Women swimmers shatter records, get third

Last week, the women’s swimming and diving team took third overall out of eight at the UAA Championships held at Emory University. In addition to having a great overall performance at the UAAs, the women’s team also broke numerous school records. Freshman Karen Gromer broke the individual record for the 200-yard butterfly in trials with a time of 2:09.83. She then took first in the 200-yard butterfly finals and set a new personal record with a time of 2:08.91. Gromer also broke the UR record in the 400-yard IM trials with a time of 4:41.15, then broke it again and took fifth in the 400-yard IM finals with a time of 4:38.95. Her clockings in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard IM were fast enough to provisionally qualify her for the NCAA’s. Her teammate, freshman Leah Burn, also performed well enough to be a provisional qualifier from her time of 59.01 in the 100-yard butterfly. In the 800-yard freestyle relay event, UR’s ‘A’ team, consisting of freshman Kari Joyce, sophomore Erin Szjata, freshman Michele Gruen and Gromer, took fifth. However, their time of 7:58.21 set a new school record. The UR coaching staff members, including Head Coach Eric Stefanski, assistant coaches Stacy Wells and Jennifer Lorentz, and diving coach Jason Tranquill, were recognized for their achievements and given the UAA Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year title. Stefanski looks to continue to build on the accomplishments of the past season. “We have so many steps left on our ladder to be where I know this team can be, so we are going to take as many of those steps as we can and still maintain our strong academic performances,” Stefanski said.The team finished the season with a record of 9-1.Keller can be reached at mkeller@campustimes.org.