St. Mary's (Md.) Men
The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's swim team erased a 9.5-point deficit and overtook York College of Pennsylvania for second place at the conclusion of the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference Men's Swimming Championship Sunday night.
The Seahawks had entered tonight's action in third place behind York but strong performances in all six events pushed them past the Spartans, giving them a second-place finish for the third consecutive season. The University of Mary Washington captured its 20th overall championship meet title (14th in a row) with 937 points while St. Mary's tallied 541 points for second in the six-team field.
Senior captain Thor Petersen (Germantown, Md./Northwest) ended his senior campaign on a high note as Petersen posted a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:11.27. Fellow classmate Ryan Wilson (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) came in 11th in 2:25.18 while junior Ryan Reis (Darnestown, Md./Quince Orchard) placed 13th (2:29.79).
Sophomore Grant Burgess (Fallston, Md./Fallston) claimed his second straight third-place finish in the 1650 freestyle in 16:44.20 while first-year Matt Walchuck (Middletown, Md./Middletown) took fourth in 16:46.56 and sophomore Kian Karimi (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) placed seventh (17:20.44).
The Seahawks moved up a spot from last year's finish as St. Mary's finished third in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:11.90 as sophomore Michael Speer (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), senior Jimmy Forest (Columbia, Md./Atholton), Walchuck, and Petersen all picked up all-conference honors on the relay.
Forest led the team in the 200 backstroke with a fourth-place finish in 1:55.80 while junior Dylan Cope (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) followed for fifth in 1:56.44. Sophomore Michael Abrams (Garrett Park, Md./Walter Johnson) took 15th in 2:08.57.
Karimi improved upon his finish from last year in the 200 butterfly by four spots as he finished fourth in the event in 1:58.39 while junior Bobby Witkop (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) came in fifth in 1:59.33. Junior Chris Carpino (Medfield, Mass./Medfield) placed 11th (2:09.62).
Speer had the team's highest finish in the 100 freestyle as he came in sixth in 48.08 while sophomore Zach Lilley (Myersville, Md./Middletown) took 14th in 50.06.
Mary Washington's Alex Anderson and York's Kyle Walthall shared this year's CAC Swimmer of the Year award while UMW's Henry Bassett picked up the rookie award and his head coach, Abby Brethauer, was tabbed the CAC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (through all 18 events): 1. Mary Washington, 937 … 2. St. Mary's (Md.), 541 … 3. York (Pa.), 535.5 … 4. Salisbury, 407.5 … 5. Marymount (Va.), 347 … 6. Frostburg State, 182
St. Mary's (Md.) Women
Junior captain Brooke Raab (Parkton, Md./Hereford) set a school record in the 200 breaststroke in leading the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's swim team to a second-place finish on the final day of the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference Women's Swimming Championship on Sunday.
Raab claimed a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke for the second consecutive season with a school record time of 2:24.86, besting her own record from two years ago by nearly two seconds.
Other Top 10 finishes in the 200 breaststroke were produced by seniors Erin O'Connor (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) and Stefania D'Ambrosio (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase). O'Connor came in fifth in 2:29.20 while D'Ambrosio was ninth in 2:37.35.
The University of Mary Washington Eagles were crowned the women's team champions for the 24th consecutive season as UMW won every single event for 1,032 points. St. Mary's tallied 536 points to finish second for the seventh year in a row.
Sophomore Cara Machlin (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) notched a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly in 2:13.73. Junior Mae Rukstalis (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) placed 15th (2:42.57) followed by senior Claire Huckenpoehler (Towson, Md./Towson) in 16th (2:49.87).
Junior Elaina Kohles (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) paced the Seahawks in the 1650 freestyle with a fourth-place finish in 18:00.07 while senior Hanna Rizkallah (Frederick, Md./Urbana) took 10th (19:28.91).
Junior Hannah Hafey (Germantown, Md./Seneca Valley) staked a fourth-place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:11.95 while sophomore Karlie Straight (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur) came in 10th (2:18.76) and first-year Samantha Liming (Silver Spring, Md./JFK) was 13th (2:21.92).
The Seahawks earned a fourth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:43.53 behind the efforts of Hafey, junior Kelsey Abernathy (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), D'Ambrosio and sophomore Zoe McIlmail (Frederick, Md./Urbana).
In the 100 freestyle, McIlmail finished fifth in 54.76 while Abernathy placed seventh in 56.89 and Anderson was 16th (59.89).
Mary Washington's fourth-year head coach Abby Brethauer shared CAC Coach of the Year honors with Frostburg State University's first-year head coach Justin Anderson and York College of Pennsylvania's second-year head coach Erin Kurtz. Mary Washington's senior Amber Kerico and sophomore Abby Cox shared CAC Women's Swimmer of the Year honors while the CAC Rookie of the Year award went to first-year Anna Corley.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (through all 18 events): 1. Mary Washington, 1032 … 2. St. Mary's (Md.), 536 … 3. York (Pa.), 444 … 4. Marymount (Va.), 410 … 5. Salisbury, 322 … 6. Frostburg State, 221
The Salisbury University men and women's swimming teams concluded another year with great performances at the Capital Athletic Conference Swimming Championships, as the Sea Gulls broke 11 school records and claimed the first individual top finish since 2009.
The stage would be set for an interesting final session during the preliminaries Sunday morning, as freshman Okan Eyigor qualified atop the pack in the 200-yard backstroke (1:53.45). The Istanbul, Turkey native capped off his qualifying effort with an even more impressive performance in the final, claiming the first gold medal for the Sea Gulls since 2009, when Mike Ferrari took first in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, and breaking a program record set in 1998 by Chris Bembenek with a new time of 1:52.87. Eyigor broke three individual school records throughout the championship, his other two came in the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly.
Senior James Gough raced alongside Eyigor in the 200 back, finishing in sixth with a time of 1:58.26. Gough concludes his final CAC Championship breaking an individual school record in the 500-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Will Gough broke his second individual program record in three days on Sunday morning in the 100-yard freestyle, qualifying second with a time of 47.08. Will Gough would go on to shatter his new record in the final, racing for a silver medal with a time of 46.50. The sophomore fell just .40 of a second short of a top finish.
Freshman Travis Maida qualified eighth in the 200-yard butterfly during the preliminaries Sunday morning. In the final, Maida improved to seventh place with a time of 2:07.55.
In the 200-yard butterfly for the women, freshman Layne Gable (2:19.09) and sophomore Nicki Schult (2:29.10) raced to sixth- and eighth-place finishes. Schult also took sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle to start off the final session, swimming to a time of 18:37.58.
Freshman Victoria Radcliffe concluded her first championship appearance breaking two school records. Her first was on Friday night in the 200-yard IM and the second Sunday night in the 200-yard breaststroke. Radcliffe qualified seventh in the 200 breast Sunday morning. In the final, the freshman would improve to sixth and break the school record with a time of 2:29.32. Laura Allen set the previous record in 2004 with a time of 2:31.29.
The men's squad broke the final three records in the 200- and 800-yard freestyle relay with times of 1:26.36 and 7:09.07, respectively, and the 400-yard medley relay (3:37.72).
The final standings of the championships placed the men in fourth with 407.5 points and the women in fifth with 322. The University of Mary Washington claimed first in both men and women.
