By Olivia Kiespert
Swimmers from East Carolina and FIU set new Conference USA Championship meet records, but defending C-USA Champion Rice continued to increase its scoring lead Friday night at the Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center. The Owls have 681 points heading into the final day of competition. The Panthers are currently in second with 500 points, while the Pirates hold onto third with 472 points.
The meet opened in record-breaking fashion as FIU senior Sonia Perez Arau set a new meet record in the 400-yard individual medley. Perez Arau blew the field away with a time of 4:12.11 (NCAA B), shattering the previous meet best by more than four seconds (4:16.13). She becomes the second Panther to post a new C-USA Championship mark in 2014 as teammate junior Johanna Gustafsdottir won the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.94) Thursday night. Rounding out the top three in the 400 IM was North Texas junior Krista Rossum (second, 4:16.95) and defending titleholder senior Quincy Christan of Rice (third, 4:17.37), both of whom earned NCAA B consideration times.
East Carolina also got in on the top-time action as sophomore Megan Sellers set a new C-USA Championship meet standard of 1:00.42 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Western Kentucky junior Claire Conlon took silver-medalist honors in 1:00.83, and Tulane sophomore Mia Schachter finished third (1.00.90). All three times bested the previous meet record and the top five finishers had NCAA B swims.
Rice had a dominant showing in the 100-yard butterfly as the Owls swept medalist honors with three NCAA B provisional marks. Junior Casey Clark repeated as event champion, touching the wall with a time of 53.15. Junior Marissa Konicke earned silver (54.04), just edging out senior Chelsea Fong who took bronze (54.46).
Clark earned her second victory of the evening in the 200-yard freestyle posting an NCAA B consideration time of 1:46.98. Florida Atlantic sophomore Agi Bucz clocked in just ahead of Gustafsdottir as the women recorded NCAA B times of 1:47.47 and 1:47.55, respectively.
In the 100-yard backstroke, freshman Nadine Laemmler and junior Allie Duff gave Western Kentucky huge points as the duo topped the scoreboard. Laemmler won the event with a time of 53.68 (NCAA B), and Duff came in second in 54.89 (NCAA B). Rice sophomore Shelly Patton was third (54.91, NCAA B).
Rice improved to a perfect 4-0 in the relay events during the championship with a first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Clark, who claimed her third medal of the night swimming the leadoff leg, was joined by Rachel Moody, Konicke and Fong, who combined for a time of 3:39.00. East Carolina finished second with a swim of 3:42.92, followed by Tulane in third (3:42.92).
After earning runner-up honors in the tightly-contested three-meter dive on Thursday, FIU senior Sabrina Beaupre ran away with gold-medal honors in the one-meter event. Beaupre scored 300.85 points in the win, more than 32 points ahead of her nearest competitor. Old Dominion junior Rachel Eckert, winner of the three-meter dive, placed second on the one-meter springboard with a score of 263.30. Western Kentucky freshman Amy Crane scored 263.30 points to take third.
On the men's side, East Carolina went one-two in the 400-yard individual medley as senior Attila Kiraly and freshman Fran Krznaric swam NCAA B qualifying times to finish first (3:49.35) and second (3:51.53), respectively. Western Kentucky earned two provisional marks of its own in the event, with Loui Little taking third (3:51.76) and Aymer Le Corno placing fourth (3:54.01).
Senior Heitor Rodrigues and junior Tyler Groneck gave the Hilltoppers their own pair of top finishers in the 100-yard butterfly. The duo recorded NCAA B marks as Rodrigues won the event in 46.66, and Groneck nabbed second-place honors in 47.76. East Carolina freshman Adam Dear (48.14, NCAA B) edged Old Dominion sophomore Vitor Sa (48.15, NCAA B) by one one-hundredth of a second to take third.
The men's 200-yard freestyle was decided by four one-hundredths of a second as Old Dominion senior Sidni Hoxha punched the clock at 1:36.14, narrowly defeating sophomore Matthieu Burtez of Florida Atlantic. East Carolina senior Michael Dugan took third-place honors with a time of 1:37.94. All three participant times earned NCAA B consideration.
Freshman Fabian Schwingenschloegl of Western Kentucky picked up his second title of the championship, this time in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Hilltopper earned automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships in March, touching the wall with a time of 52.52. Teammate junior TJ Bland placed second in the event with a time of 53.51, while East Carolina junior Rokas Cepulis placed third (53.88). Finishers two through six all posted NCAA B qualifying times.
WKU topped the awards for the third time of the evening in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Seth Musser won the event with an NCAA B provisional swim of 48.14. ECU grabbed big points as junior Andre Smedstad was second with a time of 49.40, and teammate senior Alec Francis was third (50.16).
The Hilltoppers earned a 400-yard medley relay to increase their points lead in the meet. The squad of Musser, Schwingenschloegl, Rodrigues and Le Corno recorded an NCAA B cut with a time of 3:10.49, crushing the field by more than nine seconds.
Florida Atlantic junior Greg Cox took gold in the three-meter diving competition with a score of 351.60, more than 16 points ahead of second place. Sophomore Giorgi Meyer of WKU followed up his Wednesday night one-meter championship title with a second-place finish in the three-meter dive (335.15).
Western Kentucky has a commanding lead with 842 points heading into Saturday. East Carolina is in second with 687.
Competition concludes tomorrow, with finals beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
