Generals Place 10 on First Team, Randolph-Macon Five

Full ODAC Championship Meet Results 

SALEM, Va. --- Washington and Lee University placed 10 swimmers on the 2009 All-ODAC First Team and took home three major awards stemming from the 2009 ODAC/Atlantic States Swimming Championships at Radford last month.  The Generals garnered 13 honors between the first and second teams while Randolph-Macon College collected five first team awards and three second team accolades.  Sweet Briar College rounded out the second team with a pair of honors.

W&L's Lindsey Strachan earned the ODAC Swimmer of the Year Award for the second consecutive season.  Generals' mentor Kami Gardner earned the ODAC Coach of the Year Award, and W&L freshman Lauren Starnes was tabbed as the ODAC Rookie of the Year.

Randolph-Macon's Shafer Busch was selected as the ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year in vote of the conference's sports information directors.  Bridgewater College's Morgan Cordle garnered the Bonnie Kestner Sportsmanship Award.

Strachan competed in five events for the Generals, winning two individual events while helping the Generals to a pair of record-setting performances in the 200 and 400-yard medley relays.  She also placed second overall in the 100-yard backstroke.  Her time of 58.13 seconds in the 100 back marked one of her two individual ODAC records set during the meet.  She also surpassed the time for a NCAA "B" qualification in that event.

The Midlothian-native's two individual wins came in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly.  She touched the wall in 2:16.13 in the 200 fly.  Her time of 2:05.71 set a new ODAC and meet record in the 200 back while also supplying a NCAA "B" qualification.  Strachan also swam legs in W&L's winning 200-yard medley (1:49.13) and 400-yard medley (4:00.28) relay teams.  Both times set new ODAC and meet records.  The Generals' mark in the 200 medley relay provided a NCAA "B" qualification.

Strachan continued her exploits in national waters at the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships.  She earned Honorable Mention All-American honors after placing 11^th overall in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.31, again setting a new ODAC standard.  She also competed in the 100-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle, but did not qualify for the finals in either event.

Gardner led the Generals' to their 19^th ODAC swimming title in just her second season in Lexington.  During her short tenure, 22 W&L swimmers have earned All-ODAC first or second team awards as well as seven major honors including the last two swimmer of the year and rookie of the year accolades.

Starnes also competed in five events for the Generals at the ODAC Championships, earning victories in the 500-yard freestyle (5:13.10) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.63).  She also placed third in the 1650-yard freestyle (18:31.22).  Starnes swam a leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle (3:39.62) and 800-yard freestyle (8:00.00) relay teams.  Both times set new ODAC and meet records.

Busch fashions a 3.63 GPA while majoring in Spanish at Randolph-Macon. In the pool this season, Busch was named the ODAC Swimmer of the Week, helped set the R-MC school record in the 200-yard medley relay, the Estes Pool record in the 200 Freestyle Relay and owned the top time in the ODAC in the 100-yard butterfly.  At the ODAC Championships, she helped lead the Yellow Jacket 400-yard freestyle relay team to a second place finish.

The Bonnie Kestner Sportsmanship Award is named in honor of the former long-time Sweet Briar College mentor.  During her tenure, Kestner exhibited the ideals that best represent the notion and strong values of good sportsmanship that are inherent in NCAA Division III athletics.  Bridgewater's Cordle is the fourth recipient of the award.

Listed below is the entire 2008-09 All-ODAC Swimming Team.  For more information, visit the ODAC-member websites or the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.

SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: Lindsey Strachan, Washington and Lee
COACH OF THE YEAR: Kami Gardner, Washington and Lee
ODAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Lauren Starnes, Washington and Lee
ODAC/FARM BUREAU SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Shafer Busch, Randolph-Macon
BONNIE KESTNER SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Morgan Cordle, Bridgewater