WVU Sets Multiple Records
February 20, 2009 10:01 PM | General
February 20, 2009
DAY THREE RESULTS
INDIANAPOLIS – On day three of the BIG EAST Championships, the West Virginia University swimming and diving teams gained ground on their opponents with record-breaking swims throughout the evening.
“As we discussed in our team meeting, tonight was an opportunity to seize and turn a good meet into a great meet,” Coach Vic Riggs says. “We had a very good second day, but our second night was not what it could have been. Tonight we took that opportunity and we made sure that we didn’t come out with the same result.”
The men are currently in fourth place with 271 points trailing Notre Dame (567), Louisville (530) and Pitt (355.5). The women came in at fourth place at the end of the day with 256 points, chasing Notre Dame (567), Louisville (408) and Pitt (315.5).
“We had outstanding swims by everybody tonight and our goal was to have 100 percent faster time than the preliminary times and we came very close,” Riggs says.
Senior Michael Walker had the swim of the night in the 400 IM. This morning Walker placed second in the preliminaries and had his meet record from the previous year broken by a Louisville opponent.
However that did not stop him from showing up in the finals where he destroyed the field by a little less than five seconds. Walker swam to the first-place finish in 3:45.45, a personal best, school record and NCAA “B” cut qualifying time.
"Our 400 IM’ers set the tone for this final session with Walker’s 400 IM swim being the highlight,” Riggs says. “It was one of those breakthrough swims that came from training and hard work. That time should get him to the NCAA Championships.”
On the women’s side, junior Morgan Callaway swam to her second BIG EAST Championship of the meet. Yesterday Callaway took the 500 free and ran away with the 200 free today with a time of 1:46.21. Like Walker, the time was a personal best, school record and NCAA “B” cut qualifying time. Callaway also swam to another school record in the opening 100 back leg of the 400 medley relay. Callaway finished the swim in 54.02.
“Morgan continues to prove her versatility to the program and at the BIG EAST level,” Riggs says. “She had an outstanding 200 free final and a school record in the first leg of the 400 medley relay.”
The remainder of the men’s day provided excitement. In the B-finals of the 400 IM, junior Justin Galbreath and sophomore Jeff Byrd finished in fifth and sixth, with times of 3:58.11 and 4:00.67, respectively.
In the A-finals of the 100 fly, senior Pablo Marmolejo provided West Virginia with a NCAA “B” cut time in his third-place finish at 47.34. The duo of freshman Brad Eichenseer and Martin Vanis were next to swim for the men in the B-finals. Eichenseer finished in first place (48.39) and Vanis finished in third place (49.06).
Freshman Taylor Camp, who has improved drastically throughout the meet, swam in the A-finals of the 200 free, where he finished in eighth place with a time of 1:38.53.
The 100 breast A-finals provided excitement on the pool deck for WVU as junior George Farquhar landed a second-place finish of 54.76. Farquhar was originally seeded fourth in the event. Freshman Jack Greenhalgh had a great performance in the B-finals of the event where he swam to fourth place in 57.10.
Walker, Farquhar, Marmolejo and senior Payton Brooks made up the squad of the 400 medley relay who finished with a very close finish in third place with a time of 3:14.99.
In the diving well, junior Brandon Robinson and freshman Matt O’Neill participated in the three-meter dive. Robinson placed 12th with a score of 261.35, while O’Neill had a score of 239.80 for 15th place.
“Our male divers had an exceptional day on the boards,” Riggs says. “Brandon had the highest placement at the BIG EAST Championships in recent years for WVU.”
For the women, senior Lindsey Largo swam to an impressive first place time of 4:20.64 in the 400 IM B-finals. Largo has continued to impress here in Indianapolis and will look to have a great swim in the mile tomorrow.
In the 100 fly, sophomore Stephanie Shupe brought home West Virginia some much needed points with a swim of 54.52 for sixth place. In the B-finals, sophomore Kayla Andrews broke the school record with a first-place and NCAA “B” cut swim of 53.91. With that time, Andrews broke the school record that Shupe had set in the preliminary swim.
Junior Shaunna Purtell joined Callaway in the finals of the 200 free. Purtell swam to seventh place with a time of 1:49.96. Senior Maritza Paredes swam in the B-finals where she had a time of 1:51.37 for eighth place.
The aforementioned 400 medley relay of Callaway, freshman Jaryn Studer, Shupe and Andrews finished the race in a time of 3:40.59 for third place.
West Virginia will continue their quest for the 2009 BIG EAST Championship in the final day of action tomorrow. To follow the action live you can either follow MSNsportsNET.com’s blog at http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?section=14201 or go to BIGEAST.org.
