SMC Swimming: Ramsey on the verge of history
By: ERIK POWERS
Sports Writer
Megan Ramsey will go down in the history of Saint Mary's swimming as a trailblazer.
Those unfamiliar with the Saint Mary's junior's swimming career should start to take note, for Ramsey could be making history this weekend.
As a Type B qualifier, Ramsey travels today to Carthage, Wisc. with hopes of securing a place at the NCAA Championships in Atlanta.
At last weekend's MIAA conference championships meet, Ramsey became the first Saint Mary's swimmer to win a conference race when she swept the preliminaries and finals of the 100-meter butterfly. If she qualifies for the NCAA Division III Championships, Ramsey would be the first Belle to individually qualify for an NCAA Tournament in any sport.
Generally, 22 or 23 swimmers from the 100-meter butterfly will advance. Based on her conference championships meet time, Ramsey is projected at 49th, but only eight-tenths of a second separates Ramsey from where she needs to be.
In general, the 22nd or 23rd person qualifies after all the automatic berths are given, but this number may fluctuate because some schools have not completed their conference meets yet.
For Ramsey, this is, as coach Greg Petcoff put it, a "one shot and out time-trial." Ramsey will have one opportunity to record her best possible time, which will likely have to be around 59.2 seconds or better to qualify. If she swims 58.2, Ramsey automatically qualifies for the Championships. Anything less, and she has to wait to learn her fate.
Petcoff feels Ramsey has a mental advantage over some of the field. "The good thing about Megan is that some people have the pressure of not being a B qualifier," Petcoff said. "Megan knows that she has made the B cut, and that she has a shot."
Shaving .8 seconds off of her time appears feasible as well. After an entire season of training and improvement, Ramsey should be in peak physical and top mental condition.
"There won't be the pressure of conference [meets]. There, I had to contend both for myself and the team," Ramsey said. "I was nervous at conference. Now, I'm try to refine some points of strokes, get out of the stands faster and make my times quicker. There's some fine-tuning. I realize that there is nothing to lose."
Personal accolades such as Ramsey's should only help the Belles for the future. Petcoff has assembled a promising foundation of hard-working swimmers. The success of the individual members of the team will only attract stronger contributors in the future.
"It should help recruiting," Ramsey said. "The more accomplishments there are on the team, the easier it is to use it to recruit good swimmers. Also, more accomplishments will gain more respect in conference."
Hopefully this year will mark the advent of a storied lineage of Saint Mary's swimmers qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
"It's only the beginning for me and the team," Ramsey said. "It will be disappointing if there aren't 100 swimmers behind me who win the MIAA and reach the NCAA Championships."
The 100-meter butterfly should begin at 6 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 21, 2003
