Dec. 5, 2004
ATHENS,Ga. – The 21st-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s swimming team wrapped up action in its final first-semester meet Sunday, finishing fifth in the Georgia Fall Invitational, which took place in the Gabrielsen Natatorium. Highlighting the final day were 16 top-20 finishes for the Irish, who posted 272 points in the event.
The host team, top-ranked Georgia, was the team champion with 1,288 points, while #8 California was the runner-up with 893 points, Minnesota finished third (597), and #22 Florida State was fourth (472).
Junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’ Secondary School), who was 32nd in the Athens Olympics in the event, qualified fourth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.22 and then finished sixth in 2:02.69. Her prelims time was a career best, and it improved upon her standing as the seventh-fastest swimmer in school history in the event. It was Bouvron’s second A final of the meet, as she took eighth in the 100 butterfly on Saturday.
Notre Dame had three participants in the C final of the 200 fly, with freshman Katie Hopkins (Ellicott City, Md./Notre Dame Preparatory School) leading the way in 19th with a collegiate-best time of 2:07.76. Another rookie, Kelly Battle (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.), finished 23rd in a time of 2:12.81, while sophomore Kiley Gooch (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) was 24th in 2:14.42. Freshman Georgia Steenberge (Granbury, Texas/Granbury H.S.) just missed the evening finals, taking 25th with a season-best time of 2:13.85.
Like Bouvron, sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.) also swam in her second A final of the meet, taking sixth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.34. Stephens, who finished seventh in Friday’s 200 individual medley, actually qualified ninth, but moved into the A final when one of the top eight qualifiers withdrew.
Notre Dame’s senior co-captains, Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.) and Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School), both took part in the 200 breast B final. Barton ended up 11th with a season-best time of 2:20.98, while the latter was 12th in 2:21.05, which also was her best time of 2004-05. Right before her performance in the 200 fly, Hopkins also swam in the C final of the 200 breast, taking 19th in that event, as well, with a collegiate-best time of 2:24.68. Junior Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.) was 21st in 2:24.85, her best time of the season.
Sophomore Abby Strang (St. Simons Island, Ga./Bolles School) turned in the top performance of her career in the 1,650 freestyle, taking seventh with a time of 17:06.28. It established her as the eighth-fastest Irish distance freestyler in school history. Kelli Barton was 12th in the race in 17:24.75, while Steenberge notched a collegiate-best 18:13.66 en route to an 18th-place result.
In the final race of the meet, Notre Dame took 10th in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.39 that was the team’s top mark this fall. That quartet featured freshmen Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) and Katie Guida (Alexandria, Va./Georgetown Visitation Prep School) and sophomores Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) and Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.).
Sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) led an Irish contingent that placed four in the top 18 in the 200 backstroke. Her time of 2:03.72 was good for 11th, while senior Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.) was 13th in a season-best 2:04.06. Caroline Johnson ended up 16th with a mark of 2:07.26 after qualifying in a season-best 2:04.96. In the C final, Ellen Johnson came home in 18th with a time of 2:04.02, while rookie Noemie Brand (Pointe Claire, Quebec/Phillips Exeter Academy [NH]) ended 24th in 2:10.58. She went 2:06.94 in the morning session, establishing a collegiate best. Gooch just missed the evening session, ending 26th in 2:09.35.
The 100 freestyle was the only event of the meet in which Notre Dame had no one qualify for the evening session. Caroline Johnson led the Irish with a time of 52.96 that was good for a 32nd-place result.
The Irish will return to action on Dec. 31 at the New Year’s Invitational in the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia. That meet will be part of Notre Dame’s annual winter training and competition trip.