MIDDLETOWN, CONN. 12/07/08 - The Clark University women placed third and the Cougar men finished fifth in the two-day Wesleyan University Cardinal Invitational in Middletown, Conn., this weekend.
In the six-team field, the Clark women registered 721 points for their third place spot, while the men's team accumulated 520 points. The hosts Wesleyan captured both the women's and men's titles.
"I thought we competed well against some tough competition," said coach Paul E. Phillips. "We bounced back on Sunday after a long day Saturday. Hopefully the experience has brought the team closer together and helped them focus on certain keys to succeed in this type of environment. There are some team goals beginning to take form that I hope will inspire some hard work over the break leading into our Puerto Rico trip."
Freshman Eileen Garcia continues her stellar performance on the diving boards. She broke a 25-year old school record on the 3-meter diving (250.70) board to pace the Clark women. Garcia also placed second on the 1-meter board with 208.95.
Sophomore Liz Rosen and freshman Erin Smith won the 1,650-yard freestyle (18:30.38) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:00.33), respectively, to lead the women swimmers. Smith also finished third in the 50- (25.68) and 100-yard (56.48) freestyle, while Rosen took third in the 500-free (5:26.45). Junior Dana Akerfelds placed second in the 50-yard backstroke in a time of 30.44 and was fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:21.23).
Kayleigh Lagasse took fifth in both butterfly events. The senior captain finished in a time of 1:04.01 in the 100-fly and 2:23.36 in the 200-fly. Senior captain Lindsey Stone finished ninth in the 50-free (26.81) to add points on the board.
Smith, Stone, Akerfelds and sophomore Britney Wigley combined to take third in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:46.20).
Freshman Ryan Garr was a double-winner for the men. He won the 50-yard backstroke (25.49) and the 200-yard backstroke (1:58.40), while adding points with a runner-up finish in the 100-yard backstroke (55.31) and a fourth place spot in the 400-yard individual medley (4:37.24).
Senior Drew Jackson placed high in three events, including the 500-free (2nd/4:55.64), 200-free (5th/1:48.55), and the 100-back (5th/57.45).
Sophomore Dan Howard was sixth in the 200-back (2:10.48); freshman Cooper Hart took seventh in the 400-IM (4:46.23), followed by senior captain Tim O'Keefe with an eighth place finish in the event (4:52.02) to round out Clark's top finishers.
In diving events, senior Sal Pezzella placed sixth on both the 1-meter (207.05) and 3-meter (192.65) board.
Both swim and dive teams will gear up for their winter break training trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Scores:
Women: Wesleyan 1205.5, Hamilton 1008, Clark 721, Trinity 470, WPI 376.5, Cabrini 313 Men - Wesleyan 1050, Hamilton 994, WPI 767.5, Trinity 582.5, Clark 520, Cabrini 196
