Following the lead of six first-place finishers, women’s swimming completed a sweep of IIT and St. Mary’s College in a dual meet at Myers-McLoraine Pool on Friday.
A 128–73 defeat of IIT and a 127.5–104.5 edging of St. Mary’s lifted the Maroons to an undefeated 3–0 mark on the season. Steering clear of signs of a sophomore slump, second-year Ellie Elgamal led the charge for the team with a pair of wins.
Last year’s All-American and go-to record breaker took top honors in the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.44) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:16.21). St. Mary’s second-year Maggie Williams gave Elgamal a tight race for first in the backstroke, slapping the wall fractions of a second after Elgamal, with a time of 1:03.56.
In the individual medley, Elgamal had a bit more breathing room. St. Mary’s first-year Audrey Dalrymple finished runner-up, posting a 2:19.61.
Rounding out the Maroons’ first-place efforts were fourth-year Sarah Laws and a quartet of rookies, showing off the new depth in the Chicago roster both in talent and versatility. These skills were on display at the season opener last week.
Laws took gold in the 50-yard freestyle (26.37), while first-years Laura Biery (1,000-yard freestyle/10:49.07), Tara Levens (100-yard butterfly/1:01.87), Megan St. John (500-yard freestyle/5:13.26), and Jacqueline Trudeau (100-yard freestyle/55.43) finished at the front of the pack.
Chicago’s full team effort in Friday’s double victory comes on the heels of its 2008–2009 debut that saw four school records broken in a 105–95 defeat of Wheaton. The squad will be looking to continue to feed off of the season’s early energy with the two-day Maroon Invitational coming up this weekend.
