The University of Maryland, Baltimore County men won the 2015 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielson Natatorium. UMBC earned 996 points to take the title.
Defending champions, University of the Incarnate Word finished second with 778 points, while Gardner-Webb placed third with 690 points. New Jersey Institute of Technology took fourth-place with 292 points, Virginia Military finished fifth-place with 224 points, while Howard University rounded out the field with 160 points.
The University of the Incarnate Word’s Nathan Coppock took first in the 1650-free with a CCSA conference and meet record time of 15:31.60. Robert Breen (15:32.50) of UMBC finished second and Jonas Gutzat of UMBC finished third with a time of 15:32.50.
The top three finishers in the 200-back were UIW’s Aaron Moran with a time of 1:46.96, UMBC’s Nikola Trajkovic (1:47.58) and teammate Miles Ruttan (1:48.48).
Nathan Liles’ (GWU) time of 44.26, an NCAA “B” cut time, topped the meet record time to take first in the 100-yard freestyle. Gregor Spoerlein (UMBC) finished second with a time of 44.30 and Brian Capozzola (UMBC) earned third with a time of 45.35.
UMBC swept the 200-yard breaststoke. Leo Endres touched in at 1:58.05, a NCAA “B” cut time. Luca Santinelli finished second with a time of 1:59.93, followed by Kyle Paxton touching in at 2:02.30.
In the 200-yard butterfly, UIW’s David Moore took first place with a time of 1:48.02, followed by teammate Kaulen Applin (1:49.61). Tate Warden (GWU) touched third with a time of 1:49.69.
The 400-yard freestyle relay was won by UMBC’s team of Gregor Spoerlein, Trevor Doll, Lauri Kaei and Robert Breen with a time of 2:59.04. Gardner-Webb (Nathan Lile, Connor Bos, Hal McKay and Tyler Gomez) finished second touching in 2:56.63, while UIW (Mehdi El Hazzaz, Alex Brouwer, Scott Jonsson and Kaulen Applin) rounded out the podium spots with a mark of 3:00.93
Nikola Trajkovic of UMBC earned Freshman Male Performer of the Championships after taking first in the 200-IM and second in the 400-IM, both with NCAA “B” cut times. Trajkovic also took second in the 200-yard backstroke.
Ryan Green of UMBC garnered Men’s Diver of the Year after sweeping the diving competition. Green took both the 1-meter and 3-meter titles.
Most Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Championships went to Nathan Lile (GWU). Lile took third in the 200-IM, first in the 100-yard butterfly, with an NCAA “B” cut time, as well as, first in the 100-yard freestyle with a NCAA “B” cut time and meet record. Lile also took the Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor.
GWU head coach Mike Simpson won Male Swimming Coach of the year, while UMBC diving coach Petar Trifonov and UIW’s Tommy Law took home Male Diving Coach of the Year honors.
The Florida Gulf Coast University women won the 2015 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielson Natatorium with a total of 1,575 points.
Liberty University finished second with a total of 1,239 points, followed by Georgia Southern University with 1,110.50 points. Fourth went to Gardner-Webb University with 1,026.50 points. University of Incarnate Word (851 points) finished fifth, while Campbell University (598 points) and University of North Carolina Asheville (422) finished sixth and seventh respectively. University of North Florida (324 points) finished eighth, followed by North Carolina A&T University (196 points) and Virginia Military Institute (183 points). Howard University rounded out the field with 143 points.
GWU’s Lauren Oglesby won the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:20.60, a new CCSA and meet recor, as well as a NCAA “B” cut time. Alona Kyselova (UIW) placed second with a time of 16:43.22 and Hannah Wakeley (Liberty) finished third with a time of 16:45.43.
The top three finishers in the 200-yard backstroke were FGCU’s Kira Toussaint (1:55.31), Liberty’s Emily Duff (1:56.50) and FGCU’s Karen Vilario (1:56.60). All three women qualified for NCAA “B” cuts.
Emma Svensson (FGCU) won the 100-yard freestyle for the third year in a row with a NCAA “B” cut time of 48.59, breaking the meet record. Sara Hamilton (FGCU) finished second with a time of 50.04, with Liberty’s Kendall Hough coming in third-place with a time of 50.06.
