November 21, 2009

 

Contact:             

Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740

E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu

Carthage Web Page: www.carthagesports.com

Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388

 

Women’s Swimming Second Midway Through Nov. 20-21 Wabash Invite:

 

This Week:  The Carthage College women’s swimming team (3-1 dual-meet record) is in second place midway through the Friday-Saturday, Nov. 20-21 Wabash College “Patrick Woehnker Invitational” at the Class of 1950 Natatorium in Crawfordsville, Ind.  DePauw University leads the five-team event with 170 points, followed by Carthage second at 88, Wheaton College (Ill.) third at 50, the University of Indianapolis fourth at 44 and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology fifth with 40 points.

 

Next Week:  Carthage defeated St. Mary’s College (Ind.), 139.5 to 69.5, on Friday Nov. 13 at Purdue University’s Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind.  On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Lady Reds play defeated Illinois Wesleyan University, 152-104, in a dual-meet at Carthage’s Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis.

 

Next Action:   Carthage is idle over Thanksgiving weekend and returns to action on Friday-Saturday, Dec. 4-5 by playing host to the TYR/CollegeSwimming.com Classic at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis. (9 a.m./5 p.m.).

 

2009 NCAA Championship:  The Carthage College women’s swimming team finished ninth at the Wednesday-Saturday, March 18-22 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming Championship at the University of Minnesota’s Dorothy L. Sheppard Pool in the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.  Kenyon College won the championship with 560 points, followed by Emory University second at 466.50, Denison University third at 413, Williams College fourth at 334.50, Amherst College fifth at 201.50, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College sixth at 174, Calvin College seventh at 171, Wisconsin-La Crosse eighth at 125, Carthage ninth at 114 and Johns Hopkins University 10th with 105 points.  Carthage finished 27th at last year’s championship, and this year’s ninth-place finish was the highest for a CCIW team since the 2003 Illinois Wesleyan University squad finished seventh.

 

Carthage’s Amanda Croix (Jr., Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) finished third in the 50 freestyle (Carthage-record 23.10) and fourth in the 100 freestyle (Carthage-record 50.29) to earn College Swimming Coaches of America All-American honors.  Michelle Pelka (Jr., Elgin, Ill./Elgin Academy) finished fourth in the 400 individual medley (Carthage-record 4:25.24 seconds, besting her school record of 4:29.86) and eighth in the 200 butterfly (Carthage-record 2:05.14) to earn CSCAA All-America honors.  Pelka teamed with Sarah Reynertson, Alyssa Messina and Croix in taking sixth in the 200 freestyle relay (Carthage-record 1:35.23) and eighth in the 400 freestyle relay (Carthage-record 3:30.44).  Sarah Reynertson didn’t advance to the finals in the 50 freestyle. Reynertson finished 31st in preliminaries in 24.18. Michelle Pelka took 31st in the 200 individual medley in 2:09.14 and failed to advance.  The Carthage 200 medley relay team of Croix, Reynertson, Pelka and Alyssa Messina finished 24th out of 24 teams in 1:49.97.

 

2009 CCIW Championship:  The Carthage College women’s swimming team (5-2 dual-meet record) ranked 14th in the Jan. 13 “CollegeSwimming.com” NCAA Division III poll, finished second at the Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 19-21 CCIW Swimming Championship at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Chrouser Fitness Center in Wheaton, Ill.  Wheaton (Ill.) won its 17th championship and 12th in a row with 872 points, just 17 points ahead of second-place Carthage at 855.  The 17-point loss was the closest the Lady Reds have ever come to winning a CCIW title since the league began sponsoring the sport in 1987.  The Thunder led the Lady Reds by just three points after the first day.  Carthage has finished second at the last five conference championships  Illinois Wesleyan University was third at 629, followed by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology fourth at 297, Augustana College (Ill.) fifth at 273, Millikin University sixth at 232 and North Central College seventh with 175 points. 

