Saturday Recap
March 12, 2005
Emory University has captured its first-ever NCAA Division III women's
swimming and diving title topping the 54-team field at the 24th annual
championship hosted by Hope College in Holland, Mich. The Eagles finished
with 399.5 points to beat out three-time defending champion Kenyon who
ended runnerup with 313 points.
It is only the fourth time in the 24 year history of
the meet that Kenyon has not won the Division III championship. The Eagles
have climbed steadily to the top under coach Jon Howell who was an 11-time
national champion swimmer at Kenyon. He coached the Kenyon men and women
to national titles in 1996. His first Emory team was 12th in 1999, followed
by 7th, 4th, 3rd twice and a year ago second. Emory's only other DIII
women's championships have come in tennis (1996, 2003 and 2004).
Rounding out the top ten were Denison 305.5, Williams 272.5, Amherst 243, Carleton 199, Washington, Mo. 184.5, Colby 164, Middlebury 154, and Calvin 139.
Williams junior Lindsay Payne was voted the coaches' swimmer of the meet while the diving honor went to freshman Doria Holbrook of MIT. Payne was
the national champion in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and swam on Williams' two first place medley relay teams. Holbrook took first place on the three-meter
board and was third on the one-meter board.
Voted the coaches of the year were Jon Howell of Emory (swimming) and Brad Snodgrass of MIT (diving).
It was not a good year for defending DIII champions. Among the five returning gold medal winners
from 2004, only Denison's Jill Boo returned to the top step of the awards stand after winning the 100 butterfly for the third consecutive year.
In 2004, Kenyon won all five relay championships. This year the Ladies won none. Three
different teams won a relay gold -- Carleton in the 200 and freestyle, Williams in the 400 and 200 medley, and Emory in the 800
freestyle.
The meet had four double winners, including two freshmen -- Kaitlyn Orstein
of Washington & Jefferson in the 200 and 400 IM and Amherst's Brittany Sasser
in the 100 and 200 back. Carleton senior Marie Marsman won the 50 and 100
free and William's Lindsay Payne took the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Four DIII meet records were established -- Kaitlyn Orstein of Washington & Jefferson in the 200 IM (2:03.28); Lindsay Payne of Williams
in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.75) and 200 breaststroke (2:6.40) and Marie Marsman of Carleton in the 100 free (:49.46).
Every previous Holland Aquatic Center swimming record was broken during the meet.
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