Susquehanna Women Remain in the Hunt for Landmark S&D Title
KINGS POINT, N.Y. -- The Susquehanna University women's swimming & diving team remains in second place out of seven teams after Day Two of Three of the 2009-10 Landmark Conference championships at the United States Merchant Marine Academy's Edwin J. O'Hara Hall on Feb. 13.
Susquehanna has scored 333 team points to sit just 32 points behind the leaders from The University of Scranton. The Catholic University of America is in third place with 226.5 points, while the USMMA's 154.5 points rank fourth. Goucher College (146), Drew University (109) and Juniata College (48) round out the standings.
Susquehanna's junior Christie Savard (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) swam all or part of four school and Landmark records on Day Two, including a winning time of 4 minutes, 34.03 seconds in the finals of the 400-yard individual medley. Savard's 4:40.49 time in the preliminaries of that event earlier that day had already broken a school and Landmark record. Her improvement in the finals was good enough for the individual conference title and provisional qualification for the 2009-10 NCAA Division III championships.
The previous school record (before this day) in the 400 IM was set by Savard earlier this season at 4:48.47.
Savard also led off the Landmark's championship 800 freestyle relay team. She partnered with freshmen Abby Gernert (Elizabethtown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) and Devin Lessard (Chestertown, Md./Queen Anne's County) and senior Catherine Harris (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) to win the event in 8:02.10 in school- and conference-record fashion.
Savard's 200 free split in that event--a legal mark--also set a new school and Landmark record in 1:56.30. Michelle Badorf '02 Litsky owned the previous SU record in the 200 free at 2:00.92, set back in 1999. The team of Badorf Litsky, Kristy Truitt '02 Reichner, Charlotte Murray '01 Reemts and Kim Allen '02 held the previous record in the 800 free relay with an 8:19.45 time, also from 1999.
Susquehanna's senior Hayley Keenan (Pikesville, Md./Liberty HS) earned a Landmark title in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall with a time of 59.78 seconds. Keenan's time in the prelims of that event was actually faster (59.42) and set a new school and conference record. That time broke Savard's school-record mark of 1:00.02, set earlier this season, and provisionally qualified Keenan for the NCAA championships.
Keenan also swam the anchor leg on the Crusaders' 200 medley relay team, which finished second with a 1:51.93 mark and broke another program record. She teamed with junior Lindsey Jankiewicz (Easton, Pa/Freedom), senior Cristina Los (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury) and Lessard in that race to best the old record of 1:54.38, set by Savard, Los, Lessard and Keenan earlier this season.
Lessard claimed the conference's 100 butterfly title on Day Two as well, winning in school- and conference-record fashion at 59.23 seconds. Her time in the prelims of that event--59.42 seconds--actually stood as the previous standard for a very short tenure. Before that, the prior Susquehanna record was Lessard's 1:00.65, set earlier this season.
Each Landmark individual and relay champion earns a first-team all-conference honor, while second-place finishers--such as SU's 200 medley relay--earn second-team all-Landmark recognition.
Jankiewicz placed second in the 100 back with a time of 1:01.96.
Next Meet: Sunday, Feb. 14, at Day Three of Three of Landmark Conference championships (USMMA), 11 a.m.