Dec. 2, 2001
Athens, Ga. - The No. 17 Northwestern women's swimming and diving squad placed second at the 2001 Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga., over the weekend. The Wildcats finished with a three-day score of 611, 202.50 points behind the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
Junior Rachel Johnson (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) capped off a career weekend with a win in the 200 fly. Her time of 1:59.56 gives her an automatic invitation to the NCAA Championships at the end of the season. Her time was also a career-best and the second fastest time in NU history. This was Johnson's second win of the weekend-she won the 200 IM earlier in the meet.
A few Wildcats turned in fourth-place finishes in the last session of finals, Susie Sample (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) in the 200 back (2:00.74), Stephanie Cranston (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute CD) in the 1650 free (16:50.19) and Merritt Adams (Nocross, Ga./The Lovett School) in the 200 fly (2:00.16). All times were NCAA "B" qualifying times.
The 400 free relay squad took fourth with a season-best time of 3:25.39.
For the weekend, the Wildcats made 20 "B" cuts and 2 "A" cuts--the most by any NU squad this early in the season.
The 'Cats are next in action on Dec. 17 when they travel to Miami, Fla.