Feb. 19, 2005
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Raffles Girls’s Secondary School) and sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.) posted NCAA “B” cuts en route to being the top qualifiers in the 200-yard butterfly and the 200 breaststroke, respectively, as the University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving used another strong session of prelims Saturday morning in the Nassau County Aquatic Center to set the stage for its ninth consecutive title in the BIG EAST Championships. The Irish – which also had fifth-year All-American Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) qualify first in three-meter diving – again led all teams with 18 student-athletes earning trips to the evening finals, including 13 championship-final qualifiers (at least two in all five individual events).
Notre Dame heads into the final session of the meet with 503 points, while Pittsburgh and Rutgers – runner-up in each of the last three years – stand in a second-place tie with 399. The Irish have not quite yet mathematically clinched the league title, though only the Panthers are still alive in the race. Pittsburgh posted 12 top-16 results in prelims and will have six swimmers and three divers in action in championship finals. Rutgers will have 13 competitors in action, but just five in the top-eight finals.
With the championship nearly a foregone conclusion, Notre Dame’s ultimate goal of qualifying student-athletes for the NCAA Championships (March 17-19 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.) saw some progress on Saturday morning. The Irish have had one swimmer – sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) – earn an automatic invitation, while four others – Bouvron, Stephens, sophomore Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy), and Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.) – as well as three relay teams have earned NCAA “B” cuts, meaning they will be considered for bids to the national championships.
The 200 fly was the most important event on the NCAA front, as it saw Bouvron turn in her first career B cut in the race in being the top qualifier. Carroll also notched a B cut in being the second-fastest in prelims, which means she will be eligible to swim a full program (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 fly) at the NCAA meet. Bouvron’s career-best mark established her as the sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the race, while Carroll also notched the top time of her career, after not participating in the event in last year’s BIG EAST meet. The Irish sophomore is in pursuit of a perfect meet, as she has already finished first in all five events she has swum this week (800 free relay, 200 IM, 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 400 medley relay). Carroll will need wins in the 200 fly and the 400 free relay on Saturday evening to complete an undefeated meet and virtually assure herself of being tabbed the BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Swimmer for the second year in a row.
The next-best qualifier in the 200 fly was Villanova’s Kristina Lennox, who went 2:03.16. Notre Dame senior Brooke Taylor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep School) earned her fourth consecutive trip to the championship final in the event, qualifying seventh with a time of 2:05.34. Rookie Katie Hopkins (Ellicott City, Md./Notre Dame Prep School) registered a collegiate-best time of 2:05.95 to earn a trip to the consolation final as the 10th-quickest in prelims. Another freshman, Kelly Battle (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.), also turned in a season best to qualify 14th with a time of 2:06.89.
Stephens led a quintet of qualifiers in the 200 breaststroke, posting the best prelims time by more than three seconds, going a career-best 2:17.02. She now stands as the third-fastest Irish swimmer ever in the race and will try to improve upon a fifth-place finish a year ago. Also in the championship final will be Notre Dame’s senior co-captains, Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School) and Kelli Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral H.S.). The former earned her fourth consecutive evening swim in the race (and third in the championship final) by qualifying third with a time of 2:20.70, while Barton moved up to the top eight in prelims for the first time in her career, coming in fifth with a 2:21.01. Hopkins also earned a spot in the consolation final of the 200 breast, qualifying 10th with a collegiate-best mark of 2:22.50, while junior Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.) garnered her third consecutive trip to the evening finals, qualifying 14th with a 2:23.18.
Perry-Eaton turned in another dominating performance in three-meter diving, posting a score of 511.10 points that was 76.7 better than the #2 qualifier, Kristin Caiazzo of Pittsburgh. The Irish veteran will look to tie the BIG EAST record (held by Pittsburgh’s Pittsburgh’s Tricia Ney and Miami’s Jenny Keim) by winning a fifth conference diving title Saturday evening (second off the three-meter board) and figures to be on track to be named the meet’s Most Outstanding Diver for the third consecutive year, a feat accomplished just once previously in conference history (by Keim from 1999-2001). Perry-Eaton took fourth in the BIG EAST meet as a rookie before being the runner-up in 2003 and the champ (by 49.25 points) last year. She continued a perfect 2004-05 campaign in which she has been undefeated in three-meter action, winning all 10 of the competitions in which she has dove this season. Perry-Eaton was unbeaten in three-meter action heading into the NCAA Zone C Championships last year, but then finished 28th at the NCAA meet (after being 20th in 2003). Joining Perry-Eaton in the three-meter diving final will be freshman Tara Hyer (Tampa, Fla./Academy of the Holy Names), who was fifth in prelims with a score of 403.10.
The Irish will have a trio in the championship final of the 200 back, as sophomore Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) – who was seventh in the race last year – led the way with a season-best time of 2:02.19 that was good for fourth-quickest in the session. Ellen Johnson, the 2004 eighth-place finisher, qualified sixth with a time of 2:03.78, while senior Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.) earned a fourth consecutive evening swim (second in the championship final) after qualifying seventh with a time of 2:04.57.
Sophomore Kiley Gooch (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) is in the consolation final after turning in the 10th-fastest time, a 2:06.76. Rookie Morgan Bullock (Stamford, Conn./Westhill H.S.), who hails from Stamford, Conn., which lies just across Long Island Sound from East Meadow, posted a collegiate-best mark of 2:07.08 that was good for 12th and an evening swim.
In the 100 freestyle, Caroline Johnson and sophomore Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) earned spots in the championship final. Johnson was fourth-quickest in the morning with a collegiate-best time of 51.61, while Grove – a native of nearby Yorktown Heights, N.Y., — was right behind, with a career-best time of 51.62. Irish rookie Katie Guida (Alexandria, Pa./Georgetown Visitation Prep School) missed a spot in the championship final by .11 seconds, going a collegiate-best 51.91 to qualify ninth.
The final session of the meet will begin at 4:00 p.m. (EST) with heats of the 1,650 freestyle and will kick into high gear at 6 p.m. On the agenda are seven women’s events: the 1,650, three-meter diving, the 200 back, the 100 free, the 200 breast, the 200 fly, and the 400 free relay.