Hope defeats Saint Mary's swimmers
by JANEL MILLER
Sports Writer
The Belles swimming and diving team fell to Hope College Tuesday night, giving Hope College their 48th consecutive dual meet win in the MIAA.
Hope College, currently ranked first in the MIAA, swam swiftly to victory, notching the score to 102-62 by the half to swim the rest of the meet exhibition. Hope ran away with the meet, winning 102-96. For the Belles, the meet was an opportunity to swim off events and have a little fun. Armed with an unusual roster, head coach Gretchen Hildebrandt wanted the Hope match to be a no-pressure situation for the Belles.
"I wanted to change some things up for them for fun and for resting purposes," Hildebrandt said. "They really need this change because they swam this past Saturday and will swim again this coming Saturday."
The Belles entered Tuesday's meet after coming off a close meet Saturday versus Albion College. After losing to Alma by one point, the Belles realized that being close is not always going to be enough. The Belles were once again reminded on Saturday of this as Albion edged past them with a small margin.
According to head coach Gretchen Hildebrandt, the Belles still swam well.
"Once again it came down to the end of the meet and some very close races," Hildebrandt said.
Even with many first-place finishes in their corner, the Belles were not able to maintain their advantage.
Freshman powerhouse Meghan Ramsey pulled out a first in the 500-yard freestyle and later in the 200 butterfly in which she re-set her school record with a time of 2 minutes 14.58 seconds.
Saint Mary's dominated the freestyle events with Maureen Palchak's performance in the 50 freestyle. Co-Captain Colleen Sullivan dominated both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events. Lauren Smith and Katie Liebeck went one-two in the 200-breaststroke.
Sullivan attributed the loss not to the swimmer's mental or physical inadequacies but to just being out swam in key events.
"We swam really well individually but we have also begun to swim well as a team since our training trip," Sullivan said. "This shows in our attitudes — especially when faced with these close meets. We're a team."
Part of the explanation for the Belles sub-.500 season record lies in the diving squad. With only one diver, Saint Mary's is usually the underdog to the larger teams that have three or four divers. According to Hildebrandt, those are the points that can make a big difference.
The Belles were also very overwhelmed by a transfer student from Albion, who proved to be a difficult opponent, taking the distance freestyle and backstroke events out of the Belles grasp.
"While very disappointing, it is still uplifting as I see them all improving," Hildebrandt said. "We'll get them [Albion] at championships."
All Sports Stories for Thursday, January 25, 2001
