University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Swimming & Diving Set To Host William & Mary
01/27/2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 27, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond Swimming and Diving team will be at home for the first of two-straight weekends when it welcomes William & Mary, Saturday, Jan. 28 to the Robins Center Natatorium. The Spiders, who will also host Navy, Feb. 4, begin their match against the Tribe at 2 p.m., while one of two diving events will be held at noon.
Richmond, coming off two-straight duel losses to teams ranked in the Top-25, will be looking for marked improvement from a number of great performances turned in during the last duel at No. 25 Rutgers.
"We've swam well on the road, but now we get a slight advantage with our `home' facility," head coach Matt Barany said. "I think the more interesting feature of our schedule is we haven't raced in over two weeks. We have spent plenty of training time focusing on our race details, and it will be important for us to execute those details."
Sophomore Jessica Witt's performance was stellar against the Scarlet Knights, recording four Top-3 finishes, two of which came in first-time swims this season. Witt turned in a 2:06.10 in the 200 fly, a 2:03.98 in the 200 back, a 1:53.05 in the 200 free and a 2:07.88 in the 200 IM, all helping to earn her third Atlantic 10 Conference Performer of the Week honor of the season. Her time in the 200 fly placed her fourth all-time at Richmond, her 200 back time was sixth-best ever at Richmond, while her 200 free posting was the 10th-fastest in Spider swimming annals. So far this season the Fullerton, Calif., native has garnered three NCAA B-cut times in the 500 free (4:53.32), 1,650 free (16:49.73) and the 400 IM (4:22.85), and placed or moved her name in eight of Richmond's all-time Top-10 lists.
"Jess loves challenges and she has a great training partner in Caitlin Geary who challenges her everyday," Barany said. "Jess qualifies herself as a distance swimmer, yet she has begun to show us she can do almost any race. For a dual meet, she gives us great flexibility with our line-up. As a distance pairing, Geary and Witt will be pretty potent at A-10's."
Freshman Lauren Beaudreau is another Spider swimmer to watch. The Lafayette, Calif., native has team bests this season in the 200 breast (2:19.86) and the 200 IM (2:05.35). Each of her season-best times earned her spots on the Spiders' all-time Top-10 lists as her 200 IM time is fourth-fastest ever and her 200 breast time is the second-best all-time at Richmond. The freshman also has placed her name on the 100 breast all-time list in sixth with a 1:05.89, and on the 400 IM list in seventh with a 4:27.89.
"An illness during the first semester really set (Lauren) back, but she is showing her resilience as she gets stronger each week," Barany said. "The hardest lesson for her this season has been patience. If she can remain patient and relaxed, her swims this weekend and at A-10's have the potential to be very impressive."
The Spiders will return to the Robins Center for their final home event and final duel event of the season, Saturday, Feb. 4 when they host Navy at 2 p.m. Richmond will honor its two seniors Megan Benner and Anne Kirchner as they will swim in the final home meet of their careers. Admission to both the William & Mary and Navy duels is free.
