“This was a full team effort,” said Powell. “We won only three individual events and everyone stepped up and contributed. We were out of gas today in our last relay and managed to have one of our best times. It was pretty indicative of the whole meet and our spirit. We had a good time and I give credit to my staff for doing a good job.”
The Lady Toppers’ lone win on the day came in the meet’s final event, the 400 Free relay. Freshmen Megan Rames, Audrey Barnard and Jennifer Johnson, and sophomore Rachel Buncher set a pool record with a winning time of 3:30.55.
“This was the last relay and even though we were all tired we stayed pumped up and ended with a bang,” said Buncher. “This is our fourth-straight title, which brings us closer together as a team.”
Western took the two-through-four spots in the 200 Back, compliments of Barnard (2:05.03), junior Alexis Rieck (2:06.21) and sophomore Jordan Beck (2:06.58). Sophomores Amber Miller (17:21.42) and Stacey Schortgen (17:26.84) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 1650 Free. Buncher added a fourth-place finish in the 100 Free with a time of 53.72, while Johnson placed third in the 200 Fly with a mark of 2:06.15. Junior Lucy Faria and senior Marci Kacsir rounded out Western’s top finishers, with Faria grabbing second in the 200 Breast (2:22.44) and Kacsir taking the silver in the 3-meter dive with a score of 425.75.
WKU’s previous largest margin of victory came at the 2003 SBC meet, when they edged second-place New Mexico State by 249 points. The Lady Toppers (13-1) had won their previous three titles by an average of 173.17 points.
1. Western Kentucky, 968
2. Denver, 600
3. New Mexico State, 493
4. Florida International, 389
5. North Texas, 387
6. Louisiana-Monroe, 326
7. Arkansas-Little Rock, 204
— WKU —
