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Ole women put forth-best effort at two-day meet

Sawra Karimi
January 29, 2002

The St. Olaf women?s swimming and diving team traveled to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, January 25-26, to compete in the "Get to the Point Invite". The Oles were faced with the best the Midwest had to offer, and finished seventh out of eleven teams. UW-Lacrosse won the competition with UW-Stevens Point coming in second. It was an exhausting two days of competition that tested the Oles ability to stay competitive.

Katie Detwiler (FY., Fort Atkinson, Wis.) was the sole winner for the Oles, winning the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:17.86. Saturday was a challenging day for Detwiler. Not only did she swim the longest race offered in collegiate swimming she also competed in the 400 individual medley in both the preliminaries and the finals. Detwiler turned in a faster time in her preliminary swim with a time of 4:48.72. Although it was the second fastest time turned in the event, Detwiler ended up finishing fourth in finals with a time of 4:51.58. Detwiler also placed in the top eight in the 200-yard individual medley, which took place on Friday. Her time of 2:18.09 earned her fifth place.

This meet provided immense competition for the Oles. Every swimmer had the opportunity to race and be aggressive through out their events. Although few season best times were turned in, the women remained competitive until the last swim. Kate Nygaard?s (Jr., Franktown, Colo.) performance exemplified this competitive attitude. Nygaard swam both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. After somewhat disappointing swims in the preliminaries, Nygaard returned to the finals determined to better her times. She dropped two seconds in her 200 to finish ninth with a season best time of 2:33.95. In the 100 Nygaard finished seventh with a time of 1:10.98, less then a second out of fourth place.

Katy Brentz (FY., Arden Hills, Minn.) determination also came through in the finals. Brentz was seeded seventh going into finals after a frustrating morning swim. She came back to place third with a time of 55.41. Brentz also made finals in the 50-yard freestyle, where she finished with a time of 25.69.

Sara Champlin (FY., Prescott, Minn.), Jenna Kubat (FY., Des Moines, Iowa), and Sonia Karimi (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) teamed up to score points for the Oles in the 200-yard butterfly. Champlin was the top performer for the Oles in this event with a seventh place finish. (2:20.31). Karimi and Kubat swam in the consolation finals and turned in final times of 2:21.27 and 2:23.38, respectively. Karimi placed tenth overall while Kubat finished twelfth.

In the 100-yard butterfly, the Oles welcomed back the talents of Emily Benson (Jr., Edina, Minn.) who was in Scotland first semester. Benson proved that she is already back in shape, by finishing thirteenth with a time of 1:05.01.

Alli Wilder (FY., Lacrosse, Wis.) had personal success at the invite. Wilder?s time of 2:49.91 in the 200-yard breaststroke was a season best time by over five seconds. Wilder has shown major improvement since the beginning the year.

Overall the meet tested the mental strength of the women?s team. The meet was very tiring and many of the Oles turned in sub par times, which can be expected at this phase of the season. The ability to bounce back mentally after a disappointed race is crucial to achieve success in swimming, and the Oles definitely proved their ability rebound.

Contact Judy Stromayer at 507-786-3315 or stromaye@stolaf.edu.