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 Kate Sieben, Richmond |
Feb. 20, 2009
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The men's team from Massachusetts and the women's squad from Richmond remain ahead at the conclusion of the third day of the Atlantic 10 Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday at the Flickinger Center.
The Minutemen continue to lead on the men's side with a total of 453.5 points, 88.5 points ahead of second place St. Bonaventure. For the women, the Spiders are atop the standings with 502 points, a 128.5 point lead over second place Fordham.
To kick off the third day, Fordham's Courtney Collyer earned the gold in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:22.16. On the men's side, the Colonials of George Washington won the event behind senior David Zenk's conference-record time of 3:52.17. The mark was more than two seconds faster than the previous mark, also from Zenk, set in 2007.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Richmond's Katie Sieben earned gold with a time of 54.06. For the men's 100 butterfly, UMass senior Nate Bromage touched in first, posting a time of 49.21.
Next up in the 200-yard freestyle races, Fordham's Caitlin Napoli helped continue the Rams early push after touching with a time of 1:49.55. In the men's sprint, Duquesne's Edward LeBlanc helped the Dukes to its first medal of the night with a time of 1:38.80.
For the 100-yard breaststroke, the Spider's senior Lauren Beaudreau was unable to break her own conference record but nonetheless took home gold after posting a time of 1:02.30. The Dukes' gold streak continued with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke by junior Ian P. Walsh (55.87).
After setting a conference record in the 100-yard backstroke preliminaries with a time of 54.92, Richmond's Alex Helland one-upped herself in the championship finals to top her record that wasn't even 12 hours old, thanks to a 54.65 time. For the men, UMass junior Andrew Willbrant beat out sophomore teammate Max Butler by .21 seconds to take gold for the Minutemen.
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In the diving portion, senior Karen Upperco finished her career on top, taking the gold in the three-meter event with a score of 292.15.
For the single relay of the evening, the Richmond women blistered its old record in the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Helland, Beaudreau, Sieben and freshman Charlotte Brackett posted a time of 3:40.34 to break the previous year's record by almost six seconds. To cap off the night, the UMass men's team of Bromage, Willbrant, junior Juan Moliere and sophomore Brian Schmidt took gold in the 400-yard medley relay. It beat out Duquesne with a conference record time of 3:19.34.
The St. Bonaventure men sit with 365 points in second place. Rounding out the rest of the men's standings are Xavier (310), Duquesne (302), Fordham (253.5), La Salle (214), George Washington (212) and Saint Louis (207).
On the women's leader board, Fordham occupies the second spot with 373.5 points. The Rams are followed by Massachusetts (301.5), Duquesne (277.5), La Salle (269.5), St. Bonaventure (227), Xavier (201), Saint Louis (178) George Washington (145), and Rhode Island (133).
The championships conclude on Saturday with the evening finals at 6:30pm. Morning trials will start at 10:30am. with doors opening at the Flickinger Center at 9:15 am.
