia College will look to improve upon its seventh place finish in last year's conference meet. The Cobbers have six divers ranked in the top ten in both diving events. In the 3 meter diving, Bridge Bossart and Anne Cullen lead Concordia in the diving events. Bossart is seeeded third in the 3 meter and fourth in the 1 meter, while Cullen is seeded fourth in the 3 meter and fifth in the 1 meter. In the swimming events, Cami Hendrickson is seeded 11th in the 50 yard freestyle, while Shann Brown ranks 20th in the 100 yard breaststroke.
After finishing 8th at last year's MIAC Championships, Hamline hopes to take a big leap at the 2005 championships. The Pipers are led by first-year swimmer Aly Janzen and senior Adrianne Walls. Janzen enters the championships with the fourth lowest time in the 500-yard freestyle. She is also seeded fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle and ninth in the 200-yard backstroke. Walls has posted top 20 times in both the 500 and 1000 yard freestyle events. The Pipers will also be strong in the diving competition where senior Thyra Jagger is ranked fifth in the 3-meter dive and eighth in the 1-meter dive. First-year Tami Klenke and sophomore Natalie Netzel are also rated in the conference's top 15 in the 1- and 3-meter dives.
After recording a ninth place finish in last year’s MIAC Championships, the College of Saint Catherine is looking to move up in the conference rankings this year. Last season, none of the St. Kate’s relay teams placed above ninth place. In 2004-2005, they are seeded in the top eight in all five relay events. Junior Katie Hoeschen, senior Mary Engelun, and sophomores Natalie Sinkler and Kim Manke are returning scorers from previous championships and are eager to improve their performances. In addition, newcomers Allie Jones, Erica Campbell and Eugenia Conway hope to add to the Wildcats’ scoring total for the championships.
Saint Mary's University compiled 77 team points in last season's conference meet to place 11th overall. Senior Lindsey DeLaRosby leads the Cardinals with top 20 rankings in two events. DeLaRosby is seeded 14th in the 50 yard freestyle and 19th in the 100 yard freestyle. First-year Daniell Braun will hope to gather some points for the Cardinals, as she is seeded 13th in the 200 yard breaststroke.
Under coach Charlie King, the Augsburg College women's swimming team has continued to show strong improvement in its second season as a varsity sport. Augsburg is led by sophomore Kasi Clauson. She has seed times in the top 25 in five different events, including the 13th-fastest seed time in the 100-yard breaststroke. Newcomer Dani Matzke has set school records in four different freestyle events this season, while teammates junior Joann Anderson and first-year swimmers Leah Haan, Trudy Pommerening and Maria Schmidt have also shined in individual events.
