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March 3, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern announced the Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week for their athletic performance from the week of Feb. 24. The two recipients were Kellan O'Connor (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Preparatory) of the men's swimming and diving team and Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) of the softball team.
O'Connor defended his Big Ten title in the 200 butterfly Saturday at the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. O'Connor posted a winning time of 1.44.99 to win the event by more than a half-second, earning him all-conference honors. His mark of 1:44.53 in the preliminary round automatically qualified him for the NCAA Championships and came within 18-hundredths of a second of tying his own school record. O'Connor added another "A" cut time in the 200 individual medley, finishing fourth in 1:46.69. He also finished third in the 100 fly in a season-best time of 47.56.
Foster pitched the Northwestern softball team to a pair of wins at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. Foster struck out nine as the Wildcats defeated defending national champion California Friday. She followed up the effort with a tough-luck, 1-0 loss to No. 7 Cal State Fullerton Saturday, allowing just three hits over eight innings. Foster bounced back the following day, recording a career-high 11 strikeouts and tossing another three-hitter in a 3-0 win over Portland State to pick up her first collegiate shutout. For the tournament, she struck out 26 in 22.1 innings of work, while posting a 0.63 ERA. On the season, Foster has struck out 51 in 43.1 innings pitched and posted a 0.97 ERA.