Men's Swimming: WVU Atlanta Bound
March 22, 2006 01:54 PM | General
March 22, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Men’s basketball is not the only West Virginia University sport performing on the big stage in Atlanta this week. The Mountaineer men’s swimming and diving team will have five individuals competing at this year’s NCAA championships to be held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, March 23-25.
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| Lopez | Delic | Hagedorn |
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| Langenfeld | Marmolejo | Williams |
Competition begins Thursday at noon.
“We had a morning practice to just do some starts and get a feel for the pool,” said West Virginia coach Sergio Lopez “We had a chance to swim yesterday and that was good because there was nobody in the pool.”
Of the four individuals qualified, senior Chris Hagedorn probably has the best opportunity to reach the finals. The Clarksburg resident has the seventh fastest time in the 50 freestyle, which is scheduled for Thursday. Hagedorn’s top time of 19.57 is a half-second slower than race-favorite Cullen Jones of North Carolina State, whose top clocking is 19:07.
“I think individually with Hagedorn for example, three years ago he didn’t think he was going to get here. Now he’s got the seventh fastest time in the country. He can walk away from the pool right now and be very proud of everything he’s done,” Lopez said. “There are a lot of guys here ahead of him in the finals of the Olympics and national championships that are going to have the pressure to win.”
Also performing on Thursday: Pablo Marmolejo in the 200 individual medley, freshman Andrew Langenfeld in the 50 freestyle, and the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays. Finals for those events will begin at 7 pm Thursday night.
“In order to be able to pass to the finals they have to give 100 percent and have no mistakes,” Lopez said. “What we’re trying to teach them is to understand their talent.”
On Friday, Hagedorn, Langenfeld, Marmolejo and Nick Delic will compete in the 100 butterfly; Delic will also swim the 100 breaststroke. Saturday’s races include the 100 freestyle (Hagedorn), 200 butterfly (Marmolejo and Langenfeld) and the 400 free relay that also includes junior Kyle Williams.
A total of 14 different events will be covered by Mountaineer swimmers this weekend.
“Being able to work with five people for 4 1/2 weeks has been very good because I can give them a lot more attention then when I’m working with 50-something kids,” Lopez said. “The guys have done a very good job. I don’t want to say they are going to swim faster but they look better than they did before Big East.”
In addition to Hagedorn in the 50 free, Lopez believes the 200 free relay with the nation’s 10th fastest time has a good shot of reaching the finals. West Virginia’s best clocking of 1:18.87 is a second slower than Stanford’s No. 1-rated time of 1:17.54.
“If we don’t get disqualified and they swim to their potential we’re going to swim at night and we have a chance to be in the top eight,” Lopez said.
Auburn has claimed the last three men’s titles and is a favorite to get a fourth. Also vying for top honors is California, Stanford, Florida and Texas.
The Tigers scored 491 points to capture the 2005 NCAA title. Forty points is about what West Virginia would have to score to reach the top 20; 35 teams placed at last year’s meet. No Big East schools placed last season, although Louisville managed to get nine points as a member of Conference USA.
“Our goal every year is to have more people (qualified) and we’re using this as a learning experience,” Lopez said. “Nobody expects anything from us here and if we go into it with that attitude and we swim to our potential then we can come out of here with a lot of points.
“So far Atlanta has been pretty good for the Mountaineers this season. Hopefully the basketball team has some of that charm and we have some too,” Lopez added.
A tape-delayed broadcast of the meet will air on ESPN2 on March 31 at 1:30 pm.
