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Conference Central - Week One Over

The 2009 Conference Championship season got off to a flying start this weekend.  Two national records, over three-hundred conference marks, and countless school and pool records are gone. 

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Think it was just the suits?  Think again.  Dozens of teams were unable to get the latest and greatest in swim equipment and some who did had to content with wardrobe malfunctions.  

Thirty-five teams were crowned conference champions and at least 307 conference marks were smashed.  Slightly more than half of the events saw records go down.  MAAC schools broke all but five meet marks while the NCAC saw three-quarters of theirs fall, most of those set by Denison (23).   The event that fell victim to the most record-breaking swims were the 100 freestyle and 200 Medley Relay with conference marks going down twenty two times.

And to think . . . this is just the first week.

Division I
In Division I – Patricia Modov led Rider to a MAAC Championship.  Little brother Drew was a one-man record-board wrecking crew – but it wasn’t enough to hold off Loyola for the men’s title.  Modrov posted one of the most electrifying performances in MAAC history and now finds himself sitting on the bubble of the NCAA meet.

Jordan Hawkins’s three meet records helped Missouri State retain its Missouri Valley Conference while Central Connecticut, though they didn’t set any records, coasted to victory in the Northeast Conference Championships.

Division II
Three of the five premier conferences held their championships and they witnessed a pair of national records courtesy the Bluegrass Mountain Conference.  Wingate made it three in a row on the men’s side.  Limestone, the defending NCAA Champion in the 200 Free Relay recaptured its Division II record with a 1:19.71 – the nation’s 16th fastest time across all Divisions.  On the women’s side, Tampa held off a youthful Johns Hopkins squad in a meet that went down to the final relay.  UT’s breaststroker Alex Hetland, a transfer from SMU, obliterated the Division II record with a 53.04 100 breast and even more impressive split of 23.35 on the Spartans’ 200 Medley Relay.

Elsewhere in Division II – Missouri Institute of Science and Technology and defending NCAA Champion Truman State successfully defended their men’s and women’s New South titles.  Looking North – Grand Valley State and Wayne State went toe-to-toe over four days before splitting the titles.  Grand Valley won their first women’s title while the Warriors, which established twenty men’s and women’s meet records won on the men’s side.

Division III
If you're a Division III swimmer used to looking at the 'Q' times from past years - you can forget it for 2009.  A 1:41.87 made it in the men's 200 free last year.  After this weekend, that time gets you 28th on the list.      Depending on the number of multiple-event qualifiers, last year's 'Q' times have already been surpassed with two more weekends of qualifying. 

The breakout team of the weekend was a powerful little school in Ohio – and no it wasn’t Kenyon.  NCAC rival Denison had a most-extraordinary weekend.  The Big Red set twenty-three conference records en route to men’s and women’s upsets of Kenyon.  John Geissinger and Olivia Zaleski led the way.  Geissinger now owns the top times in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, but don’t count the Lords and Ladies out just yet.  Kenyon still owns the fastest times in four relays.

In the UAA, Emory overcame a couple of DQ’s and the firepower of NYU sprinter Andrew Lardiere to claim the men’s and women’s titles.  Lardiere UAA records in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 butterfly.   In the SCIAC championships – freshmen led the way – Redlands sprinter Trevor Harp lived up to his top-100 recruit ranking with the conference MVP award while C-M-S flyer Katie Bilotti claimed the women’s side.

Relay DQ’s came fast and frequent at the SUNYAC meet, but that wasn’t enough to stop Paul Dotterweich’s SUNY-Geneseo.  They established seven meet relay records.   In the Presidents Athletic Conference – which with the AMCC gives you two conference championships for the price of one, Grove City’s women captured their first title in a decade.  Meanwhile the GCC men, with Caleb Courage back for his senior year, could find themselves in the running for national titles following sub 1:22 and 3:02 free relays.

In the SCAC – Trinity’s women and DePauw’s men successfully defended their titles, but Dean Bromley’s Centre College – powered by Meredith Angel – proved they are the most-overlooked team in the country.  Between them, Depauw and Centre took down twenty-two conference records.  In the category of teams likely to sneak up on you also add Puget Sound and Whitworth.  The two Northwest titans ensured a sizable Northwest contingent in Minneapolis.

Other winners on the weekend included sweeps by Mary Washington in the CAC, Grinnell in the Midwest Conference, and Luther in the Liberal Arts meet.  Scranton’s women and Merchant Marine’s men split the Landmark Conference while Widener  (men) and Misercordia (women) were victorious in the Middle Atlantic States. 

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