SWIMMING & DIVING: Scots Battle Brits
November 17, 2007
Alma, Mi.- The Alma Scot Women’s Swimming and Diving Team put up a strong fight against the Albion Brits on November 17th at the Dean Aquatic Center in Albion. Although the Scots narrowly lost with a score of 149 to 143, the women showed their talent and determination by winning 9 out of 16 events.
The Scots’ team of Jordan Bryde (Mason/Mason), Emily Smith (Adrian/Adrian), Elaina Paulson (St. Joseph/St. Joseph) and Sarah Anderson (Marshall/Marshall) started the meet off with a win in the 400-yard medley relay with a finishing time of 4:26.18.
Sophomore Sarah Anderson led the attack by winning three individual events - the 200-yard freestyle (2:04.24), the 50-freestyle (26.71), and the 100-yard freestyle (57.65). Junior Sara Swanton had two first place finishes – winning the 1000-yard freestyle (11:42.18) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:28.50). Freshman Jordan Bryde dominated the backstroke events with fist place times of 1:05.65 the100 and 2:25.75 in the 200. Sophomore Elaina Paulson made her debut in the 100-yard butterfly and won the event with a time of 1:09.03. Other important point contributions came from senior Emily Smith in the100-yard breastroke, 200-yard breastroke and 200-yard IM and freshman Christine Vicari(Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Catholic Central) in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.
The women divers finished second, third and forth on both boards. Sophomore Hanna Leestma (Royal Oak/Kimball) led the way with two second place finishes and personal best scores of 220.45 on 1-meter and 253.85 on 3-meter.
“The women’s meet was very exciting,” says Alma College head coach Chris Hamstra. “It was great to see the girls rally around each other. We had a lot of good swims, but I was most impressed with the girls who swam off-events to scratch out every last point.”
The Scots’ Men’s Swimming and Diving Team showed their strength with a second place finishes in the both the 400-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Freshman
Andrew Brunner (Traverse City/St. Francis) led the way for the Scots with wins in the 200-yard butterfly (2:12.05) and the 100-yard butterfly (56.97). Sophomore Spencer Johnson (Grand Ledge/Grand Ledge) came away with a win and a personal best time of 2:03.91 in the 200-yard backstroke. Spencer Johnson and Nate McDonald (Greenbush/Oscoda) also brought in points by finishing second and third in the 50-yard freestyle.
“On the guys side, we had a very solid meet that included several season best times and a couple personal bests,” adds Coach Hamstra.
The Scots will take this weekend off for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action in two weeks. The Scot swimmers will compete in the DePauw Invitational in Greencastle, Indiana from November 29 - December 1. The divers will travel to Akron, Ohio, to compete in the Zippy Invitational the same weekend.
Posted: Tue, November 20th, 2007 at 10:16AM
