March 17, 2003
Truman Women Swimmers Bring Home Third-Straight National Title: Bulldog Men Finish 12th Overall
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The Truman women's swimming team made it three-in-a-row when it won the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday. The Bulldogs scored 682 points to finish 272 points ahead of second-place Drury, the largest margin of victory in DII history.
First-year head coach Colleen Murphy was named NCAA Division II coach of the year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, as three women recorded a total of five individual national titles, along with four first-place relay teams.
This season, all 18 women that participated in the NCAA championships finished among the top eight to earn all-America status and garner precious team points.
Seniors Kelli Dudley (Topeka, Kan./West) and Liz Hug (Maryville, Ill./Collinsville) each brought home two crowns.
Dudley won the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke, while Hug was the winner of the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. Both women completed their careers as four-year all-Americas and were recently named one of 10 Division II finalists for a prestigious National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics postgraduate scholarship. Dudley has been a national champion a total of six times and Hug has claimed 12 national titles during the last four years.
Dudley was also second in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. In the preliminary heat for the 400 IM, she set an NCAA record by .01 of a second (4:20.67) and set a new school mark in the 200-yard backstroke prelims (2:00.49).
In addition to her national titles, Hug was second in the 500-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard free. She was one of three Bulldogs to score in seven events.
Sophomore Diana Betsworth (East Moline, Ill./United Township) was the champion in the 500-yard freestyle after bringing home three national titles last year. The defending national champion and NCAA record-holder in the 1,000 free, Betsworth placed second to Hug this year, while junior Katie May (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) was third. Betsworth was also the runnerup in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and set a Bulldog record in the 100 free, breaking her own mark by .02 of a second with a time of 50.81.
The 200- and 400-yard winning medley relay teams set NCAA records with times of 1:43.73 and 3:47.73, respectively. Junior Krista Pray (Naperville, Ill.) led off the 200 medley relay with the backstroke, followed by sophomore Michaela Osborn (Tipton, Iowa) in the breaststroke, sophomore Christina Blose (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell North) in the butterfly and senior Sara Hatcher (Kingdom City, Mo./North Callaway) in the freestyle.
Dudley led off the NCAA record-setting 400 medley relay and Hug swam the butterfly on the third leg of that race, while Osborn and Hatcher swam the second and fourth legs again.
Hug, May, sophomore Sarah Dance (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) and Betsworth made up the championship 800-yard freestyle relay contingent, and Hug, Hatcher, Betsworth and Dance brought home the title and set a new NCAA DII standard in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Hatcher, freshman Whitney Jensen (Grinnell, Iowa), Betsworth and Dance, broke the school record in a time of 1:33.82 and placed second.
Osborn posted a time of 2:22.14 in the prelims of the 200-yard breaststroke to set a new school record and placed seventh in that event in the finals.
The Bulldogs lose just four seniors, but four who have been significant contributors to Truman's rise to the top of the DII ranks. Dudley, Hug, Hatcher and Ellen Frick (Manhattan, Kan.) competed in their last races for the 'Dogs on Saturday. Including three of this year's national championship relay teams, Hatcher has been on a total of five title-winning relay teams over the last four campaigns, and charted third-place finishes as a freshman and sophomore and second-place showings the last two years in the 50-yard freestyle. Frick finished her career on a high note as well, earning all-America status by virtue of her 14th- and 16th-place finishes in the 1,650- and 1,000-yard freestyles.
Junior Allison Blyth (Clive, Iowa/Dowling) took all-America recognition for the second year in a row in three vents, including a ninth-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomores Sue Ellen Thoma (Jefferson City, Mo.) and Sarah Wells (Carrollton, Texas/Newman Smith) also scored team points. Thoma garnered her first all-America accolades in the 200-yard freestyle with a 14th-place finish, and Wells became a six-time all-America after placing 11th in the 400 IM and 12th in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
The top eight finishers in each event at the national meet garner all-America honors, while the eighth- through 16th-place finishers earn honorable mention all-America status.
Freshman off to a good start: Katie Funk (Iowa City, Iowa), Aimee Gregor (Southlake, Texas/Keller), Jensen, Kate Kresl (Kansas City, Mo./Oak Park) and Meredith Rocha (Whitehouse, Texas/Grace Community) all made the trip the the national meet in their first seasons and came away with all-America honors. Funk led the pack with top 16 finishes in four events, including a ninth-place showing in the 1,000 free and Rocha placed 10th in the 200-yard butterfly.
On the men's side, six individuals placed among the top 16 in their respective races to grab team points and help the team to a 12th-place overall finish.
Senior Matt Pray (Naperville, Ill.) culminated an outstanding career as the best men's swimmer ever at Truman. He was third in the 200-yard butterfly, breaking his own Bulldog mark with a time of 1:47.99. Pray was also fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, and was part of the fourth-place 400-yard medley relay team and the 200-yard freestyle relay squad that was sixth. His time of 48.58 in the prelims of the 100 fly surpassed the old Truman mark that was also held by Pray.
The 400-yard medley relay team that finished fourth in a time of 3:23.55 and set a new Truman record was comprised of junior Andy Harken (Liberty, Mo.), Pray, freshman Josh Otis (Johnston, Iowa/Dowling) and junior Brian Teson (Kansas City, Mo./St. Pius X).
The 800-yard freestyle relay team that also set a new Truman mark (6:52.54) was made up of Teson, Otis, Pray and sophomore Robby Cooper (Holden, Mo.).
Harken, Pray, Otis and Vince Struble (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) helped the 200-yard freestyle relay team to an eighth-place finish.
Otis was the next highest individual finisher on the men's team after placing 10th in the 200-yard individual medley.
It's Not Over yet: While the Bulldogs' season may be over, six women have qualified for the United States Swimming Championships April 1-5 in Indianapolis. The women will use this meet to attempt to qualify in meters for the Olympic Trials.
Betsworth has made the cut in the 50, 100, 200 and 400 freestyles; Dudley qualified for the 200 and 400 IMs and the 100 and 200 backstrokes; Hatcher will compete in the 500 and 100 freestyles; Hug has qualified for the 200 IM and 200 and 400 freestyles; and Osborn will swim the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Dance will likely compete in the 100 and 200 freestyles and the 200 IM.