Two Records Fall as Generals Win Three Events
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Washington and Lee
University won three of the five events competed on the first day
of the 2012 ODAC Swimming Championships, opening up an 84-point
lead (293-209) over Randolph-Macon College in the team standings.
Bridgewater College (96), Greensboro College (90) and Sweet
Briar College (81) are tight in rounding out the top five.
Two ODAC and meet records fell on Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic
Center, both with unique stories. In the 200-yard individual
medley, Greensboro's Emma Phillips celebrated the Pride's first
championship performance under the ODAC banner by eclipsing the
previous best times in the event. She touched the wall in
2:09.62, bettering the meet record of 2:11.02 (April Whitely, Agnes
Scott in 2008) and the overall conference mark of 2:10.71 (Susan
Mahoney, W&L in 2009).
In the final event of the day, Washington and Lee won the 400-yard
medley relay with a time of 3:59.44, surpassing the meet and ODAC
record of 4:00.28 by the Generals in 2009. W&L senior
Dana Fredericks was a member of that original unit as a freshman,
and she again played a role in recapturing the league standard
along with teammates Jocelyn Cassada, Caroline Hamp and Meredith
Hardy.
Friday's finals opened with Washington and Lee securing its first
win of the evening in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of
1:38.26. Cassada, Izzy Brassfield, Fredericks and Hardy
out-paced the contingent from Randolph-Macon by just 0.45 seconds
(1:38.71) for the victory.
Delaney Rolfe, the 2011 ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Swimming
Scholar-Athlete of the Year, continued the Generals' success with a
winning time of 5:12.94 in the 500-yard freestyle. The Yellow
Jackets' Lizzy Buckley (5:15.22) and Rebecca Stevenson (5:16.94)
placed second and third, respectively.
Reigning ODAC Swimming of the Year, Sarah Almond, opened
Randolph-Macon's account as she secured the 50-yard freestyle title
for the second straight year with a time of 24.32. But it was
Washington and Lee that picked up a lot of points by securing the
next four spots with Brassfield (24.70), Cassada (24.76), Hardy
(24.76), and Fredericks (24.93) stopping the watches behind
Almond.
Seven events are on the itinerary for Saturday, beginning with the
200-yard medley relay in the preliminaries at 10:00 a.m. The
400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle,
100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, and 800-yard freestyle
relay (finals only) comprise the day's schedule. Saturday's
finals begin at 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the 2012 ODAC Swimming Championships, visit
any of the participating schools websites, or go to the
championships website at www.odaconline.com/tournament/winter/swim/index.