KEENE, N.H. 3/5/10 - Keene State College swim coach Jack
Fabian is walking on water.
What started as a trickle with single individuals from Keene State
qualifying for the NCAA Division III championships the past two
years, suddenly turned into a steady flow on Friday when six Owl
swimmers learned they had qualified for the national championships
that will take place March 17-20 at the University of
Minnesota. "That's what you want to do," said Fabian, now in
his fifth season at KSC. "One of our goals was to increase
our representation every year at the NCAA championships and we're
certainly heading in that direction."
Out
of 61 schools represented at the NCAA meet, only 15 teams will have
more individuals than Keene State.
Five women and one KSC men's swimmer will be heading to Minnesota
for the championships. Freshman phenom Kaila
Umbarger from Chelmsford, Mass. qualified in three
races. In the recently released rankings, she is tied for
eighth in the 50 free (23.71), tied for 16th in the 100 fly
(57.23), and is 17th in the 100 free (52.21).
"I'm very excited. I can't wait to go," said Umbarger. "I'm
hoping to finish in the top-eight in the 50 free and earn
All-America, but I also want to go and have fun and soak up the
whole national experience."
Senior Kristine Trutor, who became the first Keene
State women's swimmer to earn points at last year's meet, is tied
for 13th in the 100 back. The Holden, Mass native also made
cuts in the 100 fly and 200 back and will compete in those events.
Jackie Foster from Goffstown, N.H. is seeded 18th
in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:28.37. "As a senior,
I can't wait to have another chance to better my times and compete
at the national level," said Foster.
Alea Paddock, a senior from Newbury, N.H. and
sophomore Jillian Whitaker of Gilford, N.H. also
earned trips to the national meet as members of Keene State's 200
medley relay. They will join Umbarger and Trutor on the team
that comes into the meet ranked 11th out of 12 entries with a time
of 1:46.60.
Rachel Mondello (2008) and Trutor (2009) became
the first two Keene State swimmers to earn berths to the NCAA
Division III championships. Whitaker and Trutor feel the
additional athletes will enhance the experience.
"We all train
together, so for us to be able to qualify together is great", said
Whitaker. "I'm excited to be able to share my first
experience at nationals with the three seniors. Knowing what
this meet means to them makes it even more special for me."
"I'm thrilled that my relay team is going and I will have
people to share this experience with," said Trutor. "It's such an
exciting meet. It really makes you appreciate all the hard work
that it takes to get there."
Because the times are so close, Trutor feels Keene State has a good
chance to score points at the meet. "All we have to do is go
after everything in the morning and hopefully we will be able to
make it back at night for finals," she said. "I would love
for our relay team to be in the top-eight. That would be the
icing on the cake for the perfect senior season."
Cody Larrimore will be the lone Keene State
swimmer in the men's field. The senior from Trappe, Md.
qualified in the 50 and 100 free and will also compete in the 100
fly. Larrimore, who is presently ranked 14th in the 50 free
(20.78), is the first Owl men's swimmer to qualify to the NCAA
meet, since 1976 when KSC sent a relay team to the Division II
championships.
Larrimore, who took last season off, says the chance to compete at
the NCAAs was a big motivation to return to the pool. "All
summer long I dreamed of going to this meet. That was my
driving force," he said.
Keene State will be competing against some of the top Division III
swimming programs in the country at the NCAA championships,
including the Kenyon College men, who have won the past 30
consecutive Division III national championships, and the Kenyon
women, winners of 23 of the last 26 NCAA Division III national
titles.
"It's a great honor to be listed with those programs," said
Fabian.
