Swimming: West Virginia Splits With UConn
January 31, 2004 03:37 PM | General
January 31, 2004
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| Hagedorn |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The WVU men's swimming and diving team defeated Connecticut, 165-135, Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the WVU Natatorium. The women's team lost by a score of 178-120 to the Huskies.
The WVU men had another record breaking day as the 200 freestyle relay team of Kleyton Franca, Kyle Williams, Chris Hagedorn and Matt Drozd broke the pool record that they set last weekend against Virginia Tech with a 1:22.44.
The 200 medley relay team of Richard Mann, Arda Kostem, Pedro Pinto and Drozd stopped the clock at 1:34.40 to break a Natatorium record previously held by Rutgers in 2001 (1:34.80).
Other top swims for the men's team included two first-place finishes by Kevin Van Buskirk, who claimed victory in the 500 freestyle (4:44.69) and 1000 freestyle (9:40.89).
Kostem was just .28 seconds away from breaking a pool record in the 200 breaststroke as he swam a 2:04.79 to earn a first-place finish. Pinto was victorious in the 100 butterfly (49.47) and 200 butterfly (1:53.22) while Mann notched a 52.77 to place first in the 100 backstroke.
Drozd led a WVU sweep in the 50 freestyle event with a 21.02 while Hagedorn and Williams placed second and third, respectively.
For the WVU women, freshman diver Jennifer Nyce led her squad on the one and three-meter boards with first-place scores of 255.08 and 232.50.
Elizabeth Cleary, Olga Tzinker, Livia Cascao and Lee Ann Johnston led the 200 freestyle relay team to victory with a time of 1:39.20.
Cleary also notched second-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.
"It was a great finish to the regular season for all our swimmers," said coach Steve Phillips. "We had some good swims and a couple records broken today, and I think it was a positive meet for both the men and the women."
West Virginia seniors Can Eter, Kleyton Franca, Lee Ann Johnston and Travis Watson were honored prior to the start of the meet.
The Mountaineer men finished the regular season with a dual meet record of 6-5, while the women's team concluded at 3-9.
The squad will use the next three weeks to prepare for the BIG EAST Championships, which will be held at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in Uniondale, N.Y., on Feb. 19-21.
