GRIMES BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD EN ROUTE TO FIRST NCAA CUT; SAINTS FINISH NINTH AT NYSWCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Feb. 23: First-year Hannah Grimes earned her first ever NCAA cut on her way to breaking the St. Lawrence school record in the 200-yard breaststroke, as the rookie led the St. Lawrence University women’s swim team to a ninth place finish at the New York State Women’s College Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships, held at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY.

Grimes ( Hamden, CT/ Hamden) accounted for almost a fifth of the Saints’ 520 points, tallying up 93 while breaking two school records as well as being on a record-breaking relay team.

The breaststroker shattered the previous team record, set by teammate Alida Gerritsen (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) two weeks ago against Alfred, in prelims Saturday morning as she clocked in with a career-best time of 2:27.42, just three-tenths shy of the NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Determined to reach her goal of making the cut, Grimes knocked nearly two more seconds off her preliminary time, touching the wall at 2:25.44, well under the NCAA mark and re-breaking the record while also finishing second in the event.

Gerritsen swam to a seventh place finish in the only event where the Saints had two swimmers in the top eight, as the Baltimore, MD native clocked in at 2:31.81, just over her preliminary time of 2:31.47.

Other finals swims included sophomore Abbey Lynch ( Norwood, NY/St. Lawrence Central), who finished 11 th overall in the 100-yard freestyle with a 55.26, a season-best swim for the North Country native. First-year Katy Kozminski (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) also qualified for finals in the 100, placing 20 th overall with a 55.85, taking a second off her previous personal best time.

Senior co-captain Kim Watcke ( Cheshire, CT/Sacred Heart Academy) swam to a 12 th place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:13.62, a career-best. The backstroker, along with Lynch, Kozminski, and junior Ashley Bogosian ( Massena, NY/The Peddie School), were members of the 400-yard freestyle relay, that finished eighth overall with a time of 2:43.20.

The ‘B’ relay in the same event, which included Grimes, Gerritsen, sophomore Kate Waters (East Dorset, VT/Burr and Burton Academy) and first-year Megan Derby ( Cropseyville, NY/ Berlin) finished 21 st overall, touching at 3:51.99.

In prelims, Waters dropped over 22 seconds off her personal best 1650-yard freestyle time, coming in at 18:53.67. Senior Katie Alexander ( North Tonawanda, NY/ North Tonawanda) also had a phenomenal day in the mile, as she clocked in at 20:27.10, taking off just over half a minute from her previous best time, set just two weeks ago against the Saxons.

In the sprint races, Bogosian swam a 56.68 in the 100-yard freestyle, while Derby touched the wall at 56.99, a career best swim. Rookie Alden Bush swam the 200-yard breaststroke in a 2:46.78, while classmate Cassie Dudar swam a 2:23.83 in the 200-yard back, shaving four seconds off her previous personal best time.

Union College won the meet for the third time in four years with 1,207 points, well ahead of second place Ithaca College, who tallied 1,016.5 points. Division II competitor Le Moyne came in third with 940.5 points.

GRIMES, RELAYS CONTINUE TO SHINE AT NYSWCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Feb. 22: Eight members of the St. Lawrence women’s swim team earned a spot in finals on Friday and two more team records fell as the Saints held on to their eighth place standing at the 2008 NYSWCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, being held at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY.

The Saints began prelims Friday morning with the 200-yard medley relay, where the team of senior co-captain Kim Watcke (Cheshire, CT/Sacred Heart Academy), first-year Hannah Grimes (Hamden, CT/Hamden), sophomore Abbey Lynch (Norwood, NY/St. Lawrence Central), and junior Ashley Bogosian (Massena, NY/The Peddie School) broke their second team record of the meet with a time of 1:52.24. In finals, the relay lowered their time to 1:52.20, earning them a fifth place finish overall.

Individually, Grimes led the Saints with a fifth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, where the Hamden, CT native also broke the St. Lawrence record in prelims with a career-best time of 1:08.86, and lowered it at night, finishing with a time of 1:08.76.

Watcke grabbed a seventh place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, clocking in at 1:02.11 in prelims, and 1:02.37 in finals. During her lead-off leg of the 400-yard medley relay, Watcke swam a 1:01.97, a season-best time.

Also earning a top-eight finish was Lynch, who touched seventh in the 100-yard fly with a time of 1:01.30. In prelims, the North Country native clocked in at 1:01.00, her fastest time this season.

Junior Alida Gerritsen (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) swam to a ninth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, improving upon her time from prelims, touching the wall at 1:09.47, a season-best by over a second and a half. Rookie Megan Derby ( Cropseyville, NY/ Berlin) continued to have a great meet as well, placing 12 th in the 100 fly with a time of 1:02.87. Her prelim time of 1:02.36 was a career-best time.

Classmate Cassie Dudar ( North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex Regional) also placed in the top-16, coming in 15 th in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:58.93, well under her previous career-best time of 5:10.62, set just over a month ago.

