Denver
The University of Denver men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished second at the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships in the Tracy Caulkins Pool at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenn. The Pioneer women’s team finished second behind Western Kentucky with 746 points, while the Pioneer men’s team finished second behind the Hilltoppers with 857.50.
Western Kentucky University men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs continued its dominance on day four as the Hilltoppers swept the men’s and women’s races, marking only the second time in school history that both genders earned the team title in the same year.
The WKU women, who led after three days of competition, won two events on Saturday evening to earn their third-straight – eighth overall – SBC swimming and diving championship. The Lady Toppers finished the four days of competition with 821 points, out pacing the Pioneers with 746 points. North Texas which pushed the competition all weekend long finished in third with 701 team points.
WKU was led by Claire Donahue who won both the 100 and 200 butterfly races. Donahue earned the weekends only NCAA A cut time in the 100 fly with a time of 51.95, which is the fastest time in the NCAA this year. She was named the SBC’s Women’s Swimmer of the Year.
On the men’s side, the WKU men earned its fourth overall SBC swimming and diving title and first since 2007. The Toppers won four events on the evening, led by Sean Penhale’s meet record in the 1650 freestyle (15:11.30), which was an NCAA B cut time. Penhale’s efforts during the championship earned him SBC Men’s Co-Swimmer of the Year honors.
The four event wins helped push WKU to the top of the team standings as the Toppers finished with 916.50 points to Denver’s 857.50 points. The University of New Orleans finished third with 644 points, while Florida Atlantic finished fourth with 490 points.
UNO’s Mark Schindler, who won the Privateers first individual SBC swimming and diving title, earned the programs second in as many days as the sophomore claimed the 200 breaststroke title. He was named the SBC Men’s Co-Swimmer of the Year honors with WKU’s Penhale.
In the men’s final diving competition, Denver’s Cody Stambaugh (Denver, Colo.) earned his second win of the championship, this time winning the men’s one-meter diving competition. He was named the SBC Men’s Diver of the Year. Head Pioneers’ diving coach, Aaron D’Addario, was named the SBC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year.
FIU’s Namiko Shibata earned the SBC’s Women’s Diver of the Year award after winning the women’s three-meter diving competition and placing fourth in the women’s one-meter diving competition.
WKU’s Bruce Marchionda won both the SBC Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year honors while WKU’s Bob Benson took home the SBC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year honors.
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
1. WKU – 821
2. Denver – 746
3. North Texas – 701
4. Florida Atlantic – 352
5. New Orleans – 338
6. FIU – 246
7. UALR – 143
MEN’S TEAM SCORES
1. WKU – 916.50
2. Denver – 857.50
3. New Orleans – 644
4. Florida Atlantic – 490
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year – Bruce Marchionda, WKU
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year – Aaron D’Addario, Denver
Men’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Sean Penhale, WKU and Mark Schindler, New Orleans
Men’s Most Outstanding Diver – Cody Stambaugh, Denver
Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year – Bruce Marchionda, WKU
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year – Bob Benson, WKU
Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer – Claire Donahue, WKU
Women’s Most Outstanding Diver – Namiko Shibata, FIU
North Texas
North Texas finished third at the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Championships with a total of 701 points Saturday evening.
Although leading after both day one and two, two-time defending champion Western Kentucky proved too strong for the Mean Green and the rest of the field as they took the lead early on in day three and never looked back.
The Hilltoppers finished with a total of 821 points, while Denver took runner-up with 746 points.
The Mean Green started out the night in excellent fashion with three members of the team finishing in the top five in the 1650-yard freestyle, including both the first and second place times.
Senior Emily Floyd took her second event title and added another NCAA “B” cut and school record to her career as she touched the wall almost 20 seconds before the next competitor in 16:37.39.
Sophomore Hiliary Riedmann was behind Floyd, finishing in second place with a time of 16:56.42. Another sophomore, Dawn Richerson, rounded out the top five in the heat, posting a 17:16.88.
Leanne Hill was the lone representative for the Mean Green in the “A” final of the 200-yard backstroke. She took seventh, swimming the event in 2:06.24.
Seabre Pope added a fifth place finish to her already impressive conference finishes, this time in the 100-yard freestyle. She vaulted herself to second on the all-time list, completing the event in 51.41 seconds.
Catia Weickgenant again proved why she is going to be a force in the Sun Belt Conference for years to come in the 200-yard butterfly. The freshman took fifth in the event with a time of 2:03.43.
The 400-yard freestyle relay was the last event of the championships. The North Texas Team of Gentile, Pope, Angela Dworschack and Alicia Hale turned in a third-place finish in 3:25.16.
Western Kentucky
The WKU men's and women's swimming and diving teams accomplished their ultimate goals on Saturday both winning the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. The women's team claimed their third consecutive title and eighth in the program's history with 821 points while the men's team tallied 916.50 points to claim their first championship since 2007. On the women's side, Denver finished second with 746 points, North Texas came in third with 701 points, Florida Atlantic finished fourth with 352 points and New Orleans, Florida International and UALR finished in fifth through seventh place with 338, 246 and 143 points respectively. On the men's side, Denver finished second with 857.5 points, New Orleans finished third with 644 points and Florida Atlantic finished in fourth place with 520 points.
