Hawk swimmers best ever
Mike Kostoff

While the men came up short, the night belonged to the women who, for the first time in Laurier history, are the OUA West Division Champions.

"Both squads had an outstanding showing," said an obviously proud coach Dean Boles. Boles has twice been named Laurier's coach of the year and once the Ontario women's swim coach of the year, but this is the first time a team of his has ever been a division champ.

Leading the way for the women, who won by a score of 104-80, were co-captain Dayna Patterson and rookie sensation Shelley Babbin. Patterson won three events and Babin won two in convincing fashion.

"Both Shelley and Dayna swam tough tonight - they're coming off great training camps and have been phenomenal all season," added Boles. On Friday, Babbin achieved the CIAU qualifying standard in the 200 metre freestyle, adding yet another event to her repertoire.

Also contributing to the women's cause were Sian Carver and Robin Allen, who each won one event. Jenn Kerr and Suzanne Pietschmann swam to personal best times, and depth was provided by 1998 MVP Lisa Parwicki, Nicole Smerdon, Jenny Cramm, Ashley Wright, Pavla Kadza, and Carrie Patterson.

"The depth on this team is the best it has ever been," commented Boles, who added, "we're strong up and down the lineup and that will be to our benefit at the championship meet.

While the night was one to remember for the women, the men's team ended up losing 101-82 in a hard fought battle. Still, with a record of 6-1, this Hawks team is also the best ever, posting the first winning record in team history.

"We were without one of our swimmers on the men's side, which was unfortunate," noted Boles, "but every swimmer on the team fought to the very end."

The night started poorly for the men, who found themselves down by 11 points after the first event. From then on, however, the score remained fairly consistent. Losing by a mere 19 points to one of the nations top ranked teams has to be considered a moral victory.

"To even be in the position we were in, with a chance to win, is exactly what we should have expected from ourselves," noted team captain John Peleck who added, "we have to be proud of what we've accomplished this year."

The men's team received contributions from all 12 swimmers in attendance, all of them scoring at least one point. Rookie Mike Thompson showed his versatility by winning the 800-metre freestyle and almost winning the 50-metre freestyle events. Mike Stelmach had his best 200-metre butterfly of the season, moving to within three seconds of the CIAU qualifying time. Peleck, Tom Stelmach, Cam Joynt, Mark Reddington, Mike Dinesen, Jon Campbell, Mike Blachard, and Gary Peter all contributed important points. Tom Fuke continued his dominance of the 200-metre freestyle breaststroke, finishing the regular season undefeated in that event.

However, the word dominance should be reserved for rookie Doug Browne, who again won three events. The Hawks would not have been as successful as they were this season without Browne, who ended the regular season undefeated in everything he swam.

The Hawks sucess this year and promise for sucess in future years can be largely attributed to quality recruting.

"Credit has to go to the administration who has made an decided effort to attract quality athletes to the school, noted Boles.

The swim teams will now set their sights on the OUA championships to be held February 5-7 in Sudbury. Both teams placed sixth last year, and both teams have a top three finish as their goal this year. For the men, this means beating the same Gryphons that defeated them on Friday.

"The championship format is much different than a dual meet format, and I believe that plays right into our hands as far as Guelph is concerned. If things go well for us, a top three finish isn't out of the question for either the men or women," noted Boles.

Individually, three Hawks will be defending OUA medals, while still others have their sights set on CIAU qualifying standards. Fuke is two time defending gold medalist in the 200-metre breaststroke, Dayna Patterson is the defending silver medalist in the 200-metre individual medley, and Parwicki will defend both a silver and bronze medal in the 50 and 100 metre backstroke respectively. Meanwhile, up to ten Hawk swimmers have the chance to meet CIAU qualifying standards. With six swimmers already qualified (matching the largest ever contingent to attend the nationals), this year's CIAU team promises to be the biggest and the strongest ever.

"The OUA's will definitely be a competitive and challenging meet," commented Boles. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do."