Junior Britney Sasser was named the 2007 NESCAC Championships Swimmer of the Meet.

Women's Swimming Takes 2nd at NESCAC Championships; Junior Brittany Sasser Named Swimmer of the Meet

February 19, 2007

The Amherst Women’s swimming team finished second with an impressive display of star power at Williams College February 16-18 at the NESCAC championships. Junior Brittany Sasser (Belmont, MA) was named swimmer of the meet after an undefeated weekend in which she set a vast array of records including the Division III national record in the 200 backstroke. Senior captain Piper Pettersen (Kirkland, WA) was also honored at the conclusion of the meet as the highest career point winner for a graduating senior.  

On the opening night of the meet, the 200 freestyle relay team comprised of sophomore Mary Marvel (Williamsburg, MA), junior Lisa Pritchard (Saratoga, NY), sophomore Erin Morrison (Old Greenwich, CT), and Pettersen started off the action with an impressive second place finish and a provisional qualifying time for Division III National Championships in Houston next month. Junior Suzie Luft (Madison, CT) kept the ball rolling as the highest Amherst finisher in the 50 breaststroke with a tenth place finish before senior captain Margaret Ramsey (Belmont, MA) and first-year Kendall Dacey (West Roxbury, MA) teamed up for fifth and sixth place finishes respectively in the 50 butterfly. Sophomore Meaghan Stern (Albuquerque, NM) started an impressive run including wins in four of the last five events with a hard fought first place finish in a 500 freestyle event in which junior Julie Kim (fifth place, Montville, NJ), first-year Anna Haring (eighth place, Santa Barbara, CA), and sophomore Kara MacLaverty (ninth place, Kenilworth, IL) also finished in the top ten. Both Stern and Kim also posted provisional qualification times for Nationals in the event. In the very next event, Lisa Pritchard, the Jeff’s only entry, took the 50 backstroke before turning it over to Sasser and Pettersen for the 200 IM. Sasser posted an automatic qualification time in winning the event while Pettersen finished an impressive third with a provisional time. The Jeffs displayed their depth in the event as well with senior Jasmina Cheung-Lau (ninth place, Ontario, CA) and sophomore Margaret Tato (eleventh place, Chatham, NJ) posting notable times in the event with first and third place finishes respectively in the consolation final while first-year Ellen Fitzgerald (seventeenth place, Indianapolis, IN) took first place in the preconsolation final for a sweep of the event’s finals heats. Sophomores Marvel and Morrison took 2nd and 7th places for the Jeffs in the 50 freestyle with Marvel posting another provisional qualification time to conclude the individual events for the night. After the one meter diving competition in which sophomore Sabrina Dorman (ninth place, Chevy Chase, MD) narrowly missed out on making finals, the women returned to the pool for the 400 medley relay. Sasser, Pettersen, Marvel, and Stern teamed up to set a new pool record and post the second best time in the nation this season in qualifying for nationals and taking first place to conclude the first of three finals sessions on the weekend. The women finished the evening in third place behind rivals Williams College and Middlebury College.

In the second day of NESCAC Championships Saturday February 17th, the Amherst women mounted an impressive performance top to bottom to climb above rival Middlebury College into second place. The women started the action with a thrilling victory by the 200 medley relay team of Sasser, seniors Pettersen, and Ramsey, and Stern with a strong provisional qualification time. In the very next event, junior Julie Kim posted a solid third place finish in the 1000 freestyle while sophomore Ellie Hewitt (Stratford, CT) finished in tenth place. MacLaverty and Cheung-Lau followed that with third and fifth place finishes respectively as well as provisional qualification times. To continue the trend of strong showings, Pettersen finished second in the 100 butterfly with an automatic qualification time in a finals heat in which Marvel and Dacey finished fifth and sixth while Tato took the consolation final for a ninth place finish overall. In the next event, however, Amherst posted it’s most impressive individual event of the evening with first, third, sixth, twelfth and fifteenth place finishes by Stern, Ramsey, sophomores Alex Lee (Piedmont, CA), and Erin Morrison, and first-year Anna Haring. Stern defended her conference title in the event and posted another automatic qualification time for the Jeffs while Ramsey posted a provisional time. Fitzgerald was Amherst’s top finisher in 6th place in the 100 breaststroke before Sasser and Pritchard teamed up for a rare 1-2 finish for the Jeffs in the 100 backstroke. Sasser won the event by more than three seconds in setting pool and meet records for an automatic qualification time while Pritchard posted another provisional qualification time. In the final event of the evening, the Amherst relay team of Sasser, Ramsey, Lee, and Stern came together for an impressive win and meet record to go along with their automatic qualification time.

In the final night of the meet, the Amherst women’s swimming and diving team carried their momentum over and finished strong. Kim got the night started with a provisional qualification time and third place finish in the 1650 freestyle while Hewitt came in tenth. With the crowd warmed up, Sasser, MacLaverty, Lee, and Pritchard put on a show with first, fifth, sixth, and eighth place finishes in the 200 backstroke. Sasser posted a personal best time to break her own national record in the event to go along with the automatic qualification time and team, pool, meet, and NESCAC records. Stern continued her impressive meet with a strong second place finish and provisional time in the 100 freestyle while Morrison (ninth) and Marvel (tenth) teamed up for a one-two finish in the consolation final. In the next event, Pettersen came in second with yet another provisional time before giving way to the 200 butterfly contingent of Cheung-Lau (second, provisional time) and Haring (sixth). Dorman posted a tenth place finish in the three meter diving to conclude the meets individual performances. The 400 freestyle relay team of Marvel, Sasser, Morrison, and Stern gave the meet a fitting conclusion with yet another Amherst win and clinched the team’s second place finish behind rival Williams College but in front of fierce competitor Middlebury College.

In total, the women won four of the five relay events and six of the nineteen individual events. As many as ten but at least eight of the women qualified for and will return to action at Division III National Championships in Houston March 8-10. For the rest of the team, the meet concluded their season which included an undefeated dual meet record. The men’s swimming and diving teams will return to action for their NESCAC championship meet at Bowdoin February 23-25.