 

2009 Wisconsin Private College Championship:  Carthage won the Wisconsin Private College Swimming Championship on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage won the six-team event with 349.50 points, followed by Carroll University second at 125, Lawrence University third at 115, Ripon College fourth at 83, Beloit College fifth at 70 and St. Norbert College sixth with 49 points.  For the Lady Reds, the state title was their seventh in a row and ninth since 1997.

 

The Coach:  Beth DeLaRosby (8-3 dual-meet record, 2 years), in her second year in 2009-10, was named 2009 CCIW “Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year” in her first year as head coach.  A native of Two Harbors, Minn., DeLaRosby was an assistant swimming coach at Springfield College in 2006-07 and 2007-08.  Prior to that, she served as an assistant coach at Wheaton College (Mass.) in 2005-06.  DeLaRosby attended Gustavus Adolphus College, where she earned College Swimming Coaches Association of America first-team All-America honors in both 2004 and 2005, placing third in the 50-freestyle in 2004 and tying for sixth place in the same event in 2005.  She graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s in psychology and criminal justice and received her master’s in physical education from Springfield in 2008.  Tom Carroll serves as a part-time assistant coach, with Lauren Croix and Guy Gniotczynski as graduate assistant coaches.

 

The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 64th year in 2009-10, has sponsored women’s swimming as a championship sport since 1987.  Wheaton College (Ill.) has won 17 championships, including the last 12 in a row, and Augustana College (Ill.) has won six times.  The CCIW has added the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, located in Terre Haute, Ind., as an associate conference member for men’s and women’s swimming, beginning with the 2007-08 academic year.  Rose-Hulman, a member of the Heartland Conference in all other sports, is the CCIW’s first associate member.

 

CCIW Swimmers of the Week:  Ramsey Vens (Sr., Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) from Augustana College (Ill.) and Illinois Wesleyan University’s Andrea Peterson (So., Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) shared CCIW  “Women’s Swimmer of the Week” honors on Nov. 17.  Vens won both the 100 and 200 backstrokes in a dual meet with Grinnell College on Nov. 14.  She won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:03.36 and the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:19.00.  Peterson won the 100 backstroke and the 200 backstroke in a dual meet with Carthage College on Nov. 14.  Her 200 backstroke time of 2:12.80 was an un-tapered best by over a second, while her 100 backstroke time of 1:00.81 was also an un-tapered best by over a second. She also finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:03.56.


Nov. 13 St, Mary’s (Ind.) Notes:  In Carthage’s 139.5-65.5 win over St. Mary’s College (Ind.) on Nov.13, Amanda Croix (Jr., Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) won both the in the 200 freestyle (1:57.57) and the 500 freestyle (5:17.44), while Michelle Pelka (Jr., Elgin, Ill./Elgin Academy) took first place in both the 100 butterfly (59.55) and the 200 individual medley (2:17.23).  The Lady Reds also picked up wins from Alyssa Messina (Sr., Medinah, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) in the 50 freestyle (25.65), Sammy Jo Mahler (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) in the 100 freestyle (57.43) and Jensena Paul (So., Portage, Wis.) in the 100 backstroke (1:04.71).

 

Nov. 14 Illinois Wesleyan Notes:  Carthage’s Amanda Croix (Jr., Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) won three events against Illinois Wesleyan University on Nov. 14, taking first place in the 100 freestyle (56.48), the 200 freestyle (1:59.17) and the 500 freestyle (Carthage-record 5:11.65).  Michelle Pelka (Jr., Elgin, Ill./Elgin Academy) won both the 100 butterfly (59.88) and the 200 butterfly (2:11.78).  The Lady Reds also picked up wins from Courtney Boothe (Jr., Moline, Ill.) in the 1,000 freestyle, Amy Mueller (Jr., Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.35), Alyssa Messina (Sr., Medinah, Ill./Roselle-Lake Park) in the 50 freestyle (25.70) and Maggie Knowles (Fr., Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) in the 200 breaststroke (2:35.36)