School Records Fall at BIG EAST Championships
Feb. 22, 2002
Coral Gables, Fla. – School records fell early for Miami swimming in thefirst day of competition at the 2002 BIG EAST Championships in Uniondale, N.Y.
The Miami women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Manon van Rooijen (Westdorpe,Holland), Erin Johns (Saltsburg, Pa.), Kristy MacLennan (Toronto, Canada) andChristine Williams (Trenton, N.J.) broke the school record with a time of 1:33.41.The previous record for UM was 1:34.10. The Hurricanes finished in second placebehind Notre Dame (1:32.01).
“The 200 free relay really got the team going as we had a tremendous night,”said head swimming coach James Sweeney. “Manon led off the relay with a personalbest and NCAA B qualifying time of 23.22.”
The Hurricane relay team continued their torrid pace by breaking another schoolrecord in the 400-yard medley with a time of 3:47.27. The previous best time was3.47.73. With the mark, UM took third place behind Notre Dame (3.40.98) and Pittsburgh(3:46.64).
Van Rooijen followed up her performances in the relays by winning the 200 IM witha time of 2:02.27. Junior Elaine Schwartz (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) finished third at2:02.39. Both times were the best for the respective swimmers this season.
“Manon really finished this race great and touched out the competition includingteammate Elaine Schwartz who finished third — also in her best time,” saidSweeney. “Both times were also under the NCAA B standard.”
Junior Christine Williams finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a timeof 23.58, just off her personal-best time of 23.32. Erin Johns had lifetime-besttime in 23.90 and finished 12th in the competition.
“In the morning, there was a three-way tie for 16th which Erin won in 23.95,”said Sweeney. “She took full advantage of the opportunity and moved all theway up to 12th in the finals.”
On the men’s side, freshman Joshua Laban (Virgin Islands) had a lifetime-bestin the 50 free with a time of 20.76.
Overall, the Miami women captured second place out of 13 schools in the firstday of the BIG EAST Championships with a total of 173 points behind leader NotreDame at 243. The UM men were 11th with 29 points.
The BIG EAST Championships continue through February 23rd.
For complete meet results, please visit:
http://www.bigeast.org/sports/swimming/
For the latest information on Miami Swimming & Diving visit the UM athleticswebsite at HurricaneSports.com.
