Women's Swimmers Set for NCAAs
March 19, 2003 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nine Wisconsin women's swimmers are are set to compete in the three-day 2003 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships this weekend in Auburn, Ala. Seniors Jenny Lyman, Sarah McCauley and Betsy Hassebroek, juniors Bethany Pendleton and Emily Pisula, sophomore Carly Piper and freshmen Sarah Hernandez, Amalia Sarnecki and Anna Trinidad will represent Wisconsin at the the NCAA meet.
First timers Hernandez, Sarnecki and Trinidad join experienced veterans Hassebroek (two-time honorable mention All-American), Lyman (three-time All-American, four-time honorable mention), McCauley (four-time All-American, two-time honorable mention), Pendleton and Piper (both two-time All-American, one-time honorable mention) and Pisula (one-time All-American, one-time honorable mention).
NCAA PREVIEW: UW's Freestyle strength Coming off a clean sweep of all the Big Ten freestyle titles (50, 100, 200, 500, 1650 and 400 and 800 relays), the Badgers will be looking to make their mark on the national scene and they can do so right from the get-go. The meet begins with the 200 free relay, an event in which the Badgers are seeded second. The meet's second event will feature the fifth-seeded Piper in the 500 free, an event in which Piper qualified for in October.
Piper is also seeded in the top-three in the 200 free (T3rd) and 1,650 free (3rd). McCauley joins Piper in the top-five in the 200 free (5th). Lyman, Big Ten champ in the 50 and 100 free, is seeded 11th in the 50 and 13th in the 100.
Other participants in this weekend's freestyle races include Hernandez (50, 100), Hassebroek (50), Pendleton (200) and McCauley (100). Hernandez finished second in the 100 at the 2003 Big Ten Championships and McCauley owns the 100 free school record.
NCAA PREVIEW, Part II: Badger quartets The Wisconsin relays look to score big points for the Badgers this weekend with three relays seeded in the top-five. The Badgers kick off the meet with the 200 free relay. At No. 2, the relay is the Badgers' highest seeded event of the championships. The 400 and 800 free relays are both seeded fourth, while the 400 medley relay falls in at 16th.
NCAA PREVIEW, PART III: Other seedings In the meet's other events, Pendleton holds the highest seeding with a No. 8 in the 400 IM. Pendleton, Pisula and Trinidad will all compete in the 200 and 400 IM. Sarnecki joins the IMers in the 200 and will compete in the 200 breast with Pisula and the 100 breast with Trinidad. McCauley holds the second-highest seeding at No. 10 in the 100 back. She owns the UW record in that event with a :54.49. Hassebroek joins McCauley in the 100 back and will also swim the 200 back.
Badgers Hold Top-10 Spot UW is ranked No. 10 in the nation with 129 votes, according to the latest College Swim Coaches Association of America dual meet poll (2/27/03). The Badgers opened the year at No. 18 in the CSCAA poll and moved to as high as No. 8 (1/16/03).
Top-10 finish' With their No. 10 ranking and a visit inside the top-10 this year (No. 8 on 1/16/03), the Badgers are aiming for the first ever top-10 national finish. The 2000 squad currently holds the best finish, a 11th-place performance in Indianapolis. At the 2000 meet, Wisconsin swimmers picked up nine All-American honors and 10 honorable mention.
A Top-20 lock The Badgers have finished in the top-20 in the last five years and in 1996 and 1997 Wisconsin took 21st. UW has also placed in the top-15 in four out of the last five years. Last season, the Badgers placed 14th at Austin, Texas.
The Seniors All three Badger senior swimmers are participating in the 2003 NCAA Championships. Wisconsin's senior leadership includes two-time honorable mention All-American Betsy Hassebroek, three-time All-American Jenny Lyman and four-time All-American Sarah McCauley. Hassebroek and McCauley also serve as co-captains.
2002 NCAA Recap The Badgers finished in 14th-place at the 2002 meet. The Badgers secured their top-15 finish with three All-American relay performances and the individual efforts of frosh Carly Piper.
The 200 free relay team of frosh Shannon VanCuren, sophomore Bethany Pendleton and juniors Jenny Lyman and Sarah McCauley recorded a ninth-place finish, good for honorable mention All-American honors. Securing outright All-American honors were the eighth-place 400 and sixth-place 800 free relay teams of VanCuren, Pendleton, McCauley, Lyman (400) and Piper (800). Piper added to her honors finishing sixth in the 500 free and 12th in the 1650 free.
