Denver
The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams turned in strong performances on the third day of the Sun Belt Conference Championships in the Tracy Caulkins Pool at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn. The Pioneer men’s team is second behind Western Kentucky with 573.5 points, while the Pioneer women’s team is third with 487 points behind WKU and North Texas.
WKU’s women lead the team competition with 592 points. North Texas is second with 494 points and Denveris third with 487 points. On the men’s side, the WKU men lead with 583.5 points to Denver’s 573.5 points. New Orleans is third in the men’s competition with 411 points and Florida Atlantic is fourth with 336.
Sophomore Clayton Myers (Aurora, Colo.) of Denver defended his SBC 400 IM title winning the event in an NCAA B standard qualifying time of 3:51.05. Freshman Phili Graeter of UNO was second in 3:53.33, and Csaba Pek of FAU was third with a time of 3:54.31, all B cut times.
Denver took first and third place in the men’s 100 butterfly as senior Scott Madaras (Yorktown, Va.) won the event in an NCAA B cut time of 47.93. Teammate Garth Summers (Portland, Ore.) finished third in 49.03.
Denver’s Melissa Greeves (Melbourne, Australia) defended her 200 freestyle crown by winning the race in 1:48.15, more than a second faster than FAU’s Jonna Nyback who finished second for the second consecutive year.
In the men’s 200 freestyle, Denver earned 20 team points when freshman Cole Worsley (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished first in the event, registering a time of 1:38.41. WKU’s Sean Penhale and Will Kunkel finished second and third.
In the women’s backstroke, Denver’s Katy Motsinger (Charleston, S.C.) broke her own SBC meet and conference record posting a time of 53.73, which is an NCAA B cut time.
North Texas
North Texas Swimming & Diving fell out of first place Friday night during the Day Three Finals of the Sun Belt Championships at the Centennial SportsPlex.
The Mean Green now sit in second place with 494 points, 98 points behind two-time defending champions Western Kentucky.
After setting a new school record in the 100-yard butterfly in preliminaries, sophomore Rosa Gentile broke her own record in the finals with an NCAA “B” cut time of 54.21 seconds, which was good enough for second place.
The 200-yard freestyle final saw four Mean Green members in the top eight finishers. Freshman Catia Weickgenant led the way for North Texas with a fourth place finish and a time of 1:49.98.
Behind her was senior Alicia Hale, who finished in fifth with a time of 1:50.67, sophomore Erika Roach in 1:53.08 and senior Emily Floyd, who finished in 1:53.13.
Rosita Bado led the Mean Green in the 100-yard breaststroke with a sixth place finish. The junior touched the wall in 1:05.29, just a second in front of freshman teammate Hannele Luoma who finished in 1:06.33.
Gentile then broke her own school record for the second time in tonight’s events, this time in the 100-yard backstroke. The sophomore finished in sixth place, touching the wall in 56.07.
Diving saw Mary Beth Geeze mover herself into second on the all-time diving list for the one-meter spring board. The junior totaled 253.55 in her six dives and took second in the meet.
Sophomore Delia Covo had a tough night but still finished in seventh with a total of 213.35.
The 400-yard medley relay finished off the night of competition in Nashville. Gentile, Bado, Hiliary Riedmann and Hale finished the event in third, finishing with a time of 3:47.33.
Western Kentucky
The WKU swimming and diving teams couldn't have asked for a better day in the pool winning four individual titles and two relay events on the third day of the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Heading into the final day of competition, the women's team leads the way with 592 points while the men's team is in first with 583.50 points. In second place on the women's side is North Texas with 494 points and on the men's side is Denver with 573.50 points.
"It was just a monster day for our women," head coach Bruce Marchionda said. "We had some phenomenal swims on the women's side today and they were highlighted by Claire Donahue's 51.95 swim in the 100 Fly. It will be interesting to see where that ranks in the nationl. On the men's side, just when you thought we were out of it, they stormed back in the 100 Back to put us right back in the hunt. Then for them to go out and win the 400 medley relay, that showed a lot of character. This is going to be a battle until the very end."