"This is a special night for WKU swimming and diving," head coach Bruce Marchionda said. "We have a chance to celebrate both programs and two championships, which is a rare thing. We haven't been able to do that since 2005. When one team wins it is bitter sweet because you feel bad for the other team but tonight we get to celebrate as one team."
"I am just tickled at both of these wins," coach Bill Powell said. "I just told Dr. Selig tonight that I had a feeling at the very beginning of the season back in October about our men's team. It was just one of those feelings that you get. I knew there was something special about his men's team and the chemistry that they have. They have fun but they word hard and they are so deserving of this championship. They may not be as talented as the women's team but they have that fire in them and that is what it takes. The women's team is just outstanding and they showed tonight how great they can be. We had a lot of pressure swims tonight and our kids swam lifetime bests over and over again."
Two WKU swimmers picked up Swimmer of the Year honors while head coach Bruce Marchionda was named the Head Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's side. Claire Donhaue was honored as the Sun Belt Conference Women's Swimmer of the Year and Sean Penhale was named the Co-Men's Swimmer of the Year. Additionally, diving coach Bob Benson was named the Women's Diving Coach of the Year."
"Everyone did a fantastic job this week and we have some great kids and they are very deserving," Powell said. "Bob brought three freshmen in to this meet and had one win the one-meter competition. That doesn't happen very often and Caitlin did a fantastic job. Our guy divers clinched this meet for us. We needed to place fifth and sixth to clinch the win and they went out with the pressure on and placed third and fourth. Everyone came through for us tonight, from swimmers to divers, and I couldn't be more proud of what they accomplished."
In the first race of the night, the 1650 Free, Maggie Skiles, Georgia Smith and Krista Mantay placed in the top 16 for the Lady Toppers with Skiles leading the way. Skiles, who finished with a time of 17:19.17, placed seventh in the race and outpaced teammate Georgia Smith, who recorded a time of 17:23.42. Mantay, who finished in tenth place, touched the wall with a time of 17:33.65. Following the Lady Toppers' lead, Sean Penhale broke his own Sun Belt Conference Championship meet record in the event and set another NCAA "B" cut time posting a time of 15:11.30, over 25 seconds faster than the second place finisher, to win first place. Also finishing in the top 16 in the race was David Rayner, who placed fourth with a time of 15:50.65, Sean Shannon, who posted a time of 15:52.15 to finish sixth, and Adam Pendry who clocked a time of 16:05.68 to finish 11th.
Hilary Mishler kept WKU's championship wins alive in the 200 Back placing first in the event. With a time of 1:56.92, she set a new Sun Belt Conference Championship meet record en route to posting a NCAA "B" cut time. Four other Lady Topper swimmers finished in the top eight in race behind Mishler including Alex Van Oost, who placed fourth with a time of 1:59.78, Laurel Chaney, who finished fifth with a time of 2:03.34, Stephanie Terrell, who posted a time of 2:03.72 to finish sixth, and Casey DeRidder, who finished in eighth place with a time of 2:06.40.
In the men's 200 Back it was Ethan Arave who took top honors turnig in a time of 1:47.29 to finish in first place. Arave finished just ahead of David Menchinger who placed second with a time of 1:47.43. Cameron Watkins and Chris Housden also finished in the to eight with Watkins coming in sixth with a time of 1:49.20 and Housden finishing eighth with a time of 1:51.14.
Claire Alexandre picked up a third place finish in the women's 100 Free posting a time of 51.19. Meredith Dement was the next highest finisher in the event for WKU finishing tenth with a time of 51.76. Billy Kunkel, Greg Gerum and Zane Rowland kept things rolling in the right direction for WKU all picking up top eight finishes in the top eight. Kunkel, who finished first, recorded a time of 44.91 to finish ahead of teammate Gerum, who placed third with a time of 45.51, and Rowland, who finished sixth with a time of 46.06.
Stephanie Martin was WKU's top finisher in the 200 Breast picking up a third place finish in the race. With a time of 2:18.91, she finished ahead of teammates Kathryn Sutton and Kara McCarthy who finished seventh and eighth respectively. Sutton posted a time of 2:21.47 while McCarthy finished with a time of 2:22.87. Luke Musser was WKU's top finisher in the men's 200 Breast placing fourth with a time of 2:01.83.
Claire Donahue continued her dominance in the Fly events winning the 200 Fly during the night session with a time of 1:56.93. She also set an NCAA "B" cut time with her win in the event. In the men's 200 Fly race, Cameron Higdon reached the podium finishing third with a time of 1:49.02. Endi Babi and Nick Slattery also finished high in the event placing fifth and seventh respectively with times of 1:50.18 and 1:53.36.
The Lady Toppers finished out the meet in the 400 Free relay placing second with a time of 3:23.83. The Lady Topper team of Donahue, Kristiana Feeser, Meredith Dement and Alexandre accomplished a NCAA "B" cut en route to their second place finish. The men's team also picked up a NCAA "B" cut time with their win in the 400 Free. The team of Rowland, Kunkel, Gerum and Menchinger posted a time of 3:00.94 to pick up the victory.
In men's diving action, Jim Ritter placed third in the one-meter diving competition while Vinny Rominger finished in fourth place. Ritter picked up 276.10 points in the event while Rominger tallied 275.75 points.
