Wingate
The nationally-ranked Wingate University men's and women's swimming teams both occupy second place after the first night of the 2014 Bluegrass Mountain Conference championship meet. For the eighth year in a row, the Bulldog swimming teams are hosting the BMC championships at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center (MCAC) pool in downtown Charlotte(Friday PM results, 1000 Freestyle, Friday time trials).
The number five Wingate men have 417 points. Number three Queens University of Charlotte is first with 473.5 points, while NCAA Division III powerhouse Johns Hopkins (Md.) University is third with 322 points. The number six Bulldog women have 422 points. Number two Queens is first (431.5 points) with JHU holding down the third spot (408.5 points). Fourteen men's teams and 14 women's teams are competing in this year's event.
WINGATE MEN'S SWIMMING
Wingate senior Marko Blazevski (Skopje, Macedonia) won the 500 Freestyle for the second year in a row, touching first with a time of 4:28.27 Friday night. The Bulldogs finished 1-3-7-8 in the 500 Freestyle, with freshman Leif-Henning Klüver (Risum-Lindholm, Germany) taking the bronze medal (4:30.65). Sophomores Dylon Johnson (Fletcher, N.C.) and Ossian Arvidsson (Kungälv, Sweden) were seventh (4:33.94) and eighth (4:34.91), respectively.
Bulldog junior Issam Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium) participated in three top-three finishes, including two silver medal performances. In the 50 Freestyle, Zeraidi was second (20.39) with senior teammate Reed Miller (Mobile, Ala.) taking fourth place (20.57).
Zeraidi swam the anchor leg on Wingate's second-place 400 Medley Relay team (3:17.10). He was joined by Klüver, sophomore Roman Kanyuka (Moscow, Russia) and senior Tim Kniffler (Mulheim, Germany). Zeraidi, Miller, Kniffler and senior Will Meagher (Eagan, Minn.) claimed third place in the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:21.63).
Kniffer also had two second-place finishes. In addition to the 400 Medley Relay, Kniffler was second in the 200 Individual Medley (1:48.27). Bulldog junior David Collum (DeLand, Fla.) was third in the 200 IM (1:50.22). Sophomore Makis Jorgensen (Helsingborg, Sweden) was third in the 1000 Freestyle with a time of 9:27.29.
WINGATE WOMEN'S SWIMMING
Wingate freshman Sofia Petrenko (Arkhangelsk, Russia) punched her ticket for the NCAA Division II national championship meet, swimming an "A" cut time of 2:02.05 to finish second in the 200 Individual Medley. Senior Valerie Dembny (Bremen, Germany) and freshman Jessika Weiss (Macon, Ga.) were fifth (2:06.54) and sixth (2:06.65), respectively, in the same event.
Petrenko finished her evening swimming the anchor leg of Wingate's third-place 400 Medley Relay team (3:47.21). She was joined by Dembny, senior Katie Pheil (Ocala, Fla.) and redshirt freshman Olga Kosheleva (Yekaterinburg, Russia).
Pheil and Dembny swam the first two legs of Wingate's 200 Freestyle Relay effort (1:33.48), helping the Bulldogs claim third place. Senior Amanda Gilbert (Metairie, La.) and sophomore Ana Fish (Carthage, N.C.) completed the Wingate quartet.
Fish was fifth in the 50 Freestyle (23.60), while Gilbert took eighth (23.74) to take the final spot on the All-BMC 50 Freestyle team. Bulldog redshirt sophomore Julie Wessler (Sprockhövel, Germany) was fifth in the 1000 Freestyle (10:33.68), while freshman Erika Kaspersson (Eslöv, Sweden) was eighth in the same event (10:46.03).
Johns Hopkins Men
Freshman Andrew Greenhalghtook home a silver medal to highlight the Johns Hopkins men's swim team's performance on day one of the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship. The Blue Jays picked up 322 total points to finish the first day in third place. Queens University is in first place with 473.5 points and host Wingate is in second after collecting 417 points.
Greenhalgh got things going in the first session with a silver medal in the 1000 Free. He touched in 9:23.40, the second fastest time in school history and just 0.67 seconds off the school record. Sophomore Michael McGoldrickgrabbed fourth place as he finished with a career best time of 9:42.15. The Blue Jays finished the first session in third place with 54 points.
To start the second session, Hopkins placed seventh in the 200 Free Relay. Seniors Anthony Lordi, Will Kimball and Joe Acquaviva and freshman Jeremy Bauchwitz swam an NCAA provisional time of 1:22.80. The Blue Jays then placed six in the top 20 in the 500 Free and grabbed three NCAA provisional times. Greenhalgh led the way with a 10th place finish in 4:36.05. Freshman Josh Hughes then took 13th place with a career best time of 4:36.84 to just beat teammate Billy Gravley by 0.15 seconds. Freshman Muhammad Hudhud followed in 16th place (4:38.84), with McGoldrick taking 17th (4:39.14) and freshman Evan Holderfinishing in 18th (4:41.00).
Hopkins then placed six swimmers in the top 21 of the 200 IM, led by freshman Austin Bridges' ninth place finish. He touched in 1:53.56, a career-best and NCAA provisional time. Junior Ryan Cunningham finished just seven-hundredths of a second later to grab 11th place and an NCAA provisional time. Acquaviva finished in 1:53.79 for 13th place, followed by freshman Patrick Flynn in 15th (1:54.62), Holder in 17th (1:55.04) and freshman Scott Sterrettin 21st (1:55.98).
