As we studied the line up options, it was obvious that each team had distinct advantages in certain races so the key would be how to exploit our strengths and try to pick up the little points here and there in our weaknesses. After many choices, we came up with the line up option that when scored using each team’s season bests ended in a 144-144 TIE!! There was no question that this meet would come down to passion and heart as each team tried to find that small 1 point advantage.
On the men's side, the team roles were reversed. It was Colby with the advantage. We had more events covered then Bowdoin; however, there were going to be 6 key races on the men's side - the 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 IM and 100 Fly. At the quad meet the weekend before, where we easily outpaced Bowdoin, we had won each of these races. But these races were close and could go either way. Too many flips - worth 10 points each - and the meet outcome would change. At stake for the men - their 4th straight CBB title which would result in the class of 2008 being the first men's class at Colby to graduate undefeated to Bowdoin and Bates!
The meet starts off with the honoring of the Colby seniors. As each senior's name is called they run the gauntlet of underclassmen to get their coffee mug filled with candy and their list of accomplishments at Colby are read off. The stands are packed with parents and friends - of both teams (after all it is the Bowdoin seniors last meet as well). In fact it is standing room only and there are as many signs for Bowdoin in the stands as for Colby. Maddie Given '08 sings her last national anthem in front of the Colby crowd and the meet begins. The meet starts off with the diving - an untraditional starting event but as each team only has one woman diver we agreed that this would be a great way to start the meet. Our diver, Margot Apothaker '11, returned after taking JanPlan off to have her best meet of the year on both boards, and just barely missed out on winning the 3 meter board to the favored Bowdoin diver. Margot's efforts and performance fueled the fire for our women as the swimming events began.
The swimming portion of the meet then began with the 200 Medley Relay. Both teams had medley relays which had posted times of 1:51 in previous competition, and Bowdoin had the advantage of 1:56 to 1:58 in the B medley. We decided to take some of our swimmers off the B Medley and save them for other individual events and the meet’s culminating 400 Free Relay. Therefore, we had to win this relay or Bowdoin would go 1-3 putting us in a deep hole. Kelsey Potdevin '09 led off the medley with a school and pool record time of 27.58, Kelly Norsworthy '08 followed with a breaststroke split of 29.79, Maddie Given '08 split a 27.42 in the fly and Courtney Chilcote '09 anchored with a 24.9. The ending time was a pool record of 1:49.78! Bowdoin's relay came in at 1:51.38. We were off!!
The next two events would key. We knew that to win the meet we needed to take a chance somewhere to pick up a victory that was not anticipated. The best option was in the 1000 Free where our 200 Freestyler Chelsea Heneghan '11 had the fastest time of all swimmers in both the 1000 (11:01) and 200 (1:58.6). These events are also back to back. Could Chelsea win both? With the men's 1000 in between there would be some rest. Bowdoin's top two 1000 swimmers had each been 11:06 the week before and their 200 Freestyler had been 1:59. It was worth the shot. The 1000 was never close. Chelsea dropped a 10:58 easily winning over the Bowdoin women's 11:16 & 11:17. Now came the question, what could she do in the 200. It was a very close race. The two swimmers were at 57.00 at the 100 and 1:28.1 at the 150...but Chelsea out sprinted the Bowdoin swimmer by 0.5 on the last 50 to win 1:58.9 to 1:59.4! This was a huge win - but believe it or not it only put us in position to tie!
In the 100 backstroke, Potdevin dropped another pool and school record with a 58.90 (an NCAA B-Cut which we later learned ranks her 9th in the NCAA), but more importantly Jocelyn Burke '08 went a lifetime best 1:04.82 placing 4th and beating out a Bowdoin woman. In the 100 breast, Kelly Norsworthy posted the 4th fastest time to date in Division III with a 1:05.89, and Maria Ramrath '09 and Alice Evans '10 each posted season bests. The next event is the 200 Fly where Bowdoin had a significant advantage and should be able to 1-2 and possibly 1-2-3. Nicolyna Enriquez '11 steps up and swims a lifetime best of 2:17.63 - a 5 second drop from her swim a weekend before!! (who needs a taper?!). She takes 2nd place, but even more amazingly, Hana Havar '11 swims a lifetime best of 2:22.98 for fourth place and Amanda Palffy '11 swims a lifetime best of 2:26.70 for 5th place! We are no longer swimming for a tie!
The 50 free is another strength for Bowdoin. Their top times suggest they should again go 1-2-3. But again the Colby women answered the challenge - Chilcote swims an unshaved best 25.67 for second place while Kristi Boman nails a 26.30 and Jocelyn Burke records a 26.65. Both are season bests and are good enough for 4th and 5th place! There is no question our women are on a roll.
In the 100 Free we place 2-3-5. In the 200 Back (Potdevin sets another school record and NCAA B-cut), Colby places 1-4. In the 200 Breast, Norsworthy and Enriquez go 1-2 and Evans places 5th. In the 500, Heneghan wins her third event with Sam Rose '08 and Leigh Carey '11 cruising in for 4th-5th. Colby is now in control of the meet. The only chance Bowdoin has to come back is to go 1-2-3 in the Fly and then win both the 200 IM and 400 Free Relay. In the fly, the Polar Bears have the advantage as their swimmers have been 1:00, 1:02 and 1:02. Colby's top swimmer Maddie Given '08 has been 1:03.1. At the 50 it appears to be a three person race. The Bowdoin swimmers split 29.0 and 29.7. Given is right there with a 29.6. On the second 50 Given has the fastest split with a 32.3 winning the race 1:01.99 to 1:02.16! The meet is over! The women have won the CBB for the 5th straight year. In the 200 IM Colby goes 1-2-3 with Norsworthy-Carlson-Enriquez all going unshaved bests. The only thing left is the 400 Free Relay - the relay we thought the meet would come down to. The race where heading in Bowdoin had a 4 second advantage. Heneghan leads off with a 55.94 and Colby is ahead by 0.07, Chilcote splits a 55.04 and Colby's lead expands to 2.4, Bowdion’s top sprinter catches Carlson giving Bowdoin a 0.8 advantage, . . . Colby's anchor is Potdevin splits a blistering 53.86 (not bad for a backstroker) and Colby wins the race by 0.08!
