Bulldog men win SCAD College Invitational; Wingate women place second in annual event

Savannah College of Art and Design women, Wingate University men win College Invitational titles
 
The Savannah College of Art and Design women and the Wingate University men won the College Invitational swimming meet Sunday (Dec. 7) at the Chatham County Aquatics Center.
 
SCAD won the eight-team women’s field with 1,405 points while Wingate captured the six-team men’s field with 908 points. The Bees finished in second place in the men’s competition with 858. After a weeklong training trip to Sarasota, Fla., the Bees break for the holidays and return to the pool Jan. 10 in Gainesville, Ga., for a 1 p.m. double dual against Brenau University and Asbury College.
 
SCAD won seven events on the final day of competition. Senior Cassie Dixon was a double winner for the Bees as she capture the women’s 200-yard backstroke (2:09.47) and 100 freestyle events. Dixon’s time in the backstroke also set a meet and college record. Other wins for the women included Stephanie McNicol (500 freestyle – meet record 5:06.24) and Kelsey Brosseau (200 butterfly – 2:13.78).
 
The Bees also picked up three wins on the men’s side. Mike Lawrence won the 100 breaststroke in a meet-record time of 56.30 while Danny Recordon the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 46.66. SCAD also claimed the 200 medley relay as the quartet of Vitali Pushkar-Verbitsky, Nat Emmett, Leonardo Del Solar and Recordon won in a time of 1:36.07. 
 
Wingate Men's Team Wins SCAD Invitational
The Wingate University men’s swimming team won the Savannah College of Art and Design College Invitational for the second year in a row Sunday. The Bulldog women placed second in the annual event. SCAD hosts this meet each year at the Chatham County Aquatics Center.

The number 11 Wingate men completed the event with 908 points. The SCAD Bees finished second with 858 points. Six men’s teams participated in this year’s event. The number 15 Wingate women had 813 points. SCAD took the women’s crown with 1405 points. Eight women’s team competed in the 2008 SCAD College Invitational.

Wingate dominated the relay races Sunday. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs finished one-two in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Wingate’s victorious team set a meet record with a time of 3:05.84. The triumphant group included junior Gus Chagas (Recife, Brazil), freshman Danny Palmiotto (Brookfield, Conn.), junior Daniel De Francisco (Cali, Colombia) and junior Mason Norman (Duluth, Ga.).

The second place team included junior Kyle Corcoran (Kent, Wash.), sophomore Lucas Willers (Tacoma, Wash.), sophomore Dwight Richardson (Newport News, Va.) and freshman Santino Viselli (Windsor, Ontario). The Corcoran-Willers-Richardson-Viselli quartet posted a time of 3:12.77.

The Bulldogs finished second in the men’s 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:36.13. The 200 Medley Relay team included Norman, Chagas, Richardson and freshman Lee Sousa (Cornelius, N.C.).

In the morning preliminaries, sophomore Marcello Machado (Recife, Brazil) won the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 1:54.99. Corcoran was second with a morning time of 1:55.17. Both times are NCAA Division II “B” Cuts.

Bulldog senior Matthew Dugan (Wilson, N.C.) was second in the 500 Freestyle prelims with a time of 4:47.79. Wingate claimed the top four spots in the 200 Backstroke prelims, as Sousa touched first with a “B” Cut time of 1:53.86.

Norman had a big morning, as he won two preliminaries. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate took the checkered flag in the 100 Breaststroke (57.60) and the 100 Freestyle (45.13). The 100 Freestyle clocking is an NCAA Division II “A” Cut, while the 100 Breaststroke time is a “B” standard.

In addition, Wingate freshman Ben Murphy (Chapel Hill, N.C.) had a solid morning. Murphy posted a 2:00.75 time in the 200 Butterfly Sunday, good enough for second place in the morning preliminaries. He cut six seconds off his seeding time.

The Wingate women won both relays Sunday. Bulldog junior Lara Golesorkhi (Stuttgart, Germany) sophomore Cheryl Vaccaro (Charlotte, N.C.), freshman Malin Kersmark (Malin-Bjarred, Sweden) and freshman Sarah Lawless (Holland, Mich.) teamed to take both victories.

The women’s quartet won the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:39.95. In the 200 Medley Relay, the Bulldogs recorded an NCAA Division II “A” Cut with a victorious time of 1:42.65. The 200 Medley Relay time was also a Wingate team record and a new College Invitational meet record.

Kersmark set a new Wingate record in the morning preliminaries. She was first in the 200 Backstroke with a school-record time of 2:07.49. The time was also a meet record and an NCAA “B” Cut. Kersmark was second in the morning 100 Freestyle event with a time of 54.17.

Wingate did not swim in the Sunday evening finals due to academic obligations. Following the SCAD event, the Bulldogs will take a break for final exams Dec. 8-13 before departing for their annual Florida training trip after Christmas.