A freshman podium filled the 200-yard breaststroke with Katie Armitage (FGCU) touching in at 2:13.05, while Lili Toth (GWU) finished second with a time of 2:15.43, both NCAA “B” cut times. Vanessa Rivas (FGCU) rounded out the top three with a time of 2:16.56.
Nina Schiffer from FGCU won the 200-yard butterfly, touching in at a NCAA “B” cut time of 1:59.55. Hannah Wakeley from Liberty finished in second-place with mark of 2:00.05, while Yee Ching Wong (FGCU) finished third, touching the pads in 2:00.59.
The Florida Gulf Coast team of Sara Hamilton, Katie Armitage, Kira Toussaint and Emma Svennson set a Conference record with a time of 3:17.85 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, a NCAA “B” cut time. Liberty (Kendall Hough, Emily Duff, Chelsea Pond and Meghan Babcock) finished second in 3:21.94, while GSU (Kylee Parsons, Christina Moran, Kaylyn Thomas and Elaina Lanson) touched third with a time of 3:23.08.
Alona Kyselova of UIW took home Women’s Most Outstanding Freshman of the Meet after winning both the 200-IM and 400-IM. Both wins were done in CCSA record times and NCAA “B” cut times.
Emma Svenson (FGCU) took home Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet after winning the 50 and 100-freestyle, as well as the 100-yar d fly, all with NCAA “B” cut times and two new CCSA records. Svenson took home the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award as well.
Kali Lents (UIW) took home Diver of the Year after sweeping the women’s diving competition.
FGCU head coach Neal Studd won Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the second time, while Incarnate Word diving coach Tommy Law took home Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the second time.
Georgia Southern
The Georgia Southern Swimming and Diving team finished 3rd at the Coastal Carolina Swimming Association Conference Championships. Day Four featured preliminaries and finals in the 1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast and 200 Fly.
Florida Gulf Coast was crowned conference champions as they finished with a team score of 1575. Liberty was 2nd with 1239. The Eagles finished with a team total of 1110. Gardner-Webb and Incarnate Word were 4th and 5th respectively with 1026 and 851 points.
"I thought we swam a great meet," said Head Coach Nate Kellogg. "On paper, coming in to the meet we were 5th, so to finish 3rd is just a testament to how hard these girls have worked all year. They are a great group of girls and are so easy to coach. We put ourselves in position to do well with how we swam in the preliminaries, and although we were a bit fatigued tonight, we got the job done."
In the 200 Back, Christina Moran set a school record during the preliminaries when she finished 5th with a time of 2:00.09. In the finals, Moran was 6th touching in 2:01.15. Teammate Sarah Schwartz finished 12th in 2:03.56
Elaina Lanson took 4th in the 100 Free with a time of 50.65. Kaylyn Thomas managed a 13th place showing in 52.60.
In the 200 Breast, Amber Cortazzo was 9th with a time of 2:19.56. Teammate Madison Lichtefeld finished 12th in 2:21.51.
Lauren Campbell set a school record during the preliminaries of the 200 Fly when she finished 5th with a time of 2:03.88. In the finals, Campbell finished 7th in 2:06.74, Megan Liebl was 8th in 2:10.34, Megan Heller finished 13th in 2:06.46 and Katlyn Jones was 15th in 2:10.87.
The 400 Free Relay team of Kylee Parsons, Moran, Thomas and Lanson finished 3rd to close the meet with a school record time of 3:23.08.
Liberty
Liberty claimed a runner-up trophy by placing second at the 2015 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships, which concluded on Saturday at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Florida Gulf Coast claimed its sixth title in the last seven years, and first since 2013, scoring 1,575 points. Defending champion Liberty placed second with 1,239 points, while Georgia Southern placed third at 1,110.5. Gardner-Webb (1,026.5) and Incarnate Word (851) rounded out the top five.
For the day, Liberty had 15 finals swims (eight A finals, five B finals and two C finals), 12 lifetime bests, two NCAA B cuts, five podium finishes (four individual, one relay) and three program records. On the meet as a whole, the Lady Flames registered 11 podium finishes (six individual, five relay), six program records and seven NCAA B cuts.
