Miami Women Third and Men 12th After First Day Of 2003 BIG EAST Championship

Feb. 20, 2003

Complete Results

East Meadow, N.Y. – The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming & diving team is in first place with a score of 176 after 11 events at the 2003 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships. The University of Pittsburgh men’s swimming & diving team is out in front of men’s competition with a score of 227.

In the first event of the evening, Notre Dame’s Katie Eckholt, Danielle Hulick, Heide Hendrick and Kristen Peterson won the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:33.21. In the men’s 200 yard freestyle relay, the Rutgers team of Matt Campbell, Mike Kush, Ivan Morse and Ryan Campbell edged out the victory with a time of 1:20.12.

In the women’s 500 yard freestyle, Virginia Tech sophomore Becky Koch, who set a BIG EAST Championship record and posted an NCAA A Cut in the prelims, rewrote the record books one more time in the final. Koch bettered her mark set earlier in the day by over two seconds, posting a winning time of 4:42.19. Rutgers freshman Kelly Harrigan finished second in the event with a NCAA A Cut time of 4:43.69. The men’s 500 yard freestyle was won Pittsburgh’s Eric Limkemann with a time of 4:23.16.

Notre Dame’s Lisa Garcia established a new BIG EAST Championship record, winning he 200 yard IM with a time of 2:01.21. Garcia edged out Pittsburgh’s Carolyne Savini (2:01.68) as both swimmers posted NCAA B Cut qualifying times. Virginia Tech junior Joey Piekarski finished first in the men’s 200 yard IM with a time of 1:49.57, just ahead of Pittsburgh’s Kenny Shelhorse (1:49.57).

In the 50 yard freestyle, Rutgers’s Matt Campbell broke the BIG EAST Championship record that he set earlier in the day in the prelims, finishing first with a time of 19.79. Notre Dame’s Danielle Hulick took the women’s 50 yard freestyle with a time of 22.93.

Miami continued its dominance in the men’s One-Meter Diving competition as sophomore Miguel Velazqeuz earned the victory with a score of 347.10. The win is Miami’s 11th straight BIG EAST title in the One-Meter Diving event. Miami’s Katie Beth Bryant repeated as champion in the women’s in the Three-Meter Diving event with a total of 507.76.

In the final events of the evening, the women’s 400 yard medley the Rutgers team of Kelly Harrigan, Katie Kuczmarski, Michelle DeFreese, and Casmera Wick finished first with a time of 3:42.25. The Virginia Tech team of Steve Tozer, Kevin Furlong, Anders Frahm and Chris Lindberg closed out Day One in style, breaking the BIG EAST Championship record in the men’s 400 yard medley relay, finishing first with a time of 3:15.24.

The 2003 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships resumes tomorrow at 10:30 am at the Goodwill Games Pool in East Meadow, N.Y.

Men’s Team Scores

Women’s Team Scores