Nov. 21, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Vanderbilt swimming team closed out Saturday’s action with 285.5 points to sit in second place at the Hilltopper Invitational. The Commodores continued their improvement in nearly every event on Saturday as they combined to set 14 season high marks.
For the second consecutive day, the `Dores started the day in the fast lane. The young 200-yard medley relay team of Chelsea Morey, Laura Dillon, Jess Eccher and Elizabeth Galenti earned 26 team points after clocking a 1:49.74 to finish second out of 10 relay teams.
Two events later, Dillon posted a top-five finish with a season-best 59.39 in the 100-yard butterfly. Fellow sophomore Elizabeth Brunk and freshman Sarah Lynch also swam to season-high marks in the 100 butterfly with times of 1:00.22 and 1:01.15, respectively.
Amy Salce had one of the more impressive swims of the day when she notched a personal record 1:54.27 to finish in runner-up out of 28 swimmers in the 200-yard freestyle. Salce’s time Saturday was the fastest 200-free time clocked by a Commodore this season.
Eccher joined Salce with a season best mark of her own in the 200-free with a 1:55.16 in the prelims before placing sixth in the finals with a 1:57.35. Freshman Erika Deardorf also recorded a season high in the 200 freestyle Saturday, swimming a 1:56.34 to finish in seventh place.
Later in the meet, Dillon and Lynch led the Commodores in the 100-yard breaststroke with top-six finishes. After swimming a season best 1:06.85 in the prelims, Dillon registered a 1:07.01 in the finals, good for fourth place. Lynch finished two spots back of Dillon with a personal best 1:07.42 in the finals.
Allie Voss, the Vanderbilt school record holder in the 100-yard breast, came in eighth place with season high 1:07.40.
The `Dores continued its fall season success in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday when Morey, Eccher, Salce, Cornelson and Ellen Kilgore all swam their fastest times of the season. Morey paced the VU fleet with an impressive runner-up finish in the finals with a Vanderbilt season-best time of 58.00. The Hutchinson, Kan., native missed the school record by only seven-tenths of a second and is on pace to set the record during her time at VU.
The Commodores closed out Saturday with an exciting first place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. VU’s all-freshmen relay team of Deardorf, Eccher, Cornelson and Salce defeated 10 relay teams en route to swimming a season best 7:47.97. Deardorf put Vanderbilt in great position to win the event after she cruised to an opening leg split time of 1:55.64.
Click the results tab at the top of the page to see the official results and placings through Saturday night. Day three of the Hilltopper Invitational will conclude on Sunday afternoon.
Team Standings Through Saturday (11/21/09)
1. Western Kentucky 586 points
2. Vanderbilt 285.5 points
3. Marshall 264.5 points
4. University of the Cumberlands 122
5. Centre College 104
