CAC Championship Day Two

Front-Running Mary Washington Wins Nine Events On Day Two Of The 2009 CAC Swimming Championships
First-place Mary Washington recorded wins in nine of 14 events Saturday, a day that included six record-setting performances, and the Eagles kept a firm grip on first place in both the men's and women's standings heading into the final day of competition at the 2009 CAC Swimming Championship.

The UMW men enter Sunday's final day of action with 565 points, leading York (425), St. Mary's (333), Salisbury (278), Marymount (263), Hood (127) and Gallaudet (80).

In the women's standings show the Eagles with 606 points, followed by host St. Mary's (433), Marymount (331), Salisbury (250), York (211), Gallaudet (115) and Hood (89).

Mary Washington won four of the seven women's races and five of the men's races in Saturday's competition.

Allie Beckensale (4:42.56 in the 400 IM), Sarah Crockett (1:52.88 in the 200 freestyle) and Megan DeSmit (1:06.30 in the 100 breaststroke) captured individual golds for the Eagle women's squad.  UMW also touched the wall first in the 800 freestyle relay.

Host St. Mary's took firsts in the other three women's events Saturday, giving both SMC and UMW seven first-place awards each in the first two days of championship competition.

Senior Brie McDowell captured the 100 backstroke for the Seahawks in 56.75, which is an automatic qualifier for the NCAA championships and a conference record.  McDowell also contributed to the record-setting 200 medley relay team.  SMC's other win Saturday was by Rachel Hotchko in the 100 butterfly (57.30).

In the men's competition, three UMW swimmers won individual events, setting pool records and provisional national qualifying times in the process.  Steve Clendenin won his second individual gold of the championship in the 400 IM (4:01.13), Brad Dunn won the 200 freestyle (1:42.64) and Tyler Henderson was first in the 100 backstroke (52.17).

The Eagles also won both the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay.

Marymount senior Greg Murtha touched the wall first in the 100 butterfly (51.50) while Salisbury's Mike Ferrari took the gold in the 10 breaststroke (1:00.38).

Sunday's competition begins at 10 a.m. with trials, and the championship swims begin at 6 p.m.  At 5:30 p.m., the conference will conduct its annual senior recognition ceremony.

St. Mary's (Md.) Still Second at CACs
Senior captain Brie McDowell (Doylestown, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) helped the St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s swim team stay on the heels of the University of Mary Washington as the second day of action at the 2009 Capital Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Swimming Championships hosted by St. Mary’s wrapped up Saturday night.  The swimming championships will conclude tomorrow night with the crowning of the team champions.
 
McDowell was part of one school record, while setting the CAC meet mark in the 100 back as the Seahawks stayed in second in the team standings with 433 points.  St. Mary’s is behind Mary Washington, who is way ahead of the pack with 606 points.
 
St. Mary’s foursome of McDowell, sophomore Sofia Sokolove (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase), junior Rachel Hotchko (Yakima, Wash./A.C. Davis), and senior Eleanor Koerner (North Potomac, Md./T.S. Wootton) established a new conference meet and school record in the 200 medley relay with their NCAA provisional time of 1:47.17, knocking off nearly three seconds from their school mark a year ago (1:50.04).
 
Hotchko struck gold in the 100 fly as she set the school record with an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 57.30, erasing Beth Dobson’s mark of 57.96 registered in 2006.
 
University of Mary Washington’s sophomore Sarah Crockett (Toano, Va./Lafayette) earned the top time in the preliminaries of the 200 free as Crockett notched a CAC meet with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:52.51.  She then captured the event title in the evening with an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:52.88.
 
Freshman Megan DeSmit (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) of Mary Washington set the conference meet record in the 100 breast twice as DeSmit listed the top time in the preliminaries with an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:06.48.  She then captured the CAC title for the 100 breast with another NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:06.30.  DeSmit’s efforts displaced former UMW swimmer Lisa-Marie Carlson’s mark of 1:06.82 from 2003.
 
Sokolove garnered a school record in the 100 breast as she finished third in 1:09.63, picking third team all-conference honors and displacing her own mark from years ago as well as McDowell’s record from 2006 (1:10.73).
 
McDowell picked up another NCAA automatic qualifying time with her conference meet record of 56.75 in the 100 back.  Last night, she had set the school record for the 100 back with her lead-off swim of 56.62 in the record-setting 400 medley relay.
 
SEAHAWK HIGHLIGHTS
Freshman Katie Serfling (Frederick, Md./Urbana) came in fifth in the 400 IM in 4:59.08, while senior captain Nat Schaefer (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) was sixth in 5:04.32.  Freshman Katelyn Grue (Ellicott City, Md./Mount de Sales) captured the consolation finals in 5:03.85 to finish ninth overall.
 
Junior Anna Chiplis (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) took fourth in the 100 fly in 1:00.10, while freshman Christine DiMenna (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep) was seventh in 1:01.96.
 
Koerner won the consolation finals of the 200 free in 2:00.61 to finish ninth overall in the event.
 
Sophomore Rosa Trembour (Takoma Park, Md./Albert Einstein) came in fourth in the 100 breast in 1:10.36, while freshman Amanda Pazouki (Silver Spring, Md./JFK) took seventh in 1:12.09.  Junior Laura VanBlargan (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) placed third in the consolation finals for 11th overall in 1:14.87.
 
Junior Monika Disque (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) was second in the consolation finals of the 100 back in 1:04.06 to place 10th overall.
 
The foursome of Schaefer, Grue, VanBlargan, and Disque came in fifth in the 800 free relay in 8:28.24.
 
