Monday, January 13, 1997
SWIMMING:
Strong team showing reveals results of vigorous practicesBy A.
CinQue Carter
Daily Bruin Contributor
Friday’s performances brought a fitting end to the UCLA swim
team’s home season.
UCLA (6-0) defeated Illinois (6-3) 119-84 in front of a packed
crowd at the Men’s Gym Pool. Though head coach Cyndi Gallagher and
assistant coach Byron Davis put the women through rigorous training
over the holidays, the Bruins managed to pull it together and stay
undefeated at home and overall.
"The girls swam competitively even though we put them through
tough Christmas training," Davis said. "They were really tired, but
tough. All the girls contributed, all the girls scored points."
The point-scoring began early and occurred often for the Bruins
who never trailed in this meet. The 200 Medley relay team of Amanda
Hall, Amber Wines, Jill Jenkins and Jaclyn Castellano placed first
in the opening event at 1:47.48, while the UCLA B team of Jennifer
Poree, Lindsay Etter, Lindsey Masterson and Julie Flynn placed
second at 1:49.09.
In the next event, the 1000 freestyle, Cindy Bertelink and Erinn
Noeth placed one and two in times of 10:14.73 and 10:16.74,
respectively.
"Cindy did a great job for us and Lindsay was just a stud,"
Gallagher said.
Etter took the 100m breaststroke in 1:03.36, over three seconds
faster than the closest Illini. Wines placed second with a time of
1:05.10.
Jenkins was next up to win a race taking the 50m freestyle in a
time of 24.36 just ahead of Susan Trainer who came in at 24.37.
Jenkins would later add the 100 backstroke victory in 58.35 seconds
to the list of the day’s accomplishments.
"Jill Jenkins did real good (in her races) and Keiko (Price) was
good in the 100 (butterfly)," Gallagher said.
Price placed first in the 100m butterfly with a time of 58.97.
Emmanuelle Schick preceded Price’s victory with a first place
finish in the 400 IM at 4:27.35.
While Gallagher and Davis were satisfied overall with the meet,
they both felt there was room for improvement.
"We were really slow and that reflected in the score," Davis
said.
Said Gallagher, "We trained hard this week and some responded
better than others. It will take some a couple weeks to adjust to
all the sprinting we’re doing."
But on the other side of the coin, the two coaches felt that
progress was made.
"We reached our goal of swimming smart," Gallagher said.
"We’re looking good for the Pac-10 Championships," Davis
added.
Before the Championships come, though, the Bruins must travel
for three tough road meets starting on Jan. 31 with conference
champion and national champion Stanford, whom they have never
beaten in 15 tries.