Van Rooijen Breaks BIG EAST Record in 200 Free
Feb. 22, 2002
Uniondale, N.Y. – The Miami women’s relay team broke the school recordin the 200-yard medley event and Manon van Rooijen broke a BIG EAST and schoolrecord winning the 200-yard freestyle on Friday at the BIG EAST Championshipsin Uniondale, New York.
The relay event marks the third record for the UM women after breaking schoolrecords in the 200 free and 400 medley on Thursday.
Freshman Tammy Watts (Centennial, Colo.), sophomore Courtney Caples (Tuscaloosa,Ala.), freshman Kristy MacLennan (Toronto, Canada) and junior Christine Williams(Trenton, N.J.) finished the race in 1:45.12, breaking the old record of 1:45.86.The Hurricanes finished sixth in the event.
“This was another great effort as all of our relays have improved drasticallythis year,” said head swimming coach James Sweeney. “We put a great emphasis onit all year and it has definitely paid off for our women.”
Sophomore Manon van Rooijen set a BIG EAST and school record in the 200-yard freestylewith a time of 1:46.48.
On Thursday, van Rooijen won the women’s 200 IM individual event and was a memberof the relay team which set new Miami records in the 200 free and 400 IM competitions.Van Rooijen broke her own school record in the 200 free (1:48.36) by a full 1.88seconds. The performance automatically qualified her for the NCAA’s.
“Manon swam the race so smooth, it was scary how great she looked, and even scarieris that she can and will go faster,” said Sweeney. “She negative splitted therace with splits of 26.1, 27.4, 26.7, and 26.1. It was an unbelievable swim andthe best swim at our conference meet so far.”
Junior Megan Kinsella (Calgary, Canada) finished 11th in the event at 1:51.34.
In the 400 IM, junior Elaine Schwartz (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) came in 4th with a NCAAB qualifying time of 4:21.71. Kristy MacLennan continued a great freshman campaignwith a 56.8 and finished 13th in the 100 fly.
“Kristy has been a constant in the fly events,” said Sweeney. “She’s also beena tremendous asset on many of the record breaking relays.”
In the women’s 100 breaststroke, junior Meghan Clabby (Coral Springs, Fla.) finished14th with a 1:06.11. She earlier did a lifetime best time with a 1:05.34. CourtneyCaples finished 4th with a 1:04.39.
Two freshman finished in the consolation final in the women’s 100 backstroke.Tammy Watts won the heat finishing 9th with a 57.53, over two seconds faster thanher previous best mark. Teammate Katalin Ferenczi (Papa, Hungary) — fightinga cold — finished 12th with a 58.01.
On the last event of the night, the Lady Canes made a tremendous effort on the800 freestyle relay. With Christine Williams, Megan Kinsella, Kristy MacLennan,and Manon van Rooijen, Miami finished 3rd just behind Villanova at 7:24.45.
“Manon anchored the relay with an amazing time of 1:45.81,” said Sweeney. “Sheran by three teams as she was just shy of touching out for second place. The timewas also an NCAA B qualifying time.”
For the Miami men, senior Wesley Stoddard (Huntsville, Ala.) finished 13th inthe 400 IM with a time of 4:05.90.
“Wes swam a tough race and was reeling in people at the end,” said Sweeney. “Heis ready for his is best event, the 1650 free tomorrow.”
The men’s 800-yard freestyle relay team of junior Kevin Kerrick (Miami, Fla.),junior Ryan Rykaczewski (Satellite Beach, Fla.), freshman Joshua Laban (VirginIslands) and Stoddard finished in 9th place with a time of 6:53.57.
“The men have all stepped up this year and have given a tremendous effortevery time,” said Sweeney. “I am really proud of our men’s team as they fightand work so hard and continue to do best times.”
The BIG EAST Championships conclude on Saturday, February 23rd.
For complete meet results, please visit:
http://www.bigeast.org/sports/swimming/
For the latest information on Miami Swimming & Diving visit the UM athleticswebsite at HurricaneSports.com.
