Nov. 17, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Tara Chapmon (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) broke the Navy record and posted an NCAA 'B' cut qualifying time in winning the 1650 freestyle event at the Terrapin Cup Invitational, Saturday evening in College Park. Navy as a team placed sixth at the nine team meet with 320 points.
"We had a very nice final night, with Tara's time highlighting the entire week for us," said Navy head coach John Morrison.
Chapmon posted a time of 16:49.81 to win the distance event by seven seconds and break the previous Navy standard of 16:55.03 set by Jenn Windstein in 2003. The NCAA 'B' cut standard she surpassed in the event is 16:53.04.
Earlier during the three-day meet, Chapmon recorded the third-fastest time in school history in both the 200 and the 500 freestyle events.
In addition to Chapmon's time in the 1650 free, teammate Allison Ranzau (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.) also placed fifth in the race with a time of 17:16.07, a clocking that ranks ninth in school history.
Chapmon would also be Navy's top finisher in the 200 backstroke, recording a time of 2:07.03 to place third in the consolation final of the event and 11th overall.
Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.) placed fourth in the 100 freestyle for Navy with a time of 51.09, with Sarah Dorenkott (So., Hudson, Ohio) placing seventh in the final with a time of 52.22. Dinh's time ranks second in Navy history behind Tori Throckmorton's school record of 51.06.
The Mids concluded the individual event portion of the meet by placing a pair of swimmers into the consolation final of the 200 butterfly. Mallory Dietrich (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) placed second in the race (2:06.95) while Kelly Zahalka (Jr., Richmond, Va.) finished in 15th place (2:11.16).
The Mids ended the meet by having its 400 freestyle relay team of Dinh, Chapmon, Ranzau and Dorenkott place third with a time of 3:28.27.
"This was a good meet for us and I feel it can serve as a nice springboard into the Army meet," said Morrison.
Navy will play host to Army Thursday, Nov. 29 in Lejeune Hall.
