Jan. 21, 2008
The women’s team finished up 2007 in fine fashion by defeating Grinnell College and Lake Forest College by winning nine of the 16 events. Highlights included two more school records going down, one by Ellie Elgamal in the 100 back (1:02.08) and the other by fellow freshman Katherine Leonard in the 200 back (2:15.57).
The women were 4-1 in dual meets and headed into Winter Training Trip on a roll. In addition, the team’s strong first-half showing in dual meets earned them a 25th place ranking on the Collegeswimming.com Top-25 Dual Meet Coaches Poll. Apparently other coaches have taken notice of our team’s amazing start.
Our annual training trip took place in sunny Ft. Lauderdale where we trained in the USA Swimming Hall of Fame Pool. With the exception of a couple cold days towards the end of the trip and a broken pool heater, the ladies had an amazing time during the trip and trained extremely hard. After all the hard work they put in over the trip the women were poised to put together a strong second half of competing against some very tough teams.
The women came back after a few weeks of rest at home and started right where they left off, dominating Kalamazoo College 175-108 by winning 13 of the 16 events. After falling out of the top 25 due to the fact that they hadn’t competed in over a month, this was a strong statement to Division III that the team belonged back in the rankings.
Freshman sensation Ellie Elgamal won three individual events and was a part of the winning 200 Medley Relay. She broke her own school record in the 100 butterfly going 57.84, an NCAA provisional time which currently ranks her 6th in all of DIII swimming. Ellie’s performance in this meet earned her UAA Athlete of the Week honors as well. Another member of our strong freshman class, Charlotte Richman, also won a pair of events, showing her versatility by winning the 100 back and the 100 free.
The team had another tough week of training leading into the Chicago Invite which they came away with another impressive three-session win over 10 other teams while swimming off-events. Charlotte Richman again proved to be a valuable asset to the team by winning the 100 fly, the first time she swam it all season, and then coming back less than an hour later to win the 100 back in 1:03.74, also a personal best.
Ellie Elgamal broke two more records this week: her own 100 back record leading off the 400 Medley Relay with a 1:01.61 and the 200 fly school and pool record … in practice! By dropping the medicine ball in the water during dryland she earned the chance to swim a 200 fly after warm up while her teammates cheered her on. While Ellie is a very accomplished flyer, I don’t think anyone expected her to go a 2:06.7 in practice. That time was only a couple tenths of an NCAA ‘A’ cut and would have placed her 5th in the country. It’s too bad it didn’t count (where’s an official when you need one!) but I’m OK with this staying on the down low until UAAs, I’m starting to enjoy watching our women surprise unsuspecting swim teams.
The Maroons are now in the home stretch with UAA Championships just a few weeks away. But they still have some business to take care of with three Top-25 teams coming to town the next two weekends. The way these girls have been swimming in practice and in competitions, nobody should be taking us lightly, no matter what their ranking. |