Seahawk Men Remain in Third at CAC Championships
Senior Michael Preston (Pasadena, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) notched his third individual school record to help St. Mary’s College of Maryland stay in third place after second day of action at the 2009 Capital Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Swimming Championships hosted by St. Mary’s.  Competition started yesterday and will run until tomorrow night when the team champion is crowned.
 
The Seahawks registered two more school marks to bring their total five school records thus far as St. Mary’s raised its point total to 333 points to remain in third place following two days of competition.
 
The University of Mary Washington maintained its hold of first place as sophomore Stephen Clendenin (Ashburn, Va.) and company set a pair of CAC meet records.
 
Clendenin broke the 400 IM CAC meet record twice as he displaced his own mark of 4:05.93 from a year ago with his preliminary and NCAA provisional time of 4:04.55.  Clendenin then went on to capture the finals in the evening as he touched the pads in 4:01.13 to surpass his own mark from this morning and notch another NCAA ‘B’ cut.
 
UMW’s quartet of sophomore Tyler Henderson (Purcellville, Va./Thomas Johnson), junior Justin Anderson (Oak Hill, Va./Oakton), sophomore Brad Dunn (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton) and Clendenin set a CAC meet in the 800 free relay with an NCAA provisional time of 6:52.71.
 
Senior Michael Preston (Pasadena, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) picked up another individual record tonight as Preston garnered second team All-CAC laurels in the 200 free with a school record 1:43.80, broke his own mark from a year ago (1:45.12).
 
The Seahawks established a school record in the 800 free relay as junior Cam Buckingham (Silver Spring, Md./Blake), sophomore Aaron Page (Keene, N.H./Keene), senior Bobby Wiley (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook), and Preston swam a 7:19.83 for third place, knocking off 1999 mark of 7:19.95.
 
SEAHAWK HIGHLIGHTS
In the 200 medley relay, sophomore Gabe Grace (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytech), Page, freshman Troy Kent (New Market, Md./Linganore), and sophomore Jackson Webb (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) earned third team all-conference honors as the Seahawks a third-best time of 1:39.72.
 
Buckingham tallied All-CAC honors in the 400 IM as he finished third in 4:23.14, while senior captain Joey Quase (Montgomery Village, Md./Good Counsel) came in seventh in the same event in 4:32.37.  Senior captain Chris Cammarata (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) was third in the consolation finals of the 400 IM with his time of 4:41.44 to take 11th overall.
 
Webb took eighth place honors in the 100 fly as he touched the pads in 53.83.
 
Page and sophomore Nico Pinto (Lima, Peru) were St. Mary’s top finishers in the 100 breast as Page placed seventh in 1:02.89 followed by Pinto in eighth in 1:04.04.
 
Grace finished sixth for the Seahawks in the 100 back in 56.25, while freshman John Kitner (Great Mills, Md./Leonardtown) was third in the consolation finals for 11th overall in 59.92.

Ferrari Wins Event, Two School Records and All-CAC Honors Earned by Sea Gulls
A year after he won Salisbury University's first swim event at the Capital Athletic Conference championships in seven years junior Mike Ferrari did it again on Saturday night at the Athletics and Recreation Center on the campus of St. Mary's (Md.) College. Ferrari edged out York (Pa.) College swimmer Steven Tobin in the 100-yard breaststroke by one-tenth of a second as the Sea Gull touched the wall at 1:00.38. The win is the first for SU at the 2009 CAC championships and the second in Ferrari's career, he won the 200-yard breaststroke last year. This is the second All-CAC honor for Ferrari who was third in the 200-yard IM on Friday evening. Ferrari's teammate Benjamin Overholt set a school record earlier on Saturday during the preliminary races in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:48.14. In the finals Overholt placed ninth overall.

Salisbury moved up one spot in the overall men's team standings on Saturday as the Sea Gulls sit in fourth place with 278 points and trails third-place St. Mary's (Md.) College by 55 points entering the final day of competition. Eight-time defending champion University of Mary Washington has 565 points and leads York (425 points) by 140.

Salisbury's women's relays continue to earn all-conference honors as the Sea Gulls' 800-yard freestyle relay team finished third with a time of 8:17.88 to earn the maroon and gold 32 team points. The relay team of freshmen Jenna Petrella and Katie Fitzenreiter along with seniors Laura Kordzikowski and Raienne South earn All-CAC honors. This is South's second all-conference honor as she was a member of Friday's 400-yard medley relay team for Salisbury that finished third. Sophomore Katy Turner broke a school record earlier on Saturday during the preliminary races in the 100-yard butterfly as she clocked in at 1:01.10. Turner finished sixth overall in the final race in 100-yard butterfly.

The Sea Gulls remain in fourth place overall in the women's team standings with 250 points. SU trails Marymount (Va.) University by 81 points heading into the final day of competition. UMW, who has never lost a CAC championship, is in control with 606 points as the Eagles aim for a 19th straight title. The host Seahawks from St. Mary's is in second place with 433 points.

Overall the Eagles won nine of the 14 events on Saturday evening as Mary Washington set six records.
The final day of the championships will get underway at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning with the preliminary trails. On Sunday evening a special senior recognition will take place at 5:30 p.m. as all seniors from every team will be saluted. The event finals begin at 6 p.m.

MEN'S TEAM SCORES (through 12 events): 1. Mary Washington 565, 2. York 425,  3. St. Mary's 333, 4. Salisbury 278, 5. Marymount 263, 6. Hood 127, 7. Gallaudet 80

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES (through 12 events): 1. Mary Washington 606, 2. St. Mary's (Md.) 433, 3. Marymount (Va.) 331, 4. Salisbury 250, 5. York (Pa.) 211, 6. Gallaudet 115, 7. Hood 89
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