Big East Champions!
February 17, 2007 10:57 PM | General
February 17, 2007
SATURDAY RESULTS
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – West Virginia University’s 17th ranked men’s swimming and diving team won the BIG EAST Championship, the first in school history, on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
The team finished with 765.5 points, 4.5 points ahead of the 19th-ranked and 2006 champion, Notre Dame, and two places above their 2006 third place finish.
“After yesterday’s results, I honestly wasn’t sure if we were going to pull it off,” says third year coach Sergio Lopez. “I’m very proud of the effort they put forth.”
The entire weekend came down to the 400 free relay with West Virginia trailing the Irish by 3.5 points. The top three finishers were separated by tenths of a second as the Mountaineers came in at 2:56.21, just .34 seconds in front of Louisville. The Irish finished .4 seconds behind the Cardinals, who touched the wall at 2:59.59.
Men's swimming becomes just the third program to capture a conference championship since West Virginia joined the Big East in 1995; football (1993, 2003, 2004 and 2005) and baseball (1996) are the others. Women's and men's soccer own regular season titles.
The women’s squad had an equally impressive showing at the championship, taking third with 517 points, five spots head of last year’s finish. Notre Dame defended its 2006 title, winning with 758 points.
The men wasted no time earning points on the last night of competition. Freshman Justin Galbreath won the night’s first event, the 1650 free, with a NCAA ‘B’ standard time of 15:28.39.
Galbreath’s win was followed by two top performances in the 200 back. Freshman Zoltan Povazsai took second with a school record and ‘B’ time of 146.54. Sophomore teammate Michael Walker finished just behind Povazsai at fourth (1:47.21).
Junior Nick Delic bested his 2006 third place finish in the 100 free, winning the event this year with a ‘B’ time of 44.03. Sophomore Andrew Langenfeld pushed Delic for the title, taking second with his own ‘B’ time of 44.16.
Three Mountaineers scored for the men in the 200 breast. Freshman Sean Mahoney placed second at 1:57.75, a NCAA invitational time. He was followed by junior Kevin Donohue, clocking in at third with the invitational time of 1:58.70. Junior Felipe Cuhna took sixth with a ‘B’ time of 1:59.94.
Junior Pablo Marmolejo finished the night’s individual events in record setting fashion, winning the 200 fly (1:44.94) for the third straight year. The Mexico City, Mexico native’s NCAA invitational time was both a BIG EAST and school record.
And securing the championship for the men was the victory by the 400 free relay team. With the rest of the WVU team cheering them on, sophomore Tony Cisneros, Langenfeld, Povazsai and Delic combined for the invitational time of 2:56.21.
All told, the men won all but two of the championship’s 16 swimming events but were pushed to the limit by Notre Dame's overall team depth.
“We always believed we could win if we just swam our best,” says Lopez.
The women started their night by securing two of the top spots in the 1650 free. Sophomore Lindsey Largo took third in the event with a ‘B’ time of 16:40.00, while freshman Stephanie Roop finished at fifth with her own ‘B’ time of 16:44.29.
Freshman Morgan Callaway set a school record in the 200 back, taking second with a ‘B’ time of 1:59.64.
Fellow freshman Kayla Andrews had a fantastic night, winning the 100 free with a school and BIG EAST record time of 49.02. Andrews’ time was a NCAA ‘A’ standard.
Earning a NCAA ‘B’ standard, freshman Kitti Veisz finished fourth in the 200 breast (2:17.46). Sophomore Taylor Stallings also contributed points to the Mountaineers’ score, taking sixth in the 200 fly (2:03.78).
The women finished the night with a second place finish in the 400 free relay. Junior Maritza Paredes, Veisz, Callaway and Andrews comprised for the invitational time of 3:21.00.
”The women had a great year and we have a great shot of taking four to the NCAA championships,” Lopez says.
Zoltan Povazsai was named Big East swimmer of the year and Sergio Lopez's coaching staff was named coaching staff of the year for the second straight year.
WVU will now wait the next two weeks to see which swimmers qualified for NCAAs. The women’s championship will be held March 8-10, while the men’s will follow a week later. Both meets will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
