The Belles swam their only regular season home dual meet over vacation in front of empty stands at Rolfs Aquatic Center. Because of a scheduling glitch earlier in the season, the Belles were unable to compete in a dual meet in front of the student body.

Matching up against Alma College on Jan 16, the Belles dropped a tightly contested conference meet to the Scots, narrowly missing a victory by one point. Regardless of the voiceless stands, however, the Belles were pleased with the performance.

"They swam really well," said head coach Gretchen Hildebrandt. "The times accomplished by these women who were tired and broken down are absolutely remarkable."

Despite being sore and fatigued from intense training over break, the Belles stood strong against a team that beat them in 2000 by over 60 points. The meet came down to the final 200-yard freestyle relay. Saint Mary's grabbed first, however, Alma's second and third place finishes put them ahead of the Belles.

"It was a great meet," said Hildebrandt. "We swam right with them in every event."

The Belles pulled another five first place finishes and followed suit with several second place finishes. Maureen Palchak captured the 50-yard freestyle after finishing third in the 200-yard freestyle moments before. Elizabeth Doro, joined her by taking

the second place spot.

The Belles then would go on to finish 1-2-3 in the 100 freestyle with co-captain Colleen Sullivan taking first with a time of 57.63 seconds, followed by Doro (59.02) and Chloe Lenihan (1:002.24). Meghan Ramsey helped the team with her top finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle.

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