When you head into a conference championship, you always expect to swim fast. You always expect the team to excel. And you always hope that this is the meet where everything comes together, where everyone performs at the highest level possible, and you hope that you will see something that hasn’t been done before. At the 2009 MIAA Championships, the Kalamazoo Hornets succeeded in all aspects and put themselves in front of the eyes of the nation.
Over the course of the 3 day meet, the women tirelessly gave their best effort, never giving up and always looking to improve. The meet started off with a terrific 200 freestyle relay. Sarah Baumann led off with Meagan Connochie, Danielle Williams, and Katie Grue to follow. The team finished 4th with a time of 1:38.44, good enough for 2nd place on Kalamazoo’s top times list. Maegan Connochie recorded the fastest split for the Hornets with a 24.38. Christine Lewis and Katie Stefl backed up the relay with finals swims in the 500. Christine grabbed 16th place with a 5:13 and Stefl wrapped up 2nd place for the 2nd year in a row with a ‘B’ cut time of 5:00.82, shattering her previous school record. Katy Knoechel rocked the 200 IM with a 2:09.97 for an NCAA ‘B’ cut and 3rd place finish. Kandice Keen managed a 16th place finish in the event. Danielle Williams and Sarah Baumann recorded best times in the 50 free with Danielle going 25.15 and Sarah a 24.84. In the 3 meter diving, Erin Campbell qualified for the NCAA meet as well and garnered a 4th place finish. The 400 Medley Relay saw Katie Grue (KG) lead off the relay with a new 100 backstroke record and Stefl dropped 2 seconds her breaststroke. Katy Knoechel tore up the pool with a 56.2 split in the fly and Sarah Baumann anchored the relay in 54.4. The time of 4:03.31 is 3rd all time for Kalamazoo.
The surprising 200 Medley Relay got the meet off to a great start for the Hornets on Day 2. Kaitlin Weeks led the relay off and turned things over to Kandice after that. Maegan recorded the fastest 50 fly split of the meet on her leg and then Sarah Baumann pulled anchoring duties yet again. The time of 1:49.42 was a new school record and a 3rd place finish. The 400 IM was next. Kachel Wittig and Adrienne Fasbinder dropped over 10 seconds in the event! And that led into Stefl’s MIAA record swim in the IM with a 4:29.73. Feeling the love, the butterfly group made sure to one up the IMers. Katy Knoechel, Maegan Connochie, and Danielle Williams teamed up for a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 fly. Katy broke the school record with her 56.43 swim, while Maegan (57.84) and Danielle (58.32) recorded NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Katie Grue finished .04 out of 4th place with a ‘B’ cut time of 58.54. Christine Lewis locked up an 8th place finish in the 200 free, while Sarah Baumann and Melissa Bayci raked in 13th and 14th place finishes. In the 100 backstroke, Adrienne Fasbinder dropped 3 seconds and Kaitlin Weeks stole the 100 backstroke record away from KG with her NCAA ‘B’ cut and 3rd place time of 59.44. The best relay of the weekend for the Hornets was the 800 freestyle. Katie Stefl, Katie Knoechel, Christine Lewis, and Katie Grue joined forces on the relay. Stefl led the relay off with a 1:54 to set the new school record. Stefl helped inspire the relay to a 3rd place finish with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 7:46.70. The team shattered the old school record by more than 10 seconds.
The third day was full of surprises for the Hornets. Katie Grue and Christine Lewis took 7th and 8th place in the mile, respectively. The in the 200 backstroke, Kaitlin weeks dropped over 10 seconds to pull out a 2:11.82 and earn a 6th place finish. Adrienne Fasbinder dropped over 6 seconds to grab hold of 16th place. Sarah Baumann finished 8th in the finals heat of the 100 free with a 54.47 and Melissa Bayci added an 11th place finish. Ali Smith made her first finals swim in the 200 breaststroke and was a spark plug for the Hornets. She helped the team get ready for the unprecedented moment that was about to occur in the 200 butterfly. The Hornets had placed 5 women in the finals of the 200 fly and were hoping for a strong showing. As soon as the race started, the orange and black swarmed to the lead, and as the flyers came home the orange and black were again leading the way. 1-2-3-4-5 was the finish!! Katie Stefl led the way with a 2:05 and a new conference record. KG followed with an NCAA ‘B’ cut of her own, as did Katy Knoechel and Danielle with their 3rd and 4th place finishes. And Maegan Connochie raked in 5th place, dropping more than 2 seconds off her previous best. Erin Campbell then dove her way to her second 4th place finish of the weekend on the 1 meter board. On the final relay, the 3 Katies and Sarah Baumann teamed up for another 3rd place finish. Katy Knoechel was the 1st of 3 straight 54.0 splits, with KG anchoring in 52.8 for the Hornets. The meet was over and the women captured the bronze.
The meet was capped; 41 best times, 28 swims that stand in Kalamazoo’s All-time top 12, 9 school records, 2 conference records, and a record 14 NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Now with the eyes of a nation waiting to see what Kalamazoo will do next at the NCAA meet the team will work hard in the pool for the next 3 weeks to get ready for the challenge. The Katies (Stefl, Knoechel, and Grue) will be sure to keep their expectations and yours high as they continue to bring pride and glory back to the Hornets’ nest.