Prior to the finals, the 2015 CCSA All-Academic Honorees were released, with 21 Lady Flames being recognized. They included: freshmen Sydney Archuleta, Danielle Boothe, Kendall Hart, Rachel Hoeve, Madi Long, Chelsea Pond, Rachel Rippey, Ashlee Sall and Rachel Wasko; sophomores Natalie Chambers, Heather McCorkel, Morgan Noonan and Victoria Tschoke; juniors Natalie Beale, Ranndi Grubbs, Kendall Hough, Kristin VanDeventer and Hannah Wakeley; and seniors Meghan Babcock, Cori Gary and Chloe Thomas.
The Lady Flames got the finals off to a great start, as junior Hannah Wakeley placed third in the 1,650 free in a lifetime-best program-record 16:45.43. She also set the program 1,000 free record, going 10:06.55 on the way out. Junior Kristin VanDeventer finished fifth in 17:01.74, while freshman Sarah Browning’s lifetime-best 17:08.69 earned her sixth place.
Senior Emily Duff broke her own program record with a B cut time of 1:56.50 in the 200 back, placing second in the event for the third year in a row. Sophomore Victoria Tschoke swam 2:00.00 in the A final, finishing in fourth place, while junior Natalie Beale finished in seventh place with a 2:03.26 clocking.
Junior Kendall Hough picked up her third podium finish of the meet, placing third in the 100 free A final with a lifetime-best 50.06. Seniors Meghan Babcock (51.47) and Cori Gary (51.81) placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Freshman Chelsea Pond won the B final in a lifetime-best 51.05, placing ninth overall, while Chloe Thomas placed 15th overall in 52.74. Freshman Ashlee Sall swam her season best, 52.71, for 22nd position.
Freshmen Prudence Rooker clocked 2:20.39 for a sixth-place standing in the 200 breaststroke. Classmate Rachel Wasko went 2:21.64 in the B final for 13th position overall.
Wakeley claimed a runner-up finish in the 200 fly with a lifetime-best 2:00.05 clocking. Junior Ranndi Grubbs swam her best time, 2:05.36, to finish 11th overall, while freshman Kendall Hart’s lifetime-best 2:09.01 was good for 18th.
Liberty placed second in the women’s 400 free relay, as Hough, Duff, Pond and Babcock swam a season-best 3:21.94. FGCU won in NCAA B cut, meet and CCSA-record time of 3:17.85.
The Lady Flames earned two B cuts in the 200 back prelims, as Tschoke swam a lifetime-best 1:58.39 to place third and Duff’s B cut of 1:58.78 was good for fourth. Beale joined Tschoke and Hough in making the A final, in eighth at 2:01.98.
Liberty then qualified seven swimmers for finals in the 100 free. Hough clocked a then lifetime-best 50.22 to earn the second seed, while Gary (51.25) and Babcock (51.32) finished as the sixth and seventh seeds. Freshmen Rachel Hoeve (51.49 – 9th) and Chelsea Pond (51.94 – 12th) both swam lifetime bests, and Chloe Thomas’ 52.44 qualified in 16th. Freshman Ashlee Sall went 52.84 for 21st and a C final appearance.
Freshman Prudence Rooker finished seventh in prelims for the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.62. Classmate Rachel Wasko made the B final in 10th with her lifetime-best 2:21.40.
Junior Hannah Wakeley swam the fastest 200 fly qualifying time on the morning, earning the first seed in a then personal-best 2:01.01. Sophomore Ranndi Grubbs clocked 2:06.03 to finished 10th, while freshman Kendall Hart earned a C final swim, in 23rd at 2:14.65.
The Liberty swimmers who record NCAA B cut times will await word on selection for the 2015 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, which will be held in Greensboro, N.C., March 19-21.
UMBC
UMBC men's swimming and diving team avenged their second place finish to Incarnate Word from a year ago, by winning the 2015 CCSA Championship on Saturday. The Retrievers started the weekend strong, and finished the same way, winning by almost 200 points.
