Randolph-Macon College Wins 2007 ODAC Swimming Championship

RADFORD, Virginia, February 20. THE Randolph-Macon College swimming team captured its first Old Dominion Athletic Conference Swimming Championship Sunday, edging league rival and defending league champion Washington and Lee by just six points.

R-MC, which trailed W&L by 10 points heading into Sunday's action, accumulated 609 points over the three-day championship which is in conjunction with the Atlantic States Championships which R-MC also captured.

R-MC celebrates its first ODAC Swimming title. The Yellow Jackets ended Washington and Lee's 13-year reign as league champions by edging the Generals by six points.

The R-MC win breaks W&L's 13 year stronghold on the league championship. The Generals tallied 603 points to finish second while Sweet Briar finished third with 216.

On the opening day of competition, the relay contingent of Hallie Stewart, Katie Duff, Shafer Busch, and Marlene Graf won the 400 medley relay in 4:07.55. Graf and Busch both picked up individual ODAC victories, as Graf won the 500 free in 5:18.68 and Busch won the 50 free in 25.66. The 200 freestyle relay team of Maureen McLaughlin, Amanda Morgan, Hayley Keenan, and Busch finished second in the 200 free relay in a season-best 1:43.07. At the end of the first day, the Yellow Jackets trailed Washington and Lee by 41 points in the ODAC competition.

On Saturday, the momentum shifted during the preliminary session as the R-MC women qualified for finals in all 23 individual races that were contested. The night opened with the team of Hallie Stewart, Katie Duff, Shafer Busch, and Hayley Keenan finishing second in the finals of the 200 medley relay. Busch defended her ODAC title in winning the 100 fly (1:01.10), an event in which six different R-MC swimmers finished in the top ten. In the 100 backstroke, freshman Hallie Stewart claimed her first ODAC title in a career best time of 1:00.49. The Yellow Jackets also got valuable points in the 100 back from Hayley Keenan (3rd), Laura Belch (5th), Amanda Depta (6th), and Amanda Morgan (9th). In the final event of the evening, the team of McLaughlin, junior Aimee Powell, senior Heather Porter, and Graf won the 800 free relay in 8:08.90. It was the fourth consecutive title in the 800 free relay for Porter, and with the win the Yellow Jackets pulled within 10 points of the Generals.

On the final day, Graf garnered her second individual ODAC title in the 1650 free and was a close second in the 200 fly, finishing her freshman campaign with 4 ODAC Championship wins (500 free, 1650 free, 400 medley relay, 800 free relay). The distance corps put the team in the lead for good in the 1650 free, as five swimmers finished in the top 9. Graf was followed by Powell in second, sophomore Meredith Walters in fourth, Porter in fifth, and freshman Carolyn Jenkins in ninth. The Yellow Jackets built on the lead in the next event as Stewart, Keenan, and freshman Amanda Depta went 2-3-4 in the 200 back. Busch picked up her third individual ODAC title in the 100 free, winning in 55.73. Busch was also a part of two winning relays (400 medley and 800 free relay), and now has 7 ODAC titles to her credit in two years of competition. In the 200 breast, R-MC held onto the lead with strong performances from McLaughlin (4th), Duff (6th), and junior Kim Schneller (10th). The 200 fly saw three more Yellow Jackets score as Graf was second, freshman Lindsey Reid was sixth, and Jenkins was ninth.

Leading the meet by 12 points heading into the competition's final event, the 400 freestyle relay team made up of Busch, Graf, Maureen McLaughlin and Laura Belch finished second with a time of 3:53.06 to give R-MC its first league championship.

For her efforts, Graf was named the ODAC Rookie-of-the-Year while Yellow Jacket head coach Dave Holland was honored by his peers with ODAC Coach-of-the-Year honors for the second time in his career.

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