MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — Williams sophomore Logan Todhunter captured her third national title -- and second national record -- in three days Friday, finishing first in the 200 butterfly to help the Ephs remain in third place after the third day of the 2010 NCAA Div. III Swimming and Diving Championships.
"It's been awesome," Ephs head coach Steve Kuster said. "Now we just have to finish off strong tomorrow."
Todhunter broke her own national record set earlier in the day during the preliminaries Friday night in the finals, cutting through the water with a time of 1:57.46 and leading an impressive Eph contingent to a 1-2-5-10 finish in the event. Sophomore Bonnie Patchen also swam a strong race and trailed only her teammate in the end as she finished second with a time of 2:01.82. First year KC Ha added to that thrilling 1-2 Williams finish by placing 5th with a time of 2:02.35, and first-year Kelsey Roggensack also earned point for the Purple & Gold by placing 10th with a time of 2:04.42.
That was a total of 58 points in one event for the Ephs, and temporarily moved them into second place. They would finish the day third with a whopping 297 points, trailing only second-place Denison (346) and leader Emory (371.5).
"It's kind of funny to say, because she did break a national record, but I'm not sure it was her best race," Kuster said of Todhunter. "She had solid race, but I think she can even be better. Kelsey's morning swim was her best time of the season and just a huge bounce back swim for her, because she had struggled yesterday. Bonnie Patchen's last 50 was phenomenal, just a great gutsy finish for her. And KC Ha did a great job in the morning of getting herself in the final and then followed up with very good performance."
The night ended much like it had began for the Ephs as the 800 free relay foursome of junior Ellen Ramsey, senior Joanna Hoffman, senior Sophia Sequeira and first year Caroline Wilson swam to a third-place finish in the event with a time of 7:28.94.
The 800 relay raced in the heat after Amherst, and the Lord Jeff's foursome had a great race thanks to Kendra Stern, beating the Ephs' title winning time at the conference meet by a full six seconds.
"I thought there was no way we could top that," Kuster said. "But Ellen jumped in and swam a lifetime best 1:52.4, and our two seniors, Joanna Hoffman (1:53.3) and Sophia Sequeira (1:53.7) dove in and in the last swims of their careers, pull off their best splits ever. Then Caroline finished off by breaking our school record by a full four seconds (1:49.3). Just a incredible way to finish off the night."
Williams also picked up a point in the 100 breaststroke as senior Lisa Cucolo raced to a 16th-place finish with a time of 1:07.26. Cucolo had qualified for the finals with a morning swim of 1:05.98. Senior Christina Metcalf placed 20th nationally with a time of 1:06.12.