Since neither team has diving the men's meet starts out all even. With six events in question, the goal of the team was to place 1-3 in the 200 Medley getting out to an early 13-4 lead. This would be a bit of a challenge as Bowdoin's medley had beaten Colby just the week prior. Our top team splits 25.83 (Evan Mullin '08), 27.89 (Andrew Peterson '08), 23.48 (Peter Williams '11) and 21.27 (Sam Wampler '09) for a total time of 1:38.47 which outpaces Bowdoin's 1:39.45. Our number two relay splits, 27.38 (Travis Townsend '09), 27.54 (Craig Zevin '11), 24.42 (David Metcalf '09) and 22.51 (Reilly Taylor '10) for a time of 1:41.85 which easily finishes ahead of Bowdoin's 1:45. As with the women we are off to a good start.
We have the advantage in the distance and middle distance freestyle events. In the 1000, Kevin Smith '10 posts an unshaved best of 10:02.94 and David Hirsch '10 battles hard for a second place finish in 10:45.60. Charlie Wulff '11 comes in 5th with a lifetime best 11:26.64. In the 200 Colby goes 1-2-5 again! Evan Mullin '08 blows away the field with a pool record and unshaved best of 1:44.58, Peter Williams '11 posts a lifetime best 1:50.40 for second and Evan McCulloch '09 cruises in for a season best 1:56.41 and a 5th place point. Colby is in total control of the meet.
Now come the series of events where Bowdoin could swing the tide. In the 100 back, Mike Finnerty '08 swims an unshaved best of 55.66 yet he falls to second by 0.12. Bowdoin swimmers also take 3rd and 4th in the event. Peterson, Zevin and Taylor respond in the 100 Breast....going 1-2-4 respectively and Peterson drops an unshaved best of 1:02.03! Colby is back in control and the teams head into the 200 Fly where Bowdoin has more than a distinct advantage. Their flyers have been 2:04-2:06-2:07 where in comparison Colby has been 2:11-2:13-2:20. To avoid the 1-2-3 sweep, we put up Smith whose lifetime best is 2:09. It's worth a shot. Bowdoin's men are true to form and go 2:04.08 - 2:04.31 - 2:06.14. Smith, however, swims right with them going a lifetime best of 2:04.76! Even with this swim, the point spread is significantly in Bowdoin's favor and we will need to answer in the 50 and 100 free.
The 50 is an evenly matched race with Bowdoin's swimmer having posted a 22.1 during the season. Our answer is to put up Wampler (22.1) and Ben Gross '10 (22.3). It is a close race to the wall, but Wampler and Gross come off the wall first and hold onto a 1-2 finish - Wampler has a best unshaved 21.69 and Gross a Colby best time of 22.22. In addition, Patrick Sanders '08 puts together one of his best dual meet swims with a 23.81 - good for 5th place points by 0.04. After a 15 minute break, there was a rematch in the 100 Free. The Bowdoin man had been 49.9 and beaten Wampler the previous week. We added Mullin to the race alongside Wampler, Gross and Reilly Taylor '10. It was in this race that we claimed the meet. Mullin blistered to a 47.92 followed by Wampler's 49.99, Gross's 50.32 and Taylor's 51.14 for a 1-2-3-5 finish for Colby! Finnerty then won the 200 Back in an unshaved best of 2:00.35. Joel Alex '08 (2:20.00) and Peterson (2:22.33) went 1-2 in the 200 breast. Smith won the 500 in a relaxed 5:54 with Hirsch and McCulloch battling for 4th and 5th place points. In the 100 Fly, Williams posted a lifetime best of 54.46 and was joined by Metcalf's unshaved best of 57.11 and Zevin (58.40) for a 2-3-5 finish. In the 200 IM Colby went 1-3-4 with Williams, Peterson and Finnerty. The Colby men then won the final event of the day posting a 3:17.33 in the 400 Free Relay on their way to a 4th straight CBB Title!!
After such an amazing meet with so many incredible swims, the teams had a very difficult time determining the performer of the meet.
After much debate and including the nomination of the whole team, the women decided to honor Nicolyna Enrquezv'11. Nicolyna had lifetime best times in the 200 Fly (2:17), 200 Breast (2:31)and 200 IM (2:18). And actually was so honestly surprised at her swims that she asked Coach Gray if the timing system was actually working!
The men had an equally hard time in their selection, but as the dust settled they voted on Peter Williams '11 for his 23.3 split in the medley relay and his lifetime bests in the 200 Free (1:50), 100 Fly (54) and 200 IM (2:05).The mules are now focused on the NESCAC Championships which are but 1 and 2 weeks away as of this post. It goes without saying that we are all very excited to see what we can achieve!
Finally - be sure to check out the pictures from the Bowdoin meet on the link next to this post - they tell the story.
Thank you very much to Steve Taylor for his amazing pictures and the time and effort to get them all up on line!!