Rounding out other final finishes first-year Alden Bush ( Hingham, MA/ Hingham), who dropped an immense amount of time in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning a 20 th place finish with a career-best time of 1:14.80, nearly three and a half seconds under her previous best time. Bogosian, placed 21 st in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.34 and earned a career best time in the event earlier Friday in prelims, clocking in at 1:04.20.

In the preliminary session, sophomore Kate Waters (East Dorset, VT/Burr and Burton Academy) earned a season best time in the 200-yard free, touching at 2:04.13. Senior Katie Alexander (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) continued to have one of the best meets of her career as the distance swimmer dropped more than three seconds off her personal best time in the event, clocking in at 2:10.00. First-year Katy Kozminski (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) took just over half a second off her career best time in the 100-yard back, touching the wall at 1:09.10.

The Saints ‘B’ 200-yard medley relay, which included Kozminski, Gerritsen, Derby, and Bush came in 21 st overall with a time of 1:57.10.

To cap off the evening, the 800-yard free relay, which included Waters, Alexander, Dudar, and Bush, sparked a lot of Saints energy, as each swimmer swam well under their previous best times, some of which were achieved this morning. The Saints hope to use that energy to start the last day of competition off strong, with competition beginning Saturday morning at 10:30am.

SAINTS SHATTER 21-YEAR OLD RECORD IN

DAY ONE OF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Feb. 21: The St. Lawrence University women’s swim team got out to a great start at the NYSWCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday, as day one not only included the breaking of the third team record this season, but many personal records, too, as nearly every Saint recorded season or career-best times in each of their individual races.

St. Lawrence is currently in eighth place with 185 points and are one point behind RPI in a 17-team field. Union, Nazareth, and Ithaca round out the top three spots, with only one point separating the Golden Flyers and the Bombers.

The 400-yard medley relay of senior co-captain Kim Watcke (Cheshire, CT/Sacred Heart Academy), first-year Hannah Grimes (Hamden, CT/Hamden), sophomore Abbey Lynch (Norwood, NY/St. Lawrence Central), and junior Ashley Bogosian (Massena, NY/The Peddie School) lowered the St. Lawrence team record, previously set in 1987, by more than four seconds, clocking in at 4:06.14 in prelims. Their swim in finals earned them a sixth place finish overall with a time of 4:07.29.

The Saints’ ‘B’ relay, which included first-years Katy Kozminski (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Rookie Cassie Dudar (North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex Regional), and Megan Derby (Grafton, NY/Berlin), as well as junior Alida Gerritsen (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute), finished fifth amongst the other teams’ ‘B’ relays and 21st overall with a 4:14.28.

In the opening event of the night, the 200-yard free relay, which included Lynch, Watcke, Kozminski, and Bogosian the Saints took fifth place honors with a time of 1:40.39, hundredths away from breaking another team record. The ‘B’ relay included Gerritsen, Grimes, rookies Megan Derby (Grafton, NY/Berlin), and Alden Bush (Hingham, MA/Hingham) came in 20th place with a time of 1:43.70.

Lynch led the way for the Scarlet and Brown in the individual races, picking up a 10th place finish in the 50 free with a season-best time of 25.29, just ahead of her preliminary time of 25.30. Bogosian improved from 16th place in prelims to 13th overall, touching with a 25.52 a season-best. Rounding out the consolation heat of the event was Kozminski, who finished 15th with a time of 25.66. In prelims, the rookie clocked in at 25.41, more than two-tenths under her career best time.

Derby finished in a tie for 24th place in the 50 during prelims, forcing a swim-off with Ithaca’s Kara Senecal, which Derby won with a 25.68 to give her a spot in the bonus heat of the event. She was able to improve upon her place and earn a 22 nd place finish overall with a time of 25.92. Her prelims time was a career-best by just over three-tenths of a second.

In the 200 IM, Grimes earned 17th place with a time of 2:15.17, a career-best time by over three and a half seconds. Gerritsen swam a season best time of 2:18.02 in prelims and earned a 23 rd place finish overall in finals with a time of 2:19.71.

Sophomore Kate Waters (East Dorset, VT/Burr and Burton Academy) improved upon her 1 th place finish in the 500 free in prelims to come in 15 th, clocking in at 5:26.82, just above her prelim time of 2:26.78. The distance swimmer’s swim in the morning was a season-best time by nearly 12 seconds.

In the preliminary session, senior Katie Alexander (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) swam a career best time in the 500-yard free, touching the wall at 5:46.82, dropping more than 13 seconds off her previous best time. Rookie Cassie Dudar (North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex Regional) also dropped time in her race, cutting more than five seconds off her 200-yard IM, finishing at 2:21.08.

The Saints will look to add to their accolades on day two of the three-day meet Friday morning with preliminaries beginning at 10:30am.