Feb. 13, 2003
Little Rock, Ark. - The Western Kentucky University women's swimming team didn't get a win in an individual event but placed four swimmers in the top eight in two events and won the 400 Medley Relay en route to a 41-point lead after day one of the Sun Belt Conference Champions as it goes for its third straight conference title.
Western scored 227.50 points with New Mexico State in second with 186.50. North Texas was third with 150 points followed by Denver with 134. Host Arkansas-Little Rock is fifth (63) with Louisiana-Monroe in sixth (58).
The Lady Toppers began the day finishing fourth in the 200 Freestyle Relay, but rebounded in the day's other final events. Freshman Amber Miller (Georgetown, Ky.) began the rally by shaving nine seconds off her top time in the 500 Freestyle to finish second in 5:06.01. She was joined in the top eight by Meredith McCauley (Sr., Cynthiana, Ky.) (5:09.89) and Lisa Ross (Fr., Merrillville, Ind.) (5:11.57) who were fifth and sixth respectively. Stacey Schortgen (Fr., Chrubusco, Ind.) finished eighth in 5:13.64.
A strong team showing in the 200 IM followed WKU's success in the 500 Freestyle. The Lady Toppers missed out on the top spot, but Meredith Mountjoy (Fr., Louisville, Ky.), Jordan Beck (Fr., Normandy, Tenn.), Penta Stanley (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.) and Rachel Buncher (Fr., Nicholasville, Ky.) finished second through fifth for 52 points. Mountjoy (2:06.76), Beck (2:09.57) and Stanley (2:10.31) each set personal bests for the season in the finals.
In the 50 Freestyle, Carol Brown (Sr., Fortaleza-Ce, Brazil) led three Lady Toppers in the finals with a third place finish in 24.56. Carrie Redmon (Fr., Bowling Green, Ky.) finished seventh (25.46) and Lori Ludwiczak (So., Owensboro, Ky.) eighth (25.53). Ludwiczak reached the finals with a personal best 25.32 in the preliminaries.
Western finished day one by claiming its lone event victory in the 400 Medley Relay. The foursome of Alexis Rieck (So., Kitchener, Ontario), Lucy Faria (Jr., Madison, Wis.), Mountjoy and Brown defeated the Aggies by over a second with a time of 3:53.98. New Mexico State finished in 3:55.00.
The Championships resume on Friday and Saturday. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. (CST) with the finals at 6 p.m. each day.
WKU Sun Belt Conference Championship ResultsEvent Place Competitor(s) Time Points
200 Freestyle Relay 4th Rachel Buncher, Carol Brown 1:39.86 30
Carrie Redmon, Lori Ludwiczak
500 Freestyle 2nd Amber Miller 5:06.01 17
5th Meredith McCauley 5:09.89 14
6th Lisa Ross 5:11.57 13
8th Stacey Schortgen 5:13.64 11
200 IM 2nd Meredith Mountjoy 2:06.76 17
3rd Jordan Beck 2:09.57 16
4th Penta Stanley 2:10.31 15
5th Rachel Buncher 2:11.53 14
50 Freestyle 3rd Carol Brown 24.56 15.50
7th Carrie Redmon 25.46 12
8th Lori Ludwiczak 25.53 11
15th Sarah Besco 26.88 2
400 Medley Relay 1st Alexis Rieck, Lucy Faria 3:53.98 40
Meredith Mountjoy, Carol Brown
