Session 1 Results

ROCHESTER, NY (December 4, 2009) – The Vassar College women's swimming and diving team heads into the final two sessions of the Liberty League Championships riding a wave of momentum following an impressive showing in the first session on Friday at the University of Rochester, as the Brewers stand in fifth place out of eight teams.

Host Rochester has 338 points, followed by Union with 222, and third place RPI (209). St. Lawrence narrowly edged Vassar following the diving session to take fourth place heading into Saturday with 135 points, while the Brewers have 132 points. Skidmore (84), William Smith (70), and Clarkson (50) round out the field. There are two sessions scheduled for Saturday. The first session begins at 9 am, the final session at 4 pm.

“Tonight was a total team effort, everyone swam so well,” said interim head coach Paul Kueterman. “We put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow, because there are a lot of stroke races in the final two sessions and we have a lot of strength in those events.”

A highlight for the Brewers on Friday was an impressive second place finish by sophomore Caroline Shannon in the 200 IM, in a time of 2:16.07.

“Caroline looked great throughout the entire race,” said Kueterman, noting that Shannon's time of 2:16.07 was significantly faster than her seeding time of 2:19.59. “She finished strong, and was especially strong in the breaststroke to move into second.”

Also picking up a top five finish was freshman Shannon Sara who placed fifth in the 500 Free with a time of 5:27.18 in her first Liberty League Championship. The Vassar relays swam well, opening the meet with a fifth place finish in the 200 Free Relay as junior Samantha Jones, freshman Sydnie Alquist, freshman Alexandra Hughes and senior Jordana Jantze swam a time of 1:45.11. The Brewers then closed out the session on a high note, as the 400 Medley Relay team of Jones, Shannon, Sara, and Jantze placed fourth with a time of 4:15.67.

“Everyone swam so well in that race,” said Kueterman of the 400 Medley Relay. “They needed to step up to maintain our fourth-place standing by beating St. Lawrence and they did just that.”