Feb. 28, 2007

This Week: Freshman Anna Larson (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) will travel to Austin, Texas this week where she will compete in the NCAA Zone D diving competition at Jamail Texas Swim Center from March 2-4. The rookie will participate in all three women's events - one-meter, three-meter and platform. Larson will begin with the three-meter event on Fri., March 2 and then she will compete on the one-meter board on Sat., March 3. She will wrap up the meet with the platform on Sun. March 4. A total of 41 divers from the five zones will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis March 8-10. The number of qualifiers from each zone varies depending on the number of entries. Larson is just the fourth SLU diver to qualify for the zone meet.

Larson Homes in on Zones: During the 2006-07 regular season, Anna Larson qualified for the NCAA Zones on the one- and three-meter board and the platform. She met the NCAA standard on the one-and three-meter boards at the Western Illinois dual meet on Jan. 13. Her one-meter dive total was 276.10 and her three-meter total was 292.70. The NCAA's one-meter qualifying standard for 2007 is 265 and the three-meter standard is 280. Larson's only turn on the platform was at the Kentucky Diving Invitational in Lexington, Ky. on Dec. 1.

A-10 Results: In it's second season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Saint Louis finished eighth in the women's competition with 307 points. The men's team placed 10th with 238 points. The Billikens' top finishers were Elena Ramirez (Champaign, Ill./St. Thomas More), who captured gold in the 100 (55.93) and 200 fly (2:02.74) for the second straight season, and Anna Larson, who broke the league record in 11 dives on the three-meter board (552.10) en route to taking the gold medal.

Record Breakers: Seven school records fell at this season's league championships - four men's and three women's. Kevin Parker (Germantown, Tenn./Christian Brothers) bettered three of his own school standards. In the prelims of the 100 back, Parker clocked a race of 52.03, bettering his old mark by .06. He went on to swim a 1:54.48 race in the 200 fly and a 1:52.11 in the 200 back for the trifecta. The other new men's mark came in the 400 medley relay (3:28.21). On the women's side, freshman Lindsey Tamkun (Germantown, Tenn./Houston) shattered her own 200 back record twice at the A-10s. Her finals time of 2:05.80 is the current mark. Fellow rookie Laura Robertson (Katy, Texas/Cinco Ranch) set a new school standard in the 400 IM (4:31.34), while senior Emily Oberjohn (Park Hills, Ky./Notre Dame) eclipsed her own 500 free record with a time of 5:09.82.

Ramirez Repeats: After qualifying second for the finals of both the 100 and 200 fly, sophomore Elena Ramirez earned the gold medal in both events for the second straight season. In the 100 fly prelims, she clocked the fifth-fastest time in SLU annals (57.10), and improved her time in the finals (55.93) with a time that ranks third on the all-time list. Then in the 200 fly prelims, Ramirez qualified with a time of 2:06.35 good enough for seventh at SLU. In the finals she logged the fourth-best performance in school history (2:02.74). She established the school record in each of those events at last year's A-10 Championships.

Billikens Keep Rolling: The Billiken women's team kept its streak of consecutive dual meet victories intact this season. Dating back to the 2004-05 season when it posted an 18-0 record, the women's team has won 60 consecutive dual meets after finishing with a 25-0 record in duals this season. The Bills posted a 17-0 mark in 2005-06. Meanwhile, the men's squad wrapped up its best season ever, finishing with a 23-2 dual-meet mark.

SLU Gets Respect: In the latest CollegeSwimming.com Division I Mid-Major Ranking, the Billiken women, who remained in the top-25 all season, are 15th.

Rookie with a Record: Freshman Anna Larson first broke the 10-year old school record of 264.60 for the one-meter board (273.08) at the Illinois-Chicago dual meet on Nov. 18. She bettered that mark against Western Illinois on Jan. 13 with a score of 276.10.

Coach Jim Halliburton: Billiken head coach Jim Halliburton is in his sixth season at the helm of the swimming and diving program. His teams have amassed a 162-51 dual meet record during his tenure. His staff includes diving coach Adam Hanhart, assistant coaches Meredith Kiersznowski, Herman Louw and Dave Stevens and assistant diving coach Greg Triefenbach.

Four Bills Recognized: SLU picked up eight A-10 weekly honors this season. On Jan. 2, Brad Byars (Marion, Ill./Marion) and Elena Ramirez received Performer of the Week plaudits, while newcomers Anna Larson and Sal Cruz (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) were each named Rookie of the Week for the clean sweep. Cruz and Ramirez went on to claim two more honors apiece. In her two-year career, Ramirez has earned seven A-10 weekly honors while Byars has two.

Rookie Breaks Record: Freshman Lindsey Tamkun made an immediate impact in her first season. She first eclipsed Megan Capellupo's school record in the 200 back with a time of 2:08.27 at the Butler Quad Meet on Oct. 15. Then at the conference championships, she swam her fastest race of the season in the 100 back (58.64) for third all-time at SLU. Tamkun dominated the 100 and 200 back this season, logging seven of the top 10 times in school history in the 100 and eight in the 200.

Rewriting the Record Books: At the Xavier dual meet on Nov. 4, Elena Ramirez placed first in a team-high three events and established a pair of pool standards in the process. The Champaign, Ill., native set a new pool record in her first individual event, the 100 breast (1:06.01). She set another pool standard in the 400 IM (4:34.63). Ramirez's mark in the 400 IM, a personal best, is the third-fastest time in SLU history. She appears 41 times in the SLU Women's Swimming & Diving Top 10, more than any other swimmer in SLU history. Billiken senior Emily Oberjohn trails with 16 appearances, all in freestyle events.

Dustin' Off the Record Book: Members of the 2006-07 women's swimming and diving team own 12 of the 17 individual records at SLU. The 100 and 200 breast and the 50, 100 and 200 free standards are the only records not held by a current Billiken. The freestyle records, which were established by Meg Baudendistel in 1986, have stood the test of time while the other two records were set by Megan Capellupo at the 2005 Conference USA Championships.

Adding `Em Up: Tim Adams (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) eclipsed his own school record in the 100 breast in duals against Butler, IUPUI and South Dakota State on Jan. 19 . The junior, who won the event in 59.43, owns six of the top seven performances in school history, including the top three. Five of his top 10 performances were achieved this season.

Byars Owns It: With eight of the top 10 times in SLU history in the 100 free, Brad Byars practically owns the event. The junior established his personal best (45.97) in the prelims of the event at the A-10 Championships, a time good enough for second on the all-time list. He also owns six of SLU's 10 fastest times in the 50 free. Byars' name appears 17 times on the SLU Men's Top 10 lists for individual events, while teammate Kevin Parker also appears 17 times.

Cruz Control: Of any freshman this season, rookie Sal Cruz had perhaps the biggest impact on the men's squad. The breaststroke specialist claimed seven of the top 10 times in the SLU record book in the 200 breast and added two top 10 performances in the 100 breast.

Moving Up the Ranks: At the A-10 Championships, all five of the men's relays recorded times within the Billikens' all-time top five. The 400 medley relay squad claimed the school record (3:28.21) while the 200 medley relay's time of 1:36.50 was good enough for fourth all-time. Additionally, the 200 (1:24.61), 400 (3:07.18) and 800 (6:58.06) free relays each finished with the second-fastest time in school history.

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