Rob Breen (Danvers, Mass./St. John's Prep) and Jonas Gutzat (Lappersdorf, Germany/BBS Nuernberg) started off the final day going two-three in the 1650 free. Breen finished in a time of 15:32.50, while Gutzat went 15:32.50. Nikola Trajkovic (Zrenjanin, Serbia/Zrenjaninska Gimnazija) and freshman Mile Ruttan (Ottawa, Ontario/John McCrae) went two and three in the 200 back. Trajkovic touched the wall in 1:47.58, while Ruttan went 1:48.48.
Gregor Sporlein (Bamberg, Germany/Clavius Gymnasium) and Trevor Doll (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) continued the strong day for the Retrievers with a second and third place finish in the 100 free. Sporlein finished in 44.30, while Doll was right behind him in 45.35.
The Retrievers swept the podium in the 200 breast with Leo Endres (Bamberg, Germany/Kaiser Heinrich Gymnasium) taking gold. Endres broke the school record with a time of 1:58.05. Luca Santinelli (Via Alfieri, Italy/Liceo Scientifico) finished second in 1:59.93, while Kyle Paxton (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) went third in 2:02.30.
The final event was the 400 free relay, which solidified the championship for UMBC. The Retriever quartet of Sporlein, Doll, Lauri Kaei (Harjumaa, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary Science), and Breen took gold in a time of 2:59.04.
UMBC finished with 994 points to win the title. Defending champ Incarnate Word finished in second with 778 points. Gardner-Webb (690 points), NJIT (292 points), VMI (224 points), and Howard (160 points) rounded out the field.
Nikola Trajkovic won Freshman of the Year, and Petar Trifonov won Diving Coach of the Year on Saturday. Ryan Green (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) won Diver of the Year after sweeping both disciplines this weekend.
VMI Men
Connor McMahon set his second school record of the weekend and the VMI men's swimming and diving team finished fifth overall as the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) championships wrapped up Saturday in Athens, Ga.
McMahon clocked in at 46.13 seconds in the 100 free to go under his own school record, set in 2013, and finish 10th overall in the process. Teammate John Kelly also went under the old mark with a 46.45, 12th-place effort.
All told, the Keydets finished with 224 points, 64 points ahead of sixth-place Howard. UMBC won the meet with 996 points, well ahead of Incarnate Word's 778 and Gardner-Webb's 690. NJIT finished fourth with 292 points.
Other results from the last day of competition included two Keydets making B finals in both the 200 breast and the 200 fly. In the 200 fly, Christian Shaner finished 13th overall in 1:59.29, while John Walker was 14th in 2:04.90. The 200 breast, meanwhile, saw Max Groene place 14th in 2:16.32 and Mitch Fornwald finish 16th in 2:21.52.
In addition, both Matt Johnson and Jeff Whiteman earned top-16 finishes in the men's 1650 free. Johnson finished 11th in 17:16.76, while Whiteman was 13th in 17:41.96.
VMI Women
The VMI women's swimming and diving team set four more school records, again headlined by the efforts of freshmen Natalie Rivas and McKenzie Raber, as the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) championships and the VMI swimming and diving season, wrapped up Saturday in Athens, Ga. As a team, the Keydets finished 10th in the final results.
It was Raber who captured two individual marks on the championships' final day, and she did it in unique fashion. She placed 25th in the 1650 free, timing in at 18:19.86 to go nearly 33 seconds under the school record she set earlier this year.
During that same race, she posted a 1000-yard split time of 11:02.48, faster than the school record in that event. Due to the type of start used in the 1650, that split time is recognized as a new 1000 free school record.
In the final team standings, the Keydets finished 10th overall with 183 points. They were 40 points ahead of Howard and 11 points behind North Carolina A&T. Florida Gulf Coast won the event with 1575 points to Liberty's 1239. Georgia Southern rounded out the top three teams, finishing with 1110.5 markers.
Two other Keydet records fell Saturday, including the 100 free mark. Natalie Rivas touched the wall in 54.97 to break the old mark by one second, and Rivas now holds both the 50 and 100 free marks after her 38th-place finish.
The 400 free relay record also fell, and Rivas was involved in that as well. She teamed with Sophia DelBondio, Gabbie Galvez and Elise Reed to post a time of 3:44.24.
