Katie Radloff Shines Again, Grabs Automatic Bid to NCAAs

Four Swimmers Set All-Time Top-10 Marks in the 100 Free

11/17/07 10:20PM

COLLEGE PARK, MD - After last year’s conference championships, Katie Radloff (Arlington, Va.) and the Tribe coaches had to endure a nervous wait before finding out whether or not she would swim at the NCAA Championships. There will be no such wait this year, as Radloff punched an automatic ticket to the national championships with her pool-record time of 49.30 to win the 100 free this evening at the Terrapin Cup Invitational.

Saturday's Results
Complete Invitational Results

Radloff’s performance beat her own school and conference record, set last year in winning this event at the Terrapin Invitational, by a full quarter-second and cleared the automatic qualifying mark by 12 hundredths of a second. It also broke the Maryland pool record 49.46, set by Florida State’s Carrie Ellis in 2006. Perhaps most amazingly, it was only one of four W&M all-time top-10 marks set during the finals of the 100 free. Junior Marina Falcone (Potomac, Md.) won the bonus consolation race (17th overall) in 52.08, the third-best mark in school history, and sophomore Lindsay Guers (Orwigsburg, Pa.) took eighth in the championship final (eighth overall) in 52.30, fourth-best all-time at W&M. Freshman Emily Burns (Snellville, Ga.) slid into the 10th slot on the all-time performer’s list with her time of 53.10 that placed her 19th overall. Also in the 100 free, senior Christina Monsees (Brewster, N.Y.) finished 15th overall in 53.21 seconds.

In the 1650 free, sophomore Tage Waite (Norfolk, Va.) timed 17:20.20 for sixth place this evening, and fourth on the College’s all-time top-10 list. Her 1,000-yard split of 10:27.97 ranks fifth in school history. Freshman Kristin Fimian (Oakton, Va.) placed 10th in 17:34.64, a time that ranks her seventh in school history, and her 1,000-yard split of 10:38.73 ranks 10th all-time at the College.

In the 200 back, senior captain Meredith David (Somerdale, N.J.) placed fourth in 2:03.51, and sophomore Suzanne Figuers (Cary, N.C.) placed 12th in 2:07.28, just off of personal-record pace. Sophomore Courtney Alles (Manassas Park, Va.) won the consolation final of the 200 breast (ninth overall) in 2:24.04, and junior Rebecca Brofft (Fairfax, Va.) placed 14th in 2:27.47.

Sophomore Laura Herrmann (Fairfax Station, Va.) timed a personal-best 2:07.47 in the 200 fly to place seventh, and move within one one-hundredth of a second of the College’s all-time top-five in the event. Classmate Erin Welshofer (Fairfax Station, Va.) was just ahead of her in sixth place, timing 2:06.73. Junior Whitney Pezza (Warrenton, Va.) won the consolation finals (ninth overall) in the team’s season-best time of 2:05.30.

Freshman diver Sarah Cannon (Watkinsville, Ga.), after sneaking into the finals of the 3-Meter event as the final qualifier, turned on the power to score 231.20 points and finish fourth. Her score ranks eighth all-time at the College for a six-dive program, and is only four-and-a-half points behind Tiffany Jeisel’s freshman record of 235.80, set in 1985. In the 400 free relay, the evening’s final event, the team of Falcone, Guers, Monsees, and Radloff took second in 3:26.81, also the second-fastest time in school history. The team of Sara Fitzsimmons (Lorton, Va.), Burns, Alles, and Haley Smith (Ridgefield, Conn.) was 10th in 3:37.23.

William and Mary will enjoy a week off for Thanksgiving, before closing out the fall season at Mary Washington on December 1.

2007 Terrapin Cup Invitational
Final Standings
1. Connecticut 700
2. Maryland 609
3. WILLIAM AND MARY 585
4. Richmond 514.5
5. Villanova 462
6. Navy 320
7. West Chester 315
8. Drexel 237.5
9. Mary Washington 110