Margaret BauerWhile many students were lying on a beach somewhere in the tropics over spring break, the Washington University women’s swimming and diving team were swimming their way to a seventh place finish in the NCAA Championships from March 10-12, hosted by Hope College in Holland, Mich. Their seventh place finish (184.5 points) out of the 53 teams that scored at the Championships was the best finish for the squad in its program history; their previous best finish was 10th in 2003.
Following their strong showing, head coach Brad Shively was very pleased with their performance.
“It was a great team effort all year long,” said Shively. “The team put in the hard work that is necessary to succeed on a big stage. This is what we worked for all season-the best finish in school history.”
Three Bears in particular carried the team effort heading into the final day of competition. Freshman sensation Meredith Nordbrock and juniors Allie Boettger and Jenny Scott all qualified to compete on the last day of the meet, garnering solid finishes in a number of key races.
After setting the school record in the preliminaries (2:04.21) of the 200-yard backstroke, Nordbrock clocked a 2:04.91 in the final, giving her a fifth place finish in the event. Her fifth place performance notched the University’s best individual finish of the day. Boettger and Scott each registered eighth-place finishes in their respective races; Boettger took eighth in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.14), while Scott placed eighth in the 100 freestyle (52.90).
Another superb performance came from one of the relay teams. The quartet of Scott, freshman Katie Hodges, senior Brianna Krull and Nordbrock placed 15th in prelims with a time of 3:38.12 in the 400-free relay. The group improved their time to 3:36.53 in the consolation final to place 15th overall.
To prove just how successful the Bears have been both in their season and during the Championships, the Bears totaled 10 first-team All-America nods, as well as two honorable-mention citations.
“The team really came together. We went into the meet with the intent to walk away with Wash U’s highest finish ever, and that’s just what we did. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend,” said Nordbrock.
Nordbrock secured first-team honors in the 400-medley relay (third), 100 back (fourth), 200 back (fifth), 200 individual medley (sixth) and 200-medley relay (seventh). She also garnered honorable-mention accolades in the 400- and 800-free relays. Scott, an 18-time All-American in her first three seasons at the University, added five first-team honors in the 400-medley relay (third), 200 and 500 freestyles (fourth), 200-medley relay (seventh) and 100 free (eighth).
As the women’s season came to a close, Shively was very proud of his squad.
“This group means a great deal to me. They are really special in the sense that they were completely committed with what we were trying to do. They showed their heart and character every day.”
Now, Nordbrock and the team looks to the future and gears up for next season.
“It was a great start [for myself], but I still have three more seasons ahead of me. I plan on taking my experiences from this year and building off of them. As a team, we are already looking to finish in the top five next year at Nationals. Our success this season has given us the incentive to work harder and strive for bigger and better things,” said Nordbrock.”
The men’s crew will compete in the men’s NCAA Championships, also held in Holland, Mich., this weekend.