By the time the MAC Championships came around, Brown found herself the top-ranked breaststroker in the conference in both the 100- and 200-yard events. When she finished first in the round of 100-yard breaststroke’s preliminary races by more than two seconds, though, she was disappointed. “I was very upset about the morning race,” she shared. “I came and slipped at the second wall and my arms just fell. I panicked and forgot all my technique.” That didn’t happen in the finals, when she won by nearly four seconds, posting a 1:03.88 to earn the school’s first NCAA ‘B’ cut since 2011, setting a MAC and school record in the process. The next night, she won the 200-yard breaststroke with a school-record 2:23.03, helping ensure that she earned the David B. Eavenson MAC Swimmer of the Year award. Then it became a waiting game, as the NCAA Championship selections were 10 days away from the end of the meet. She swam at Johns Hopkins the following weekend to stay fresh and against the best competition of the season, but it was only a matter of whether her time in the 100-yard breaststroke was going to be one of the top 20 in the country to qualify her for the NCAA Championship. Finally, on Feb. 23, as she swam a workout in the Lamade Gym pool, she stopped and stood in the shallow end as head swimming coach Andrew Dragunis said, “I just got the e-mail. You made it.” Brown jumped and spun in the water, beaming a wide smile. She was the first women’s swimmer from Lycoming to reach the NCAA Division III Championship since 1984. “If you had told me that I would be going to the NCAA Championships at the beginning of the year, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” she said. “It doesn’t feel real.” It is, though. RGEnce Katherine Brown ’23 By Joe Guistina OF 19 www.lycoming.edu
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