Washington U. Women’s Swimming & Diving Falls to Illinois State University

RESULTS

St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 19, 2013 – The Washington University women’s swimming & diving team came up short in its dual against NCAA Division I Illinois State University, falling to the Redbirds, 188-110, Saturday afternoon at Millstone Pool.

The Bears won five of 16 events contested in the meet, including a pair of first-place finishes by freshman Kristalyn McAfee. Washington U. had three of the top-four finishers in the 200 freestyle, led by McAfee’s winning time of 1:56.02. Freshman Grace Counts and junior Jennifer Tartavull touched the wall in third and fourth with times of 1:57.32 and 1:58.93, respectively. McAfee also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.57, while Tartavull came in third in 55.11.

In the final event of the meet, Tartavull chased down Illinois State’s Katherine Nelson on the final leg of the 400-freestyle relay to win the event for the Bears. The team of junior Chi Pham, McAfee, Counts and Tartavull clocked a winning time of 3:37.20, edging ISU’s second-place team that finished in 3:37.37. The Redbirds had a .39 lead heading into the final leg of the relay, before Tartavull clocked a 53.35 split to give Washington U. win.

Pham also had an individual first-place finish on the day, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.67. Freshman Katie Anderson and junior Meghan Lam took the top-two spots in the 200 backstroke for the Bears. Anderson posted a winning time of 2:13.41, while Lam’s runner-up time of 2:15.33 was a season-best.

The Bears had six other individual second-place finishes on the day, including two each by freshmen Sophie Gan and Amanda Stadermann. The 400-medley relay team of Pham, Gan, Stadermann and McAfee also came in second with a time of 4:02.44.

The Washington University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams return to action with their final home meet of the season Saturday, Jan. 26. The Bears are set to take on Rhodes College in a dual beginning at 1 p.m. at Millstone Pool.