2008 Atlantic States/ODAC Championships Recap
Greensboro, N.C. (2/18/08) - Guilford’s women’s swimming team made a huge splash in the Atlantic States/Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship swim meet Feb. 15-17, breaking several school records. The meet, held in Radford, Va., produced both team and individual bests.
Guilford finished sixth of 11 in the Atlantic States and fifth of eight in the ODAC meets, both school records. Conference rival Washington and Lee University placed first in the Atlantic States/ODAC meet, followed by Randolph-Macon College and Sweet Briar College. Agnes Scott College, the only school in the top five not from the ODAC, was taken out of the calculations for the conference standings, bumping Guilford to fifth place in the league.
Sophomore Justine Merritt set two school records throughout the three day meet. She finished 11th in the 200-yard individual medley, with a school-record time of 2:26.09. The second-year letter winner placed ninth in the 100 breaststroke in a record time of 1:15.87. The Quakers’ 400 yard medley relay team, comprised of Merritt, sophomore Sara Stone, senior Genevieve Holmes and first-year Filka Shalamanova, placed sixth with a school-record time of 4:37.60. The same group took sixth place in the 200-yard medley relay with a record time of 2:06.03. Stone set an individual record in the 200 butterfly, finishing third with a time of 2:21.53. The third-place finish marked the highest finish for a Guilford swimmer in the program’s short four-year history.
Fourth-year head coach Steve Kaczmarek’s team finished the season 8-5, 4-3 in the ODAC. The eight total wins and the four conference victories mark the most in program history. Kaczmarek expects nine letter winners back next season.