Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Women's Swimming and Diving Tops Evansville To End Season
02/07/2004 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 7, 2004
By Josh Magill
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The women's swimming and diving team has seen its share of tough competitors during the 2003-04 season, but were able to grab a win against conference rival Evansville in the Salukis final regular season meet. SIU defeated the Purple Aces 163-78 Saturday at the SIU Student Rec. Center.
The Salukis finished with 21 athletes and two relay teams in the top three, as well as winning 11 of the 13 events during the meet. But against Evansville, SIU saw somewhat of a trend - pairs. The Salukis finished with a one-two punch in eight of the 13 events, which led them to the victory.
The trend started with sophomore Elizabeth McGowan and junior Natalie Kenny taking the top two spots in the 1000-yard freestyle with times of 10:31.90 and 10:45.94, respectively. Kenny's time was a season best for her.
Another sophomore-junior duo continued the trend as Kelsey Kinsella and Bronwyn Logan finished first and second in the 200 free. Kinsella clocked in at 1:55.89, while Logan finished in 1:58.75.
Junior Rachel Green won the 50 free with a time of 25.35 to keep the Salukis in the lead against the Purple Aces, but the trend would return in the next event as freshman Nora Bunford won the 200-yard individual medley, followed by junior Ashley MacCurdy. Bunford clocked in at 2:12.89, while MacCurdy finished in 2:14.58.
Junior Nadine Shawah won both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 236.18 and 239.63, respectively. Fellow junior Andrea Johnson was runner-up in the two dives posting a score of 230.03 in the 1-meter and 235.20 in the 3-meter.
Freshman Gabriela Flores and senior Brigitta Olson kept things going with a one-two finish in the 100 butterfly. Flores finished with a time of 59.67, with Olson right behind her in 59.69.
Kinsella returned for her second win of the day in the 100 free with a time of 54.08, while Logan once again followed her in second, clocking in at 55.75.
The last duo to claim the first and second spot was sophomore Briley Bergen and Bunford. Bergen finished with a time of 5:10.63 in the 500-yard freestyle to gain the victory, while Bunford was runner-up in 5:23.35.
SIU will compete in the Women's Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Feb. 19-21 at the Student Rec. Center. Results can be found at www.SIUSalukis.com.
