Feb. 26, 2011

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Final Championship Results

BUFFALO, N.Y. - After dominating the leaderboard for the past three days, Massachusetts' men and Richmond's women claimed the Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday evening at the Flickinger Center.

Massachusetts won its fifth straight championship and the tenth out of the last eleven years, the most of any school in league history. Massachusetts finished with a total of 764.5 points.

Richmond garnered 755 points to regain its championship crown after Fordham ended the Spiders' eight-year championship win streak in 2010.

Freshman dominated the 1650-yard freestyle event this year. Richmond's Jessie Krebs took home gold with a time of 16:32.80 while the Minutemen's Chris Inglis claimed gold in the longest event, touching in at 15:34.64.

In the 200-yard backstroke, Brienne Ryan earned a gold medal, clocking in at 1:57.01. The Massachusetts men added to their success, taking first and third in the event, with George Washington sophomore Phillip Graeter (1:47.97) splitting the two. Minutemen senior Max Butler grabbed gold, touching in at 1:47.14 with teammate Kyle Jennings taking bronze (1:49.08).

The 100-yard freestyle saw Richmond junior Charlotte Brackett win gold for the second year in a row, swimming a :50.12. On the men's side, Massachusett's senior Chris Howard nabbed gold from the outside lane, swimming a time of :45.09.

Another Spider freshman stood out when Mali Kobelja won the women's 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:15.37. St. Bonaventure senior Kevin Murphy took home the gold on the men's side, swimming a 2:02.93.

In the 200-yard butterfly event junior Courtney Collyer earned a gold medal for the Rams with a time of 2:00.19 while Xavier junior Michael Zennedijian won on the men's side, clocking a time of 1:48.35.

On the men's three-meter boards Massachusetts swept the podium with Jason Cook leading the way. Cook earned 372.85 points, good for the gold, while teammates Adam Duffield (290.05 points) and John Clark (288.90 points) took home the silver and bronze, respectively.

Richmond women and George Washington men ended the night on a high note with gold medals in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Spider team of sophomores Lauren Hines and Mina Vicic, Kobelja and Bracket set an Atlantic 10 record with their combined time of 3:21.10 while the Colonials team of Phillip Graeter, Marshall Seedorff, Alex Etz and Niccolo Wilson took first, clocking in at 3:02.13.

On the men's side, St. Bonaventure finished with 621 points for second with La Salle in third, earning a total of 452 points. Rounding out the rest of the field were George Washington (423.5), Xavier (418), Fordham (387) and St. Louis (279).

Coming in second after Richmond's women was Fordham with 578 points, followed by third place Massachusetts with 397.5. The Explorers and the Bonnies tied for fourth, both garnering 343 points. Rounding out the leaderboard were the Dukes (337.5), Rhode Island (246.5), George Washington (218.5), Xavier (214) and St. Louis (203).

Women's Most Outstanding Performer: Lauren Hines, Richmond

Women's Most Outstanding Rookie: Mali Kobelja, Richmond

Women's Most Outstanding Diver: Molly Elkins, Massachusetts

Women's Coach of the Year: Matt Barany, Richmond

Women's Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon, Massachusetts

Men's Most Outstanding Performer: Michael Zennedjian, Xavier

Men's Most Outstanding Rookie: Chris Inglis, Massachusetts

Men's Most Outstanding Diver: Jason Cook, Massachusetts

Men's Coach of the Year: Russ Yarworth, Massachusetts and Dan Rhinehart, George Washington

Men's Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon, Massachusetts