Baltimore, Md. (February 9, 2007)? Sophomore Megan O'Keefe enjoyed a career performance on day two of the 2007 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships at Loyola College, but her experience, along with those of her teammates, probably tasted somewhat bittersweet.
After becoming the first Lady Jasper to ever medal at the championships as a rookie, O'Keefe broke her own school record in the 100 fly on Saturday to earn a medal in the event for the second consecutive year. O'Keefe's new record time of 1:00.70 placed her sixth in the conference, but stands 22 hundredths of a second short of the qualifying standard for the ECAC Championships.
O'Keefe and her teammates also took a blow from the unexpected absence of senior Courtney Arduini. An illness prevented Arduini from getting on the bus down to Maryland on Thursday night and has denied one of the most accomplished swimmers in program history a chance at competing in her final conference championship meet.
“Being undermanned already, it is never easy to lose someone of Arduini's caliber to illness or injury,” said head coach Walter Olsewski. “Our girls have really come together though at this meet and our putting forth a tremendous effort.”
A piece of that tremendous effort came from the 800 free relay team which broke the school record for the second year in a row at the meet. The quartet of senior lead off Nicole Mason, freshman Catherine Chan, O'Keefe, and McGowan posted a time of 8:25.52 and just missed out on All-MAAC status due to its seventh place finish.
Although O'Keefe missed out on reaching the ECAC qualifying standard in the 100 fly, the sophomore from Pearl River, N.Y. will still make an appearance at the meet as a member of the 200 free relay, which achieved a qualifying time on Friday en route to becoming the program's first ever relay to earn All-MAAC honors.
Manhattan wraps up competition at the meet tomorrow, February 10.
