W. Swimming places 10th at EWSL Championships

Last weekend, Penn participated in a lightning-fast Eastern Women's Swimming League Championships at Princeton. Although the swimming was at a much higher level than last year, the meet seemed all too familiar to the Quakers. For the second year in a row, Brown won top honors and Penn finished 10th of 11 teams. Although they did not beat as many teams as they had hoped, the Quakers performed better than last year. This season, at least three swimmers and six divers made automatic qualifications for the NCAA championship meet, and many others posted NCAA consideration times. Last year, however, no one qualified. The increase in speed made the 1997 Easterns one of the most competitive in years. The ESWL Swimmer of the Year was Columbia's Christina Teuscher, who amassed 60 points, only 25 less than the Quakers earned. A national champion and 1996 Olympic Gold medalist in the 800-freestyle relay, the freshman set three new meet records. Included among these three is the 1650-meter freestyle in which she finished 33 seconds before the next finisher. Despite Teuscher's strong performance, Brown came out on top. Freshman Katie Cowan and junior Kari Klassen both earned only three fewer points than Teuscher. Sophomore Tana Belisle-Leclerc finished sixth overall (47 points) with her teammates Katrina Walters and Megan Rhea only a point behind. The Bears' depth won the meet for them for the second year in a row. Princeton finished second, 57 points behind the Bears and 200 points ahead of the third-place finishers Yale. Penn earned 85 points, finishing 10th of 11 teams as they did last year. "The team as a whole competed very well. They stepped up for the relays, swimming faster in the relays than in their individual events for the most part," Penn sophomore Kelly James said. "Overall, the hard work that people have put in paid off with fast swims. The meet in general was considerably faster than last year." Every Quaker knew they had to give it their all to have a chance of reaching the night finals. Many Quakers swam their best times ever, and five were fast enough to qualify for the night finals. What is more, all five of them -- Jenn Walsh, Lauren Hibbert, James, Michelle Amicone and Christy Meyer, swam at least two seconds faster at night than they had in the morning. Walsh swam her best time ever in the 100-butterfly, placing eighth in the event and becoming Penn's first finalist in an individual event in five years. Hibbert posted best times in all three of her events and dropped 10 seconds in her 500-freestyle. James swam a personal best in both the 100-backstroke and the 200-backstroke. Freshman Michelle Amicone swam her personal best (55.37) in the 100-freestyle and had the fastest split on the 200-freestyle. Penn junior co-captain Christy Meyer swam a best time in the 100 breaststroke. The 400-freestyle relay team swam its best all year, placing eighth in the finals. Finally, sophomore Penn diver Johanna Minich placed 21st in the three-meter dive. A novice collegiate diver, Minich beat out seven other divers, including three upperclassmen. "It was wonderful to end our season on a good note and definitely needed for this year," Meyer said. "The incredible speed this year created an intensity and general upbeat feeling. All of us had huge smiles as we got out of the pool and looked at the clock. Such success boosted the team morale and made everyone think 'Wow, I can do this, too'."

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