NYU Women and Men Win ECAC Division III Winter Champs

The New York University women`s swimming & diving team finished in first place at the ECAC Division III Winter Championships, which were held Friday-Sunday, December 3-5, at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, NY.

The Violets accumulated 914 points to win the competition. Albright College (613.5 points) placed second, while SUNY-Geneseo (607 points) took third.

On Sunday, the Violets` Erika Norris, who was named ECAC Female Swimmer of the Meet, won the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:12.94, while Dorota Sawicz finished second (5:17.31) in the 500-yard freestyle.

The Violets finished 1-3 in the 200-yard butterfly event on Saturday. Norris set the ECAC record and qualified for the NCAA Championships with her winning time of 2:07.62. Teammates Elizabeth Parker (2:09.45) and Sawicz ( 2:11.82) finished second and third, respectively.

Individually, Norris also won the 100-yard butterfly (ECAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 58.41), the 400-yard IM (ECAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 4:36.99).

Also on Saturday, NYU`s foursome of Norris, Nan Janik, Amy Gartman, and Sawicz won the 800-yard freestyle relay in a time of 8:02.07.

Erin Fitzsimmons finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:31.79). Meredith Lewis (2:16.86) and Kristen Sabala (2:17.02) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke.

The Violets` Grace Cretcher finished third in both diving events. On Saturday, she took third in the three-meter dive with 298.95 points. On Friday, she was third in the one-meter dive with a total of 284.30 points.

Also scoring points for the Violets on Friday was the 200-yard medley relay team of Sabala, Fitzsimmons, Norris, and Alissa Cantone. The foursome finished in third place with a time of 1:54.05.

MEN-New York University captured the 2004 ECAC Division III Winter Swimming & Diving Championships, which were held Friday-Sunday, December 3-5, at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, NY.

The Violets accumulated 977.5 team points to secure the victory. SUNY-Geneseo (629 points) placed second, while Brandeis University (405 points) took third place.

On the final day of competition, the Violets` 400-yard freestyle relay team not only set an NYU record and an ECAC meet record, but also earned NCAA "B" cut status with a first-place time of 3:08.66. Daniel Curiale, Andrew Guyton, John Keyes, and Brad Thornton swam the record-breaking relay for NYU.

The Violets also won the 400-yard medley relay on Sunday in a time of 3:34.56. The relay team consisted of Thomas Eason, Elliot Bishow, Matt Cull, and Thorton. Cull also set a meet record (4:45.68) with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

On Saturday, the Violets` 800-yard freestyle relay team set an NYU and ECAC meet record with their winning time of 7:00.82. The foursome of Thornton, Guyton, Curiale, and Cull shattered the old ECAC and NYU records of 7:07.08 and 7:08.27, respectively.

Individually, Cull won the 200-yard butterfly (1:56.01) on Saturday and the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:20.56) on Friday, setting ECAC records in both events. His freestyle time also set an NYU record, as did his time of 9:50.76 in the first 1,000 yards of the event. His 1,650-yard time also reached the NCAA Championships qualifying mark.

Also on Saturday, Bishow produced a victory for the Violets by winning the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:10.29. In the 100-yard freestyle, the Violets finished second, third and fourth as Thornton (48.00), John Keyes (48.32) and Guyton (48.34) all scored points for NYU. On Friday, Dan Volpa, who was named ECAC Diver of the Meet, won the three-meter diving event with a total of 425.25 points. Teammate David Osborne was third with 348 points. On Saturday, finished fifth in the one-meter dive (324.25 points), while Osborne placed second (360.85 points). Also scoring points for the Violets on Friday was the 200-yard medley relay team of Eason, Bishow, Guyton, and Curiale. The foursome finished in second place with a time of 1:37.91, less than one second behind first-place Albright College (1:37.23).