Feb. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - The American University men's and women's swimming and diving teams currently sit in sixth and seventh place, respectively, at the Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships after Day Two at Navy's Lejeune Hall. The two teams combined for six individual scorers on Friday highlighted by sophomore Matt Pelletier's second-place finish in the 100 back.
Pelletier recorded AU's highest prelim finish on Friday in the 100 back, placing second in a time of 51.90 to advance to the finals. Pelletier's prelim time represented a then personal record and earned him a spot on AU's all-time top-10 list at ninth. Pelletier again swam to a second-place finish in the finals, topping his prelim time with a 51.27. Pelletier's finals time moved him from ninth to seventh on the school's all-time list and was the highest finish of his career at the PL Championships. The sophomore finished behind only Mark Kawczenski of Bucknell, who won the event in 49.99.
Meghan Thiel placed fourth with a time of 1:53.32 in the 200 free prelim to advance to her fourth-consecutive PL finals in the event. Thiel again placed fourth in the finals with a time of 1:52.96. Navy's Tara Chapmon, who set a new PL record in the prelim, finished the event in a winning time of 1:48.82, breaking the record she set earlier in the day.
Joe Coronato advanced to the finals of the men's 200 free with a prelim time of 1:42.50 which placed him eighth. Coronato topped his prelim time by more than a second to finish fourth in the finals with a time of 1:41.43. That time moved Coronato into 10th place on AU's all-time list. Lehigh's Daniel Johnson won the event, finishing the course in 1:39.69.
Dorothy Isaacs, who placed second in yesterday's 50 free championship in an AU record time of 23.79, earned a place in the 100 breast final on Friday with a seventh-place time of 1:06.71 in the prelim. Isaacs prelim time bested her previous personal record of 1:08.07 and moved her from ninth to fifth on AU's all-time top-10 list. Isaacs improved on that time in the finals with a fourth-place finish and time of 1:06.04, moving her to fourth on AU's all-time list. Emily Murphy of Colgate won the event in 1:04.29.
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Dan Nagelberg recorded a fourth-place finish and time of 4:04.23 in the 400 IM prelim to advance to the finals. Nagelberg's prelim time represented a new personal best and the 10th best time in school history. In the finals Nagelberg again bested himself, posting a time of 4:03.29 to place fifth. Nagelberg's new personal record set in the finals did not improve his standing on AU's all-time list. Navy's Billy Vey won the event with a 3:59.53.
Mary-Margaret Lopez placed eighth in the 100 fly prelim to earn the first PL finals appearance of her career. Her prelim time of 58.60 nearly equaled her personal best of 58.16 which stands as the fifth fastest time in school history. Lopez improved by one place in the finals Friday evening, finishing seventh with a time of 58.91. Erin McGraw of Colgate won the 100 fly championship in 55.75.
Jessica Balance missed qualifying for the finals of the 100 back by less than two one-hundredths of a second with a ninth-place time of 1:00.32 in the prelim. Balance's prelim time set a new personal record for the freshman and put her at ninth on AU's top-10. In the consolation final Balance swam a 1:00.36 for second place, 10th overall.
Eleanor Clay also advanced into Friday's second session, placing 11th in the 100 breast prelim. Clay's time of 1:07.59 earned her a berth into the consolation finals and eighth place on AU's all-time list. Clay placed third in the consolation finals, 11th overall, with a time of 1:07.65.
Michael DiDonato earned a place in the consolation final of the men's 100 breast with a personal best time of 1:00.41 for 12th place in the prelim. DiDonato placed fifth in the consolation final, 13th overall, in 1:00.57.
The men's and women's 200 medley relay teams also earned AU team points with finishes of sixth and eighth, respectively. The men's team of Pelletier, DiDonato, Eric Sveum and Brian Galm completed the course in 1:36.35 while Balance, Alison Katsigiannis, Melinda Gilbert and Julia Anstadt combined on the women's side for a time of 1:53.69.
In the 800 free relay, the men's team took fifth and the women's team third. The men's team, comprised of Nagelberg, Coronato, Jonathan Bateman and Frank Carbone, posted a time of 7:00.08. The women's team of Thiel, Clay, Lopez and Isaacs combined for a finishing time of 7:45.00.
After Day Two of the PL Championships the men's team is in sixth place with 203 points. Navy is currently atop the men's competition with 565 points. The women's team sits in seventh place with 196 points while Colgate leads the competition with 489 points.
The PL Swimming and Diving Championships will conclude tomorrow at Lejeune Hall. Preliminary events are scheduled to begin 10:30 a.m. with the finals set to begin at 6 p.m. Click here for live results of each event throughout the day.
