Butler Men's and Women's Swimming Wrap-Up

March 4, 2003

SEASON FINALE: The Butler men's and women's swimming teams concluded their 2002-03 season last week at the Horizon League Championships, hosted by Cleveland State. The Butler women's swimming team placed sixth in the meet with 244 points. Wright State placed first with 779.50 points, followed by UW-Green Bay (738), UW-Milwaukee (654), UIC (440) and Cleveland State (307). Youngstown State rounded out the scoring with 230.50 points in seventh place. On the men's side, the Bulldogs finished sixth with 139 points. The Raiders again took home the top prize with 726 points, followed by UW-Green Bay (689), Cleveland State (672), UW-Milwaukee (511) and UIC (487).

QUOTING ELLIS: "The team I took to Cleveland was the team that provd to me all year that they wanted to swim, swim for me, and swim fast," said head coach Nichole Ellis. "I think we really shocked the other teams by how well we performed. People were not expecting the Bulldogs to come i and swim as well as we did. I had swimmers in the top 16 in 75 percent of the finals and i am very proud of what we accomplished. I think it only illustrates what we as a team hope to accomplish in future years."

TOP DOG: Junior Catie Scott was Butler's top finisher on the week, posting a trio of Top Ten performances. Scott finished in fourth place in the 100 Free in a time of 53.05. She then captured a fifth-place finish in the 50 Free (24.62) and a sixth place finish in the 200 Free (1:56.07). All three of those times were season-bests for the Libertyville, Ill. native.

OFF TO THE RACES: Sophomore Carlton Racette laid claims to Butler's top individual performance on the men's side, placing sixth in the 400 IM in a time of 4:06.23. Racette also placed well in the 200 IM (1:54.92) and 200 Fly (1:55.94), finishing in 11th position in both events.

SENIOR SENDOFF: The lone seniors on the team, John Allan, Travis Seals, Carlo Girolamo and Tara Wetzel went out with a bang in Cleveland, producing several lifetime bests. Allan's time of 59.55 in the 100 Breaststroke was good enough for him to finish in 15th. His other lifetime best came in the 200 Breaststroke, where he finished in a time of 2:13.23. Seals, who battled an illness throughout most of the season, finished the 100 Butterfly, 200 IM and 100 Butterfly all in personal bests. Girolamo posted times of 56.88 in the 100 Backstroke and 48.28 in the 100 Free, both of which were season-bests. Wetzel captured a pair of season-best times, finishing nearly 13 seconds better in the 500 Freestyle (5:25.84) than her previous best and placing 16th in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:26.05.

SOPHOMORE STANDOUTS: Head coach Nichole Ellis has a lot to be excited about in the years to come as her sophomore class boasted some strong indvidual performances. Jesse Levknecht placed in the Top Ten of three events, finishing fifth in the 200 Fly (2:10.78) and eighth in the 100 Fly (58.83) and 100 Backstroke (59.99). Liz Klueh finished in 16th in a pair of events - the 400 IM (4:53.73) and the 200 Backstroke (2:15.81). And, on the men's side, Brendan Van Cleve finished 11th in the 200 Backstroke (1:55.71) and 16th in the 100 Backstroke.

MORE OF MOSHER: Junior Cherri Mosher placed 12th in the 400 IM in a time of 4:46.34 and 13th in the 200 Fly in a time of 2:17.31. Both times were lifetime bests for the junior from Chester, Va.

AN 'A' FOR AMBER: Junior Amber Gault finished in eighth place in the 200 IM, touching the wall in a time of 2:12.98. She then posted a season-best time of 1:10.28 in the 100 Breaststroke, good enough for a 13th place finish.

A NOTABLE PERFORMANCE: Junior Patrick McKenny posted a pair of season-best times at the championships, touching the wall in the 200 Freestyle in 1:47.76 and swimming the 50 Free in 21.85.

A FRESH START: Freshmen Amanda Walter, Megan Fried and Lauren Tyler also posted season-bests at the league championships. Walter swam the 200 Free in 2:23.63 and Fried recorded a time of 1:06.87 in the 100 Backstroke. Tyler posted a time of 2:21.21 in the 200 IM and swam the 200 Backstroke in 2:21.35.