Mar. 12, 2005 - The much anticipated fifth-straight national title for the Truman women's swim team came to a head in Orlando, Fla. on Saturday night. The Bulldogs defeated rival Drury by 49.5 points to capture the championship. Truman finished with 579.5 points, while the Panthers were in second with 530.
Head coach Colleen Murphy once again was named the NCAA Division II Women's Coach of the Year. She helped Truman tie a Division II record with its fifth straight title.
Day Four Recap
On the final day of the championships, Truman picked up their second national championship, again in a relay event. The team of Diana Betsworth, Emily Pufall, Whitney Jensen and Sarah Dance took home top honors in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:24.44.
The depth of the Bulldog team was again evident in that Truman had at least two swimmers score in each event. In the 100 free five Bulldogs scored with three in the top eight. Dance was third with a time of 51.11 with Betsworth right on her heels in fourth at 51.33. Emily Pufall was seventh at 51.98. In the "B" Finals, Jensen was 11th and Polette came in tied for 13th.
In the 200 backstroke, the three Bulldog competitors all finished in the top eight. Whitney Wodstrchil was third at 2:01.78 and Lija Kaleps-Clark was fourth with a time of 2:02.17. Emily Greenwood came in seventh place with a time of 2:06.29 to pick up all-American honors.
After having the fastest time in the prelims, Michaela Osborn came in second place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:17.1 during the finals. She was not alone in scoring points in that event as Brittany Anderson was 10th with a time of 2:21.96 and Lindsay Vaughn was 13th coming in at 2:22.75.
In the 1650 free, a pair of Bulldogs picked up honorable mention all-American honors. Katie Funk and Lindsay McReynolds placed 12th and 13th respectively.
Day Three Recap
After numerous close calls, Truman finally recorded a national championship on Friday as the 800 free relay team won its event. The squad, consisting of Sarah Dance, Whitney Jensen, Molly Polette and Diana Betsworth, swam the race in 7:24.73, winning the event by nearly five seconds.
Two seniors and two freshmen helped Truman outscore Drury by nine points on the second day.
Seniors Betsworth and Michaela Osborn each had individual runner-up finishes on the day. Betsworth's came in the 500 free where she swam a time of 4:52.83 in the finals. Osborn was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in a time of 1:03.09.
After the prelims, its looked like Drury might have an advantage of the Bulldogs in the 100 backstroke. However, freshman Whitney Wodstrchil and Emily Greenwood took away that advantage by finishing second and sixth, respectively, in the event. Both swimmers improved their prelim times and finishes in the finals.
Other Bulldogs scoring on day three included two other Bulldogs in the 500 free as Katie Funk came in 10th and Polette finished 12th. In the 100 back, Lija Kaleps-Clark finished 11th. In the 200 butterfly, Lindsay McRenyonds was 14th and Laura Harp came in 17th.
Day Two Recap
The Bulldogs jumped into the lead after putting up a big score in the 200 free event. Five Bulldogs scored in that competitions, giving Truman 51 points, 40 more than its closest rival Drury.
Diana Betsworth led Truman’s charge in that event, finishing second in a time of 1:49.49. Molly Polette and Sarah Dance had top-eight finishes as well, coming in fifth and sixth, respectively. Whitney Jensen placed 13th in the event and Emily Pufall was 14th.
Truman’s other big points came during the two relays of the day. The Bulldogs finished third in both the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Members of the 200 free relay were Jensen, Betsworth, Dance and Pufall. The 400 medley relay members were Lija Kaleps-Clark, Michaela Osborn, Laura Harp and Pufall.
Four Bulldogs scored in the 400 IM, led by Dance who came in third. Kaleps-Clark finished seventh, Whitney Wodstrchill was 11th and Katie Welsh came in 14th.
In the 100 butterfly, three Bulldogs made the finals. Harp led the team with a ninth-place finish, Brittany Anderson came in 13th and Christina Blose was 16th.
Day One Recap
Truman recorded two runner-up finishes and had 11 athletes earn all-American honors during the first day of action at the national meet.
Individually, Diana Betsworth finished second in the 1,000 free, finishing in a time of 10:06.82, nearly 14 seconds better than her previous season-best mark. Three other Truman swimmers scored in the event as Katie Funk finished 11th, Lindsay McReynolds came in 13th and Molly Polette finished 16th.
The 200 medley relay also finished second at the meet in a time of 1:45.03. Members of that team were Emily Greenwood, Michaela Osborn, Christina Blose and Whitney Jensen.
In the 200 IM, three Bulldogs had top-10 finishes. Sarah Dance came in third, Osborn was seventh and Lija Kaleps-