Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Drury
Women's Swimming & Diving Gets Victory Over Drury
11/15/2003 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 15, 2003
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Women's swimming and diving head coach Jeff Goelz knew Saluki sophomore swimmer Elizabeth McGowan was fast, but he didn't expect to see her break records this early in her career.
"It was kind of unexpected," Goelz said. "It's something you just stand and watch, hoping she can do it. It was the smartes race she has ever swam."
Though SIU defeated Drury by a score of 132-91 at Saturday's home swim meet, it was McGowan who stole the show. Her time of 10:18.71 eclipsed the Missouri Valley Conference record in the 1000-yard freestyle set by former Saluki Leanne Pienaar in 2001.
"I didn't even know I got (the record) until I got out of the water," McGowan said. "It was awesome. I broke the record last year in the 500, so it's a good feeling to get another record."
McGowan was also victorious in the 500-yard freestyle, for which she holds the MVC record in with a time of 4:58.07 set last season. Against Drury, she clocked in at 5:04.62.
SIU had eight individual winners to gain the victory against Drury. Besides McGowan's two wins, freshman Kelsey Kinsella won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.26, as well as the 100-yard freestyle in 54.16. Junior Andrea Johnson won the 1-meter dive with 235.37 points, while fellow junior Nadine Shawah won the 3-meter dive with 230.47 points.
Freshman Nora Bunford grabbed a win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.64. Bunford also came out victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:21.45.
"The kids swam great," Goelz said. "This is the first meet of the year that we really looked excited. Kids got up and raced. You looked in their eyes and they wanted to win."
SIU returns to the pool next week as they travel to the Northwestern Invitational. The invitational is scheduled to begin Thursday, Nov. 20 and end Saturday, Nov. 22. Results can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
