Northwestern University Athletics
First Day of NCAA Swimming Championships in the Books
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 18, 1999
ATHENS, Ga. - The 13th-ranked Northwestern womens swimming and diving team is in seventh place after the first day of the NCAA Championships at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga. The Wildcats, with 68 points, lead eighth-place Michigan by 14 points for top honors in the Big Ten. Georgia, the host, leads overall with 143.5 points.
Northwestern started the evening session by placing sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Courtney Allen, Lauren Moore, Allyson Bowman and Dominique Diezi finished in a time of 1:31.05, marking the fifth consecutive year the Wildcats have finished in the top eight nationally in this event.
Allen came back in the championship heat of the 50 freestyle and gave two-time defending national champion Catherine Fox of Stanford all she could handle. Allen settled for second-place, the highest ever finish for a Northwestern swimmer in any event. Her time of 22.47 is a school-record.
The Wildcats also scored in the 400 medley relay, as the team of Diezi, Amy Balcerzak, Cathy Lundin and Allen finished eighth in 3:42.29. It was the third consecutive year that Northwestern has finished in the top eight in the event.
Balcerzak completed the night for the Wildcats by taking 14th in the 200 individual medley. It was the second straight season Balcerzak has earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 200 IM.
Action resumes tomorrow with the preliminary heats of the 200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle at 10 a.m.