The Lady Toppers picked up 33 points in the women's 400 IM behind the efforts of Kathryn Sutton and Alex Van Oost. Sutton, who finished second in the event recorded a time of 4:21.95 while Van Oost finished with a time of 4:22.17. The men also picked up points in the 400 IM when Greg Gerum touched the wall in 3:56.27 to finish in fourth place. Cameron Higdon and Louis Bunch placed ninth and tenth in the same race.
Following the 400 IM, Claire Donahue broke her own Sun Belt Conference Championship meet record in the 100 Fly and posted a NCAA "A" cut with a time of 51.95 in the event. Kristiana Feeser and Chelsea Stephens followed suit in the race finishing fourth and fifth with times of 55.26 and 55.72 respectively. In the B Final, Jana Kahrig and Meredith Dement finished in 15th and 16 place.
In the men's 100 Fly, it was Nick Slattery who led the way finishing in second place after posting a time of 48.40. Chris Housden also finished in the top eight in the event taking home an eighth place finish with a time of 49.98. Four other Hilltoppers competed in the 100 Fly B Final. In ninth place, Endi Babi finished with a time of 50.16 while Zane Rowland placed 11th, Cameron Watkins came in 12th and Stephen Claycomb finished 16th.
Claire Alexandre also added to her list of accomplishments in the 200 Free after finishing third with a time of 1:49.80. Joining Alexandre in the top 16 was Maggie Skiles, who finished 13th, Georgia Smith, who finished 14th, and Casey DeRidder, who came in 15th.
After picking up a first place victory yesterday, Sean Penhale picked up a second place finish in the 200 Free. With a time of 1:38.54, he outpaced teammate Billy Kunkel, who posted a time of 1:39.67 to finish third. Close behind Kunkel was Sean Shannon who finished sixth and David Rayner, who posted a eighth place finish.
Brittany Doss and Chelsea Stephens placed first and second in the 100 Breast following Doss' NCAA "B" cut time of 1:02.65. Stephens, who placed second with a time of 1:03.11, led Stephanie Martin, who finished fourth.
In the men's 100 Breast, Luke Musser was the top finisher for the Hilltoppers placing second with a time of 55.70. Bryan Mell also placed in the top eight finishing with a time of 56.83 to finish fifth.
Four Lady Toppers also finished in the top eight in the 100 Back. Leading the way for the Lady Toppers was Hilary Mishler. Mishler posted a time of 54.32 to finish second and post an NCAA "B" cut time. Stephanie Terrell also posted an NCAA "B" cut time in the 100 Back finishing in third place with a time of 55.44. Terrell finished just ahead of Feeser, who picked up her second fourth place finish of the day with a time of 55.57. Feeser's time was also good enough for an NCAA "B" cut time. Rounding out the to finishers for the Lady Toppers in the event was Laurel Chaney who touched the wall in seventh place with a time of 56.60.
Cameron Watkins was WKU's top finisher in the men's 100 Back claiming the top honor in the race after posting a time of 49.58. Joining Watkins on the podium was David Menchinger who posted a time of 49.59 to finish second. Also finishing in the top eight was Ethan Arave, who recorded a time of 49.87. Just behind Watkins, Menchinger and Arave was Chris Housden and Nick Slattery. Housden finished the race in fourth place with a time of 50.01 and Slattery finished in seventh place with a time of 50.37.
In diving action, freshman Caitlin Dean won the one-meter diving competition racking up 259.95 points to give WKU another 20 points. Also in the event, freshman Kylie Ruiz placed third scoring 241.00 points in the finals competition and Shelby Smith finished in 13th place.
WKU continued their domination in the relay events at the conclusion of competition sweeping the competition. The women's team of Mishler, Doss, Donahue and Alexandre set another Sun Belt Conference Championship meet record and a NCAA "B" cut time in the 400 medley relay posting a time of 3:39.50. On the men's side, them team of Watkins, Luke Musser, Slattery and Kunkel took first place after posting a time of 3:17.57.
