Women Finish Second at MWC Championship 
Foresters win 9 of 20 events

GRINNELL, IA - After a third-place team finish at the 2000 Midwest Conference Championship, the Lake Forest College women's swimming & diving team moved up a spot in the 2001 championship meet this weekend (February 9-11th). Their 439.5 points were significantly more than third-place Lawrence University (312.5) but still well behind repeat champion and host Grinnell College, who amassed 648 points. Carroll College finished fourth with 218.5 points, Beloit College was next with 173, Knox had 145, St. Norbert scored 134.5 and Ripon had 80.

Junior Jie Li (Gurnee, IL) earned MWC Swimmer of the Year honors for her performance this season as well as her three individual victories and one relay win in the championship. Li's times in the 50-yard freestyle (24.67) and 100-yard freestyle (54.15) are new school records and her 1:00.12 in the 100-yard butterfly, along with her time in the 50-free, are national meet B-cut qualifying times.

Junior Randi Estes (LaBelle, FL) and senior Karie Schuenke (Quincy, IL), last season's Co-Swimmers of the Year, each turned in a pair of individual victories as well as a third-place finish and joined Li and sophomore Erin Poynter (Fort Collins, CO) on the victorious 400-yard medley relay team (4:10.80). Estes won the 500-yard freestyle (5:14.20) on Friday, won the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday and finished third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.29) on Sunday. Schuenke swam two individual events on Saturday, following up her third-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (4:52.49) with a win in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.46). On Sunday she won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:15.03.

The other Forester victory came in the 1-Meter diving competition. Sophomore Dana Tate (Appleton, WI) scored 362.40 points on Friday and claimed her first MWC title. On Saturday, Tate placed third in the 3-Meter event with 356.95 points.

The team's only second-place performance in an individual event came from sophomore Erin Motzer (Libertyville, IL) in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.21). The other four relays each placed second as well.

The Foresters will lose six team members to graduation, but will still return a solid core of talented swimmers to attempt to move up one more place in the standings in next year's championship.

Meet Results: Women / Men