Elsah, IL – The Panthers welcomed 9 other women's teams to the Liberal Arts Championships hosted in their home pool.  It was a fantastic meet with 70+ lifetime bests, 11 new entries on the Principia All-time Top 10 individual records, 4 new Top 10 relay swims and one new relay record.  The teams swam amazingly well as every swimmer and diver walked away with at least one lifetime best to their credit.  In the end the women improved on last year's 9^th to finish 8^th this year.  Add in multiple pool and meet records set by teams across the board, it was a fast and fantastic meet.
Day One

Day one started well for the women.  The 200 Free relay team of sophomore Aggie Achem, freshmen Catherine Joyner and Laura Perry and sophomore diver Emily Sander qualified 9^th for finals.  The first individual swims of the day in the 200 IM saw 2 lifetime bests as both junior Kelsey Meidell and freshmen Jenna Mehlenbacher swam great.  Mehlenbacher's time qualified her 9^th for finals and put her 9^th on the Prin Top 10 list.  In the 50 Free, senior captain Jenny Bailey led the way with a 25.11 qualifying 4^th for finals.  Joyner, Perry and fellow freshman Makaela Thompson all scored lifetime best swims in their 50. The 400 Medley relay team of Bailey, Meidell, Mehlenbacher and Thompson swam a best time for them and qualified 7^th.  Emily Sander then took to the 3 meter board and scored a best with a 206.35 to qualify 5^th for finals.  With good scoring opportunities, the women were looking strong for the night swims.

    The women started with a 9^th place finish in the 200 Free relay.  Mehlenbacher then dropped time in her 200 IM (2:19.37) to finish 10^th and move to 7^th on the Prin Top 10 list.  Bailey also dropped time in her 50 Free, going 24.96 to finish 4^th.  Sander dove to new best score of 230.30 on the 3 meter board and move up to 4^th place.  A 7^th place finish in the 400 Medley relay concluded the first night of competition for the ladies.

Day Two

The women were led off on day two with a lifetime best 50 Back split (30.08) by Bailey, helping the 200 Medley relay team to a 7^th place qualifying effort. In the 200 Free, Mehlenbacher qualified 5^th with a new best time of 2:03.18.  Meidell then qualified 13^th in the 100 Breast but was less than a second behind the 9^th place time.  Bailey led home the backstrokers in the 100 with a 2^nd place qualifying time of 1:02.70.  Three lifetime bests were put in by Perry, Joyner and Achem in the 100 Back as well.  Sander then took to the 1 meter board and scored her best ever to qualify 6^th for finals. The women were poised to add to their points total with good individual and relay swims at night.

    At night, the women were again led off with a lifetime best 50 Back split from Bailey in the 200 Medley relay to finish in 7^th place.  Mehlenbacher swam a great race in the 200 Free, going out fast and finishing strong with a 2:01.03 to move up to 4^th place and a new place in the Prin Top 10 – 6^th.  Next up was Meidell, who was keenly aware that a 9^th place finish was up for grabs in her heat.  She went after it from the gun, led wire to wire for the win and the 9^th place finish!  Bailey was also more aggressive in her swim, the 100 Back, improved her time to a 1:01.97 and a 3^rd place finish.  When Sander took to the boards she scored even better than the morning dives with a 244.75 to finish in 6^th place.  Bailey then teamed up with Meidell, Thompson and Mehlenbacher to finish 6^th in the 800 Free relay.

Day Three

Bailey started off the women well with a 55.89 and a 6^th place for finals.  Mehlenbacher did her just a little better with a 55.84 and a 5^th place seed for finals.  Thompson then swam her lifetime best (1:01.18) just missing out the last place for finals by less than ½ a second.  Meidell then added to the final's swims by qualifying 16^th in the 200 Breast with a 3:00.03.  She then lead off the 400 Free relay in a lifetime best 1:04.27 to help the team qualify 6^th.

    The women started their night with the 100 Free.  Mehlenbacher and Bailey both improved their times in finals.  Mehlenbacher dropped .03 to go 55.81 and finish 7^th while Bailey swam her final individual swim of her career in 54.44 to place 4^th overall.  Meidell also improved at night in her 200 Breast, going 2:59.16 to secure 16^th place.  The final swim for  the women saw Bailey, Meidell, Thompson and Mehlenbacher swim a 3:55.29 to finish 7^th in the 400 Free relay.  It as a successful meet for the women as they swam and dove to 30 lifetime bests, 3 new Top 10 individual swims and an 8^th place finish in the meet, one better than 2009.  It was a great meet for the women from every member of the team.