Stevens Takes 2011 ECAC Women's Swimming and Diving Season Warm-Up Championship
Complete Results - All Sessions
East Meadow, N.Y. - Led by record-breaking performances throughout the weekend, Stevens Institute of Technology won both the men’s and women’s team competition at the 2011 ECAC Swimming & Diving Season Warm-Up Championships. The Stevens men’s squad set five ECAC records during the meet, finishing with 1,872 points. The Stevens women won a tightly-contested competition with 1,768 points, as the team title was undecided until the final race of the 40-race program.
At the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y., institutions from all three NCAA divisions spanning the northeast were represented. Stevens junior John Hu and sophomore Louise Moores capped outstanding individual performances by winning men’s and women’s swimmer of the meet awards, respectively. Stevens head coach Trevor Miele and Wagner College head coach Colin Shannahan were honored as the men’s and women’s coaches of the meet, respectively. At the conclusion of the weekend, 22 ECAC swimming and diving meet records were broken.
The Stevens men’s squad opened the championship by sweeping the top four of the Men’s 1650 yard freestyle. Freshman Wesley Elford set a new ECAC meet record by finishing first with a time of 15:39.54. Stevens won seven of the 10 events on Saturday, nearly sweeping the top 10 finishes in the Men 200 Yard Free, placing the first through sixth finishers and adding a ninth place finish. Stevens freshman Nicholas Noga won the event with a time of 1:41.55. The Stevens Men’s 800 yard freestyle relay team of Elford, Noga, Hu, and junior Alex Benham won the event by over 30 seconds, breaking the record set by the 2010 Stevens relay team with a time of 6:46.84.
SUNY New Paltz finished second in the men’s team competition with a score of 955.5, as SUNY Oneonta finished third with a score of 912.5. St. Francis College finished fourth with 635.5 points and Baruch College finished fifth with 572.5 points.
Oneonta sophomore Jermaine Miller won the Men’s Diver of the Meet award after finishing first in the 1-Meter event and second in the 3-Meter event. Oneonta diving coach Mike Martinez won the Coach of the Meet award. Miller’s national qualifying 1-Meter score of 426.15 led the three Oneonta athletes that finished in the top five of the competition. Buffalo State College junior John MacInnes finished second with a score of 386.90, followed by Stony Brook University freshman Kyle Gannon, who finished with a score of 382.95. In the 3-Meter event, Gannon finished first with a score of 429.00. Miller finished second with a score of 378.30, followed by freshman Oneonta teammate John Buckley, who recorded a score of 362.20.
In the women’s competition, Moores recorded two NCAA qualifying times Saturday, setting an ECAC- and school-record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.72. The sophomore continued her record-setting run, eclipsing the NCAA qualifying standard in the 100 yard butterfly as she broke her own school-record and set a new ECAC meet record with a time of 55.58. Stevens freshman Brittany Geyer helped set the pace for the Ducks by breaking two ECAC records during the Saturday evening session; finishing the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:04.85 and the 400 yard IM in 4:31.23. At the end of Saturday’s double session, Stevens held a one-point advantage over Wagner.
On Sunday, Stevens took an eight-point lead over Wagner heading into the final event of the championship by winning the first four events of the session, setting new ECAC records in three of the four races. Geyer broke the 200 yard IM record by two seconds, finishing with a time of 2:07.96. The Ducks put the finishing touches on the Warm-Up Championship, completing a sweep of the session by finishing first in the 400 yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:28.33.
Wagner finished second in the team competition with a final score of 1076.5. New Paltz finished third with 1076.5 points, Oneonta finished fourth with 797.5 points and St. Francis placed fifth with 424.5 points.
In the women’s diving competition, Stony Brook junior Molly Swartz was named the diver of the meet after breaking the ECAC record score for Women’s 1-Meter diving. Stony Brook diving coach Dr. Brian Yodice won the 2011 Diving Coach of the Meet award. Swartz scored a 406.00, surpassing the old record of 383.85 set in 1998. Stony Brook divers also finished second and third, as sophomore Serra Czapala finished with a score of 388.50 and junior Jodie Darnell recorded a score of 338.20. Stony Brook divers also swept the top three spots of the 3-Meter event, as Swartz finished first with a score of 381.60, Darnell placing second with score of 380.75 and Czapala finishing third with a final total of 359.50.