In the final individual event of the night, Lordi led a contingent of Blue Jays in the 50 Free with a ninth-place finish. He clocked in with an NCAA provisional time of 20.76. Kimball placed 17th with a time of 21.06 while junior Greg Kogut finished in 21.19 for 17th place. Junior Aaron Katrikh grabbed 28th place with a career-best time of 21.48 to just beat out Bauchwitz and senior David Woodfordby one-hundredth of a second. Hopkins wrapped up the first day of the championship with an eighth-place finish in the 400 Medley Relay. The team of Acquaviva, Bridges, Kogut and Kimball swam a time of 3:24.95. Acquaviva's leadoff leg of 50.93 was also a provisional time.
Johns Hopkins Women
Junior Ana Bogdanovski grabbed the 50 Free title to highlight day one of the 2014 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship for Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays also broke two school records as they finish day one in third place with 408.5 points. Queens University sits in first place with 431.5 points and host Wingate is in second with 422 points.
Freshman Lindsay Kriz opened the championship for the Blue Jays with a seventh-place finish in the 1000 Free. She clocked in with a career-best time of 10:41.05 as Hopkins ended the first session in sixth place with 23 points. Hopkins got the second session off to a strong start with a silver medal and a school record in the 200 Free Relay. Seniors Sarah Rinsma and Kylie Ternes, junior Ana Bogdanovski and freshman Kailyn Koh turned in a time of 1:33.22. The time is an NCAA provisional time and bested the school record by 0.29 of a second. In addition, Rinsma swam a leadoff leg of 23.55, which is also a provisional time and was at the time the eighth fastest time in program history.
Sophomore Ellen Marcus then placed eighth in the 500 Free with a time of 5:06.57. Kriz then grabbed 11th place in 5:10.63, beating out classmate Emily Lubin by just one-hundredth of a second. The Blue Jays then placed seven swimmers in the top 20 of the 200 IM, with each swimmer posting a career-best time. Senior Taylor Kitayama led the contingent with a bronze-medal finish and broke her own school record in the process. She clocked in at 2:03.95 to knock 0.38 of a second off her own record. Junior Sammi Fox claimed fourth place with a provisional time of 2:04.29. Her time was four-hundredths of a second off Kitayama's previous record. Holden followed in 10th place as she finished in 2:08.39, while freshman Abby Brown placed 12th in 2:08.93 and knocked 6.16 seconds off her career-best time. Freshman Shirley Chan grabbed 14th place in 2:09.21, followed by junior Maggie Storm in 15th (2:09.43) and classmate Keri Gawlik in 17th (2:10.31).
Bogdanovski then won the 50 Free, beating the field to the wall with a time of 23.24. Her time is the second fastest in school history, just three-hundredths of a second off her own school record, and it is also a provisional time. It is Hopkins' first conference title in the 50 Free since 1998. She led a contingent of three Blue Jays that placed in the top four. Rinsma grabbed bronze as she finished in 23.52, the eighth fastest time in school history and a provisional time. Ternes followed in fourth place as she touched in 23.55, also a provisional time and tied for the 10th fastest time in program history. Junior Jillian Liwacz followed with a 14th place finish and a career-best time of 24.25. Koh placed 21st in 24.48, followed by junior Hannah Benn (24.6) in 28th and sophomore Sean McGrath (24.70) in 29th. Hopkins ended the night with silver in the 400 Medley Relay. McGrath, junior Maggie Storm, Kitayama and Bogdanovski combined for a time of 3:47.08. It is a provisional time and the fourth fastest in program history.
The 16th annual Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship continues on Saturday, February 15. The morning prelim is scheduled for a 10:00 am start and will begin with the 400 IM. The evening finals are scheduled to start at 5:00 pm with the 200 Medley Relay.
Catawba
The Catawba College swim teams finished the first day of the Blue Mountain Conference Championships breaking four school records. The Championships are being held at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center. The women broke all four of the records to earn a seventh place standing at the end of the day with 171 points. The men currently sit in tenth position with 116.5 points. Queens University currently led both standings after the first day.
Anna Barnes started the day off for the Indians by breaking the first of the school records. The swim occurred in the 1000-yard freestyle where Barnes finished in sixth with a time of 10:35.26. The time was a second and a half faster than the previous time set by Ashley Owens in 2011. Barnes would return in the evening session to set the school record for the 500-yard freestyle. With a ninth place time of 5:06.91 Barnes earned an NCAA B-cut time along with the record.
Another women's record that was broken in the evening session came early in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Nadine Brockmann, Katia Kruglov, Janin Kassner and Amy Cujas made up the team for the Lady Indians that finished in a time of 1:37.91 for seventh place. Kruglov, Kassner and Cujas each had split times faster than the school record for the 50-yard freestyle. The time was a full second faster than the previous record which was set on Valentine's Day of last year.
Cujas joined Barnes with the honor of breaking two records on the day. The second record breaking performance came in the 50-yard freestyle where she swam a time of 24.63. The previous record was set in 2008 and marked one of the longest remaining women's records in Catawba's history. Only six records remain standing at a longer period of time.
Though the men's team did not set any new records the Indians still showed a strong performance on the day coming close in several events. The men's best event came in the final event of the day in the 400-yard medley relay where the Catawba men finished in fifth position. With a time of 3:22.97 the group of Dominic Brus, Jevgenij Gamper, Theo Zatterstrom and Toomas Goutt ranked third all-time for Catawba in the event.
At the conclusion of the day Coach Betsy Graham pointed out that out of the 24 swims on the day the Catawba swimmers recorded 20 personal bests. The Indians look to improve upon today's successful swim as they continue on Saturday. The first event of the day will be the women's 400-yard individual medley which will begin at 10:00am..
