Hurricanes Swimmers/Divers Defeat FIU in Local Meet
Oct. 18, 2008
Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami swimming & diving team captured an unprecedented 20 top three times/scores on Friday and Saturday to blow past local foe FIU, 150-68, at the Norman A. Whitten Student Union Pool on Saturday afternoon in Coral Gables, Fla.
Miami (3-2) started things off sweeping the diving events (1-meter, 3-meter) on Friday afternoon and continued that scoring outburst on Saturday. Overall, the Hurricanes accounted for nine first place finishes in the 13-event format.
“We put some girls in events they normally don’t swim, and we still got some very positive results,” expressed third-year head swimming coach Christie Shefchunas.
Miami started things off Friday with 2008 NCAA Champion and All-America performer Brittany Viola taking first place in the 1-meter diving, scoring 305.55. Behind her was freshman Kelci Bryant with a score of 301.13, and Jenna Dreyer coming in third with 301.13. That trend continued in the 3-meter diving event as Dreyer took top honors scoring a season-high 353.63. Bryant again was second (327.83) and Viola finished third (267.90).
All three divers are now qualified for the Zone `B’ Championships in both the 1-meter and 3-meter event.
The `Canes 200-yard Medley relay squad, comprised of Katie Eason, Dana Hatic, Erin Simpson and Lauren Jacoby, picked up a first place time of 1:50.43 to start off the day’s event. Eason had a season-best performance in the backstroke portion with a split of 27.92.
FIU’s Regina Mayer took first place in the 1000 yard freestyle for the Golden Panthers, while UM’s Cori Lallier and Tiffany Petzold came in second and third, respectively.
However, the `Canes swept the top three spots in the 200-yard Freestyle. Ryann Labreche competed in the 200-yard Freestyle for the first time all season as she collected a first place time of 1:54.35. Behind her was Britta Boesing pulling in a mark of 1:54.87, also in her first 200 Free of the year. Elisabeth Torres was third with a mark of 2:00.89, marking all three top three finishes with three performers competing in the first 200 Free of the year.
Annika Saarnak was the top performer in the 50-yard Freestyle as she collected a time of 23.95–a season-best mark for the sophomore from Estonia. Freshman Hagar Elgendy was second for the event with a 25.38 time. Meredith Hatic finished fourth (26.31) to round out the scoring for the Hurricanes.
First place time 2:10.60 was collected by Eason in the 200-yard IM, while Saarnak (57.89) and Simpson (59.64) had the top two times in the 100-yard Butterfly. It was the first time all year the `Canes had participated in the 100 Fly.
Participating in the 100-yard Freestyle were UM’s Torres and Elgendy. Torres had a winning time of 54.59, and Elgendy–a freshman from Alexandria, Egypt, had a time of 54.74 for second place. Sarah Lozier finished fifth (57.10), and Petzold was seventh (57.33).
Boesing was the top performer in the 100-yard Backstroke as she collected a time of 59.13. Meredith Hatic finished fourth for the `Canes as she pulled in a mark of 1:03.93.
The Orange and Green once again had the top two times in the 500-yard Freestyle with Labreche (5:05.46) leading the way, as teammate Jacoby (5:06.33) followed suit. Nicole Wright (5:41.03) also took part for Miami in the event.
In the final event, it was Dana Hatic having the top mark of 1:05.56 in the 100-yard Breaststroke, while Sagette Van Embden (1:10.23) was fifth.
“If we just continue to work hard each day at practice, then the results will continue to show every time we come to the pool for a meet,” added Shefchunas. “I am just so proud of the way we are getting so much better, and the way we are performing this year. I really see great things coming for this program.”
The `Canes travel to Duke University next weekend, Oct. 25 for another head-to-head ACC match-up. For more information, please log on to the official athletic website for the Hurricanes at www.hurricanesports.com.
