Feb. 15, 2008

Complete Results

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Johns Hopkins women's swimming team won three events on Friday to increase its lead at the 2008 Blue Grass Mountain Conference Championships. The Blue Jays, who led by just nine points heading into Friday's action, won three events to push out to a 55 point lead over the Wingate Bulldogs. Hopkins will look to wrap up its third consecutive title on Saturday.

Johns Hopkins opened Friday's action with a third place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Junior Erica Pakkala (Lititz, PA/Warwick), sophomores Caitlin Dennis (Moorestown, NJ/Merion Mercy Academy) and Lisa Qu (Atlanta, GA/Westminster) and junior Jackie Rooney (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/The Culver Academies) swam a time of 1:51.96.

The Blue Jays then completed a sweep of the top three spots in the 400 IM, with junior Kate Hansen (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston) winning in a career best time of 4:38.45. It is Hansen's first BGMC title. Freshman MaryClaire Kozlowski (Fairfax, VA/Lake Braddock Secondary) and Dennis followed in second and third. Kozlowski finished in 4:41.80, besting her career time by nearly four seconds, while Dennis finished in 4:42.02.

In the 100 Fly, freshman Michele Palopoli (Gwynedd Valley, PA/Germantown Academy) finished second in 58.65, an NCAA B cut. Qu finished in sixth place with a time of 1:00.41. Next up in the 200 Free, junior Elissa Stautner (The Woodlands, TX/Oak Ridge) claimed her sixth BGMC title, with a time of 1:54.60. A career best and NCAA B cut time. Finishing in seventh and eighth respectively were junior Megan Zepp (Montgomery Village, MD/Stone Ridge) (1:58.13) and sophomore Katie Vance (Apple Valley, MN/School of Environmental Studies) (2:00.36).

Freshman Charlotte Floria (North Potomac, MD/Quince Orchard) then finished in seventh in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:10.96. Pakkala followed that with a third place finish in the 100 Back, with an NCAA B cut time of 59.98. Qu finished in eighth with a time of 1:02.98. Hopkins then wrapped up day three with a win in the 800 Free Relay. The Blue Jays time of 7:46.72 is an NCAA B cut time. It also bested the team's previous fastest time by more than 12 seconds. Swimming the relay were Hansen, Palopoli, Zepp and Stautner. It is the fourth consecutive win in the 800 Free Relay at the conference championships for the Blue Jays.

The championships wrap-up on Saturday morning at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club. Prelims are scheduled to begin at 10:00 am, with the finals slated to begin at 5:00 pm. Live updates can be found at: http://www.sports.wingate.edu/swimmingmens/livestats/