Merritt Named ODAC Swimmer of the Week
Greensboro, N.C. (11/19/07) -- Sophomore Justine Merritt won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Swimmer of the Week and the Guilford College Student-Athlete of the Week Awards for the week ending Nov. 17. It is the second time in Merritt's career that she has earned the conference honor and the first winner of the weekly award this year.
Merritt, a member of the Quakers' swimming team, won three individual events and swam on a winning relay squad in Guilford's meet with ODAC-rival Bridgewater Nov. 17. She placed first in the 200-yard freestyle, the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard medley with times of 2:12:48, 2:36:95 and 2:29:77, respectively. The three first place finishes contributed 27 points to the Quakers' 181-77 victory. Merritt's times in the 200 back and the 200 medley were her fastest of the season. She also anchored Guilford's 400 freestyle relay team that beat Bridgewater by less than a second to add another 11 points to the Quakers' total.
Coach Steve Kaczmarek's Quakers (5-1, 2-1 ODAC) are off to their best start ever and visit Sweet Briar Dec. 1 for a tri-meet with King College at 2:00 p.m. Guilford hosts Emory & Henry in an ODAC match Jan. 19 at 1:00 p.m.
The Student-Athlete of the Week Award is presented by Guilford's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) which is comprised of representatives from each of the school's 16 varsity teams. The group meets regularly to discuss the state of Guilford Athletics and seeks to build community among the school's student-athletes and non-student-athletes. Recent Guilford SAAC activities include canned food drives and assistance with the North Carolina Special Olympics and New Garden Friends School.