March 14, 2009 – The Bulldog 400 Free Relay team of Kate Aherne, Kendra Brunkow, Tanya Sylvester and Erika Anderson finished second and the women’s team extended their streak of finishing fourth or better at the NCAA Division II Championships to 12 straight years.
Drury capped off their national championships by defeating the Bulldog relay team in the final event of the championships. Truman’s squad touched in 3:23.97 and it was the seventh all-America honors for both Aherne and Anderson of the meet.
Aherne picked up a fourth place finish in the finals of the 100 free coming in with a time of 50.01.
Other Bulldogs to earn all-America honors in the final day were Julia Jones (6th), Jessica Lemaster (13th) and Stephanie Myers (15th) in the 1650 Free, Brunkow (16th) in the 100 Free and Emily Buss (9th) in the 200 Breast.
The women finished with 333 points and stayed in fourth place for the meet. Drury scored 618.5 points,
Truman has finished in the top four in the nation since the 1997-98 championship including seven national titles.
The men got a top performance from Andrew Berdine in the 200 Back with a 1:52.16 time and a 16th place showing.
The Bulldog 400 Free Relay team of Jason Stokes, Eric Kaestner, Andrew and Peter McCall finished 16th and earned all-America honors with a time of 3:03.80.
Stokes and Kaestner each picked up four all-America honors during the meet and Stokes finishes his Bulldog career with 16 career all-America mentions. Andrew and Peter McCall each earned three all-America honors.
The Truman men finished 20th at the national meet.
Day 3 Recap
March 13, 2009 – Anna Grinter, Emily Buss and the women’s 800 free relay squad scored points for the Truman women’s swimming team in the third day of the Division II national championships on Friday night in
Grinter turned in a season-best time of 2:00.72 to claim second in the 200 fly. Tanya Sylvester won the consolation finals and finished in ninth overall in the same event with a time of 2:02.23.
Buss finished fourth in a tight race in the women’s 100 breaststroke. The top six swimmers finished less than a second of one another with Buss touching the wall in 1:03.36. Erika Anderson finished 10th with a time of 1:04.59.
The 800 free relay team of Jacqui Dempsey, Kendra Brunkow, Anderson and Kate Aherne took third overall in the timed finals. The relay finished behind UC-San Diego in their heat in a time of 7:26.18.
Julia Jones also earned all-America honors by scoring and finishing 10th in the 500 free with a time of 4:57.80.
The women have 249.50 points and trail Drury (417 points),
Brian Tillis was the lone men’s individual on Friday with a 36th place showing in the 500 free. Tillis touched in 4:39.87.
The men’s 800 free relay of Tillis, Eric Kaestner, Andrew Berdine and Jason Stokes placed 12th with a time of 6:49.08
Day 2 Recap
March 12, 2009 – Kate Aherne turned in another strong showing as she placed second in the 200 freestyle but the Bulldog women sit in fourth place at the midway point of the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships.
Aherne touched the wall in 1:49.46 in the 200 free finals to pick up her second, silver medal of the meet. Kendra Brunkow also scored points for the Bulldogs in the event with a 16th place showing.
Two other Bulldogs were in event finals on Thursday night and both came away with fifth place finishes. Julia Jones (4:23.21) was one of three women that scored team points in the 400 IM and Tanya Sylvester placed in the 100 butterfly in a time of 55.88.
Truman’s 400 medley relay team of Krista Tippin, Emily Buss, Sylvester and Erika Anderson took sixth with a time of 4:49.02.
The Bulldog men finished sixth in the 200 free relay with Jason Stokes, Andrew and Peter McCall and Eric Kaestner comprising that squad while Kaestner finished 15th in the men’s 100 fly with a time of 49.48.
Truman is in fourth place on the women’s side with 163 points and trail leader Drury (285.5 points), second place
Day 1 Recap
March 11, 2009 – Kate Aherne repeated as national champion in the 200 IM and narrowly missed on a second individual title in the 50 Free as the Bulldog swimming teams opened up the NCAA Division II National Championship meet in
Aherne (
Four other women scored points for Truman as they sit in fourth place after the first day of competition. Julia Jones finished seventh in the 1000 free and was followed by teammate Jessica Lemaster in 11th.
Erika Anderson was 11th in the 200 IM and Kendra Brunkow placed 15th in the 50 Free.
On the men’s side, the Bulldog 200 Free Relay team of Eric Kaestner, Peter and Andrew McCall and Jason Stokes earned all-America honors with a 12th place finish. Stokes also scored team points for Truman in the 50 Free with a 16th place showing.