Marsh Wins Big 12 Title With Record Time
February 26, 2016 11:40 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – On the third day of the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, senior Andrew Marsh won a Big 12 title in the 100 backstroke with a Big 12 Championship-record time to lead the West Virginia University swimming and diving team, in Austin, Texas, today. Along with the Big 12 title, Marsh added a school record time in the 100 butterfly.
Day three was highlighted by Marsh’s record-setting performances, in the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. The Big 12 champion took home the gold in the men’s 100 backstroke, setting a new Big 12 Championship record with a time of 45.41. His performance in the 100 butterfly set a WVU record with a 46.59 in the prelims before a 46.91 in the finals.
Marsh bested the previous record holder in the men’s 100 backstroke, Taylor Hill (Texas ’09), by .24 seconds. Marsh is the first for West Virginia to hold a championship record in any event.
Along with Marsh’s win, WVU added a silver-medal finish in the men’s 200 freestyle relay and three bronze medals, in the 400 individual medley, the 100 breaststroke and the 200 freestyle.
“It was a great night after a very strong prelims,” coach Vic Riggs said. “We're still in a close battle for the team races, but we did our job tonight. (Taylor) Gill and (Nate) Carr led us off with two best times in the 400 individual medley. We then had the start of some very difficult doubles, led by Andrew Marsh in the 100 fly and 100 back, Maggie (Miller) in the same, Amelie (Currat) in the 200 free and 100 back. All of them swam great but Andrew's 100 back victory was special for him and Damion (Dennis, Associate Head Coach). His time is tied for third-fastest in the country and definitely earns a return trip to the NCAA Championships.”
The West Virginia men sit in second place with 566 points, while Texas remains in first with 712 points and TCU is third with 494. The Mountaineer women sit in fourth with 361 points. The UT women lead with 707, Kansas is in second with 434.5, Iowa State sits in third with 396.5 and TCU is fifth with 278.
“We had several very strong consolation final swims as well,” Riggs added “Led by Drew's (Damich) 400 IM and our women's 200 free. Jaimee (Gillmore), Emma (Harris) and Courtney (Miller) swam best times in their events. I believe all of their times are top-10 in programs history. Max (Spencer), Aidan (Fumagalli) and Jake (Iotte) all had very strong swims in the 100 breaststroke. Jay (Hickey) and Merwane (El Merini) both swam best times in the 100 back. The divers did another great job on the boards today. Their efforts are making the difference in the team battle.”
Marsh flew by in the men’s 100 butterfly to advance to the A finals, recording a school record time of 46.59. He beat the previous record held by Bryce Bohman in 2014 (46.76) by 0.17 seconds.
On spring board, senior Lindsay Schmidt advance to the finals on the women’s 3-meter, scoring a career-best 332.30 in the prelims. In the finals, she placed fifth overall with a score of 295.90 and freshman Madelyn Woods placed eighth in the finals (278.20).
“Tonight was a great night for the divers, and I’m thrilled for all of them” said WVU diving coach Michael Grapner. “The freshmen stepped up, and the upper class men did as well, with Alex (Obendorf), Logan (McHenry) and Mike (Proietto) diving as well as I have seen them all year. Lindsay and Maddy (Woods) did a great job today as well. Lindsay hit a new personal best and had an outstanding performance. Maddy achieved her goal of making finals and qualifying for zones. Tomorrow’s tower will be another exciting opportunity for the divers to showcase their hard work and represent as Mountaineers.”
Woods and Austin Smith earned their qualifying marks to compete at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships on March 7-9.
Sophomore Alex Obendorf placed fourth on 3-meter, scoring 360.65, sophomore Logan McHenry placed fifth (352.70) and Michael Proietto placed sixth (326.20).
West Virginia took three top-five finishes in the men’s 100 breaststroke A final, headlined by a bronze medal from senior Max Spencer. Spencer led the Mountaineers, winning bronze with an NCAA B qualifying and season-best time of 54.49, followed by senior Aidam Fumagalli in fourth, also with an NCAA B qualifying time and a career best of 55.22, and senior Jake Iotte in fifth in 55.52.
The Mountaineer men won a bronze medal in the 400 individual medley, thanks to junior Nate Carr. He swam to a third-place finish, touching the wall in a career-best time of 3:45.88 to earn himself an NCAA B qualifying time. Carr improved from his previous-best time by 0.02 seconds. Freshman Drew Damich competed in the B Final, finishing in first (9th overall) with a time of 3:58.70, followed by sophomore James Koval in second in the B final (10th overall) in 3:59.02.
Sophomore Taylor Gill advanced to the A finals of the women’s 400 individual medley where she placed sixth overall with a career-best time of 4:21.13. Racing in the B final, freshman Marah Bieger and sophomore Loren Williams placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Bieger touched the wall in a career-best time of 4:29.19 and Williams finished in 4:32.19 a career best time.
In the women’s 100 butterfly, senior Jaimee Gillmore placed sixth overall with a career-best time of 54.28, an NCAA B qualifying time. Freshman Maggie Miller raced in the B final, placing fifth, 13th overall, in 56.13. Sophomore Celia Martinez placed sixth in the B final (14th overall) with a time of 56.67 and senior Natalie Johnsen finished 16th overall in 57.15.
Senior Andrew Marsh set a WVU school record in the 100 butterfly prelims with a time of 46.59 to advance him to the A final, where he place fifth in the final with a time of 46.91.
Junior Frank Csonka, senior Chase Williams and junior Nathan Howell represented West Virginia in the B final of the 100 butterfly. Csonka finished second (10th overall) with a time of 48.42, Williams finished third (12th overall) in 49.61 and Howells placed sixth (15th overall) in 50.84.
The Mountaineer women had Amelie Currat advance to the A final in the 200 freestyle, placing seventh with a time of 1:50.20. Freshman Georiga Baldus, senior Kelsey Frantz, juniors Emma Skelley and Mackenzie Braden and freshman Sydnee Karam all raced in the B final.
Senior Ross Glegg took a top-three finish in the men’s 200 freestyle A final, placing third to win a bronze medal with a season-best time of 1:37.02, an NCAA B qualifying time. Sophomore Chris McMahon placed eighth overall in the A final with a season-best time of 1:40.40.
The women’s 100 breaststroke A final saw freshman Emma Harris finish in seventh place with a career-best time of 1:02.68.
West Virginia notched three top-six finishes in the men’s 100 backstroke with Marsh winning the gold, Jay Hickey with a fourth place finish and Merwane El Merini in sixth. Hickey touched the wall in a best-time of 49.79, and Merini touched in 49.89. The B final saw Fernando Duenas in night overall with a time of 51.37.
To conclude the third day of competition, both the WVU men and women’s 200 freestyle relay teams earned top-four finishes. The men’s team of Marsh, Glegg, Carr and Merwane won a silver medal, touching the wall in 1:18.73. The women’s team of Gilmore, Baldus, Maggie Miller and Currat placed fourth in1:33.54.
Prelims and finals continue tomorrow with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and the men and women’s platform diving. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. ET, followed by the men’s platform finals at 5:50 ET and the swimming finals at 7 p.m. ET. Live stats and live video can be found on the swimming and diving schedule page on WVUsports.com. Additional championship information is available at Big12sports.com.
SWIM: Paper Airplane Competition
Wednesday, February 11
SWIM: Villanova/Duquesne Recap
Monday, January 26
SWIM: 50 Freestyle Race with a Twist
Wednesday, December 10
SWIM: Loyola (Md.) Recap
Wednesday, November 05
