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Swim team excels in GLIAC finals
By Suzanne DePassio
Collegian Reporter
It was a record-breaking weekend for the Chargers at the 2004
GLIAC Swimming and Diving Conference Championships last weekend,
as Hillsdale placed fifth of the eight conference teams competing.
Altogether the Chargers broke eight school records, one pool
record, one conference record and made six NCAA B cut times.
Coach MaryAnne Gerzanick said she was pleased with the Chargers'
performance, given that Hillsdale, with only nine swimmers and
no diving team, was competing against much larger teams.
"Every person either had a school record, an NCAA record,
or raced a lifetime or personal best," Gerzanick said.
"The measure of the meet was how the team swam. They
exceeded all my expectations."
The Chargers were paced by sophomore Cylie Hoopingarner and
freshman Amanda Smith.
Smith took first place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time
of 24.5 seconds, setting a new school record and making the
NCAA B cut time. Smith also took third in the 100-yard freestyle
to break the school record she set earlier this season.
Hoopingarner placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and came
in third in the 100-yard backstroke, breaking her own school
records for these events.
"Those old records had been up there too long," Hoopingarner
said. "We all really wanted our names up on the board."
Hoopingarner also set a new GLIAC conference record in the
200-yard backstroke with a time of 2, minutes, 8.87 seconds,
breaking the pool and school record along the way.
Her finish also qualified her for the NCAA B cut time.
"I was in shock when I saw I came in first place, because
two of the girls I swam against were national qualifiers last
year and won the event," Hoopingarner said.
Co-captain junior Amy Stone broke the school record and took
fifth place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:15.01.
"I met every goal that I set for myself-it was the best
meet I've had," Stone said.
As a whole, the team demonstrated determination throughout the
meet.
The Chargers' 200-yard medley relay team of freshman Abbie
Crawford, Stone, Hoopingarner and Smith took fifth place and
broke the school record with a time of 1:52.21.
The same team also placed third in the 400-yard medley relay
with a time of 4:04.24, breaking the record they had set in
the preliminaries.
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