Women's Swimming: Zaleski wins 100 backstroke title; Big Red move into second place at nationals
| Date | March 20, 2009 |
| Location | MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. |
Olivia Zaleski captured gold in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.80. It is her third national title of the meet.
Denison junior Olivia Zaleski captured her first individual event national title in the 100 backstroke and helped her Big Red squad slide into second place at the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship from Minneapolis, Minn.
Denison, who started the night in third place trailing Kenyon College and Emory University, now lead Emory by one-half point heading into Saturday's fourth and final day of competition. DU has totaled 312 team points while Emory checks in with 311.5. Williams College is still in the battle for second-place with 279.5 points but Kenyon has managed to control the top spot with 426 points.
In the 100 backstroke Zaleski racked up her third event title of the meet and the fourth national title of her career after posting a time of 54.80. That time was a new school record for Zaleski, topping her own record of 55.78 set last month at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.
Another school record fell in the 200 butterfly as newcomer Laurel Brabson took home her first All-America award with a fourth place finish. She touched in 2:03.38 to knock former DU star and current assistant coach, Mollie Parrish, out of the record books. Parrish's time of 2:04.96 had stood since 2002.
In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Ksenia Golovkina moved up one spot in the standings from last year after placing sixth with a time of 1:04.20. First-year Gail Blachly qualified for the consolation finals and finished 16th overall in 1:05.75. It was her first All-American swim as well.
The final race on Friday night was the 800 freestyle relay and the team of Annamarie Novinger, Jenny Cunningham, Breanna Gordon and Hilary Callen turned in a strong fourth place showing with a time of 7:26.38. The team, which was comprised of one senior, one junior and two freshman knocked 10 seconds off Denison's fifth-place time in 2008.
DU will return to the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center for the final time on Saturday for the finals in the 100 free, the 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 1650 free and the 400 free relay. The Big Red have the nation's fastest time in the 400 free relay at 3:24.80.