Swimming: Mountaineers Post Solid Swims in Win
November 06, 2009 08:24 PM | General
By Grant Dovey for MSNsportsNET.com
November 6, 2009
MEET RESULTS
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| Kata Fodor |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams combined for 17 first-place finishes, helping the Mountaineers to a sweep of Cincinnati at the WVU Natatorium on Friday night. The Mountaineer men defeated the Bearcats, 120-98, while the WVU women earned a 122-97 victory. The men improved to 1-1 and the women to 3-1 this season.
“We swam pretty relaxed today and Cincinnati had quite a few people they had to leave home because of the flu,” coach Vic Riggs said. “I think they were in a tough situation, but we had the opportunity to use these swims to help us swim well tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a pretty big challenge for us.”
The Mountaineers continued their success in the relays with the women’s 400 medley relay opening the meet with a come-from-behind win. Nikki Vetterlein, Breanna McCann, Stephanie Shupe and Kayla Andrews touched first with a time of 3:53.16.
The men also won on the last leg with a team of Tim Field, George Farquhar, Martin Vanis and Brad Eichenseer finishing with a time of 3:26.11.
West Virginia then swept both 200 free events, with Robyn Matthews and Jared Goldthorpe earning victories. Matthews victory came in at a time of 1:51.65, while Goldthorpe finished at 1:41.93. Shaunna Purtell, Morgan Callaway and Sloan Storie rounded out the top four, respectively, for the women.
Andrews continued her success in the 50 free, touching in at 23.53, with Eichenseer placing in second with a time of 21.45 for the men. Kyle Bandy also finished third in the event for WVU.
West Virginia then took control in the women’s 400 IM as Rachel Burnett sprinted her way to victory in 4:25.98. Austen Carrington and McCann finished second and third, respectively.
Matt O’Neill and Brandon Robinson once again led the way in the diving well. O’Neill finished first on the 3-meter board with a score of 313.20, while finishing second on the 1-meter with 280.65. Robinson finished second on the 3-meter with 300.00, while beating out O’Neill for first in the 1-meter with 289.87. Ethan Robinson and Brian Drake also finished third and fourth, respectively, on the 3-meter board.
Ashley Malik took third on both boards with a score of 251.75 on 1-meter and 239.70 on 3-meter.
The Mountaineers continued to impress, adding first-place finishes in the women’s and men’s 200 butterfly. Mandie Nugent swept the field with a time of 2:03.93, while Vanis finished in 1:52.92. Bandy and Brandon Carr also scored third and fourth, respectively.
Purtell then earned a title in the 100 free in 51.72 with Shupe placing third. On the men’s side Taylor Camp placed second, while Eichenseer came in third place.
Cincinnati then placed first in the women’s 200 backstroke, but Callaway, Carrington and Vetterlein went second through fourth, respectively.
Goldthorpe took the men’s 200 back in 1:49.93, with Field trailing him in second place.
The Mountaineers then took the 500 free with Kata Fodor and Hugh Simmonds each taking home first place. Fodor finished the race in 5:00.37, while Simmonds finished in 4:39.59. Storie placed second and Sara Conner third for the women, while Jake Querciagrossa finished third and Tim O’Malley placed fifth for the men.
In the 200 breast, Matthews continued her great rookie campaign finishing in 2:23.00 for first place. Farquhar placed second for the men.
The day ended with two wins in the 800 free relay with Callaway, Burnett, Matthews and Purtell setting a pool record in 7:35.32. The men’s team of Goldthorpe, Simmonds, Camp and Querciagrossa also set a pool record with a first-place finish and time of 6:56.16.
“I liked our energy and that fact that we had race plans, we had a lot of team support and cheering and if we can do that tomorrow, then we’ll have some pretty good swims.”
West Virginia will be back in action tomorrow, as both teams will swim against Louisville at the WVU Natatorium. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. Results will be available at MSNsportsNET.com.
