Feb. 27, 2009
FAIRFAX, Va. -- It was another record setting day for the Old Dominion men's and women's swimming and diving squads at the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships. On day three action, three CAA champions were crowned, a pair of NCAA "B" cut times were swam, and seven ODU and a pair CAA records were reset.
The men's team still remains in the second place behind seven-time defending CAA champion UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks remain in the top spot with 469 points followed by the Monarchs with 400 points scored. William & Mary is in third with 333 points.
The women's team is in sixth place heading into the final day of competition on Saturday. Defending league champion Towson leads the way with 471 points followed by host George Mason in second with 370 points and William & Mary in third with 367 points. Old Dominion has collected 233.5 points through 30 events.
Arni Arnason (Msfellsbaer, Iceland), who yesterday won the 50 free with NCAA "B" cut time, did it again this time in the 100 breast. Arnason logged a time of 53.48, not only laying claim to an NCAA "B" cut time, but also resetting the ODU and CAA record. A pair of Monarchs also participated with Arnason inthe 100 breast final. Johan Lundberg (Fjaras, Sweden) finished third in the event posting a time of 55.53 with Phillip Brooks (Smithfield, Va.) taking seventh clocking in at 57.65.
Chad Gangwer (Va. Beach, Va.) became the CAA champion in the 200 free registering a time of 1.28:72 obliterating the ODU school record by nearly 10 seconds. Gangwer resets the previous record of 1:38.26 set by Aaron Thomas in 1991. Steven Loccisano (Fredericksburg, Va.) joined Gangwer in the finals heat coming in sixth with a time of 1:40.69. Loccisano sees his name placed among the top 10 finishes in ODU history with the eighth fastest Monarch time in the 200 free.
April Barrientos (Va. Beach, Va.) gave the Old Dominion its first CAA champion of the women's side. Barrientos recorded a new CAA mark with her top time of 55.48 in the backstroke. Her time was also a new ODU record, resetting her previous record of 56.62 captured last season.
Agata Nowak (Gorzow, Poland), the ODU record holder in the 100 fly, placed second in the event en-route to an NCAA "B" cut and another ODU record. Nowak finished in a time of 54.09 resetting her own Lady Monarch record. Nowak had swam to a 56.65 finish earlier in the year against UNC-Wilmington to reset the 25-year old Lady Monarch record.
Other top eight finishes included Maddie Stiles (Fairfax, Va.) on the women's side and Bryan Russell (Prince George, Va.), Kristian Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden), and Kevin Latimer (Newport News, Va.) on the men's side in the 400 IM. Stiles placed sixth with her time of 4:23.87, besting her preliminary time by four and a half seconds and nearly resetting the ODU record. Stiles swam her way to the second fastest time in the event in ODU history just missing the record by .26 seconds. Russell took fourth in a time of 4:01.01 followed by Ramkvist in fifth with a finish of 4:01.50. Latimer took seventh hitting the wall with a time of 4:01.93. All Monarchs had their names placed among the top 10 all-time ODU times in the 400 IM.
Erla Haraldsdottir (Njardvik, Iceland) took third in the 100 breast. The 2008 Icelandic Olympian finished the event in a time of 1:02.67 setting another ODU benchmark. Haraldsdottir reset her own record of 1:03.24 captured earlier this season.
Mikael Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden) took sixth in the 100 back registering a time of 50.69. Ramkvist bested his personal best by .28 seconds.
In relay action, both the men's and women's 400 medley teams recorded new top times in Old Dominion record books. The women's squad of Barrientos, Haraldsdottir, Nowak, and Stiles came in third with a time of 3:45.36, besting the previous Lady Monarchs benchmark of 3:52.65 set last season. On the men's side, the 400 medley squad of Mikael Ramkvist, Arnason, Lundberg, and Gangwer took second logging a tiem of 3:17.75, nearly five seconds better than the former Monarch record set last season.
In diving action, Jasmine Moore (Yorktown, Va.) finished in 11th place on the 1-meter. The senior Lady Monarch collected a score of 215.85.
The fourth and final day of the 2009 CAA Swimming and Diving Championships take place tomorrow with the league champion being crown following action in the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly 400 free relay, and men's 3-meter diving.
CAA Championship Team Scores - Through Day Three
Women - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 TOWSON UNIVERSITY SWIMMING TOWS 471 2 GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY GMU 370 3 WILLIAM AND MARY W&M 367 4 UNC-WILMINGTON UNCW 319.5 5 JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY JMU 293 6 OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ODU 233.5 7 DELAWARE DEL 224 8 NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY NU 176 9 DREXEL UNIVERSITY DREX 112 Men - Team Scores Place School Points =================================================================== 1 UNC-WILMINGTON UNCW 469 2 OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ODU 400 3 WILLIAM AND MARY W&M 333 4 DELAWARE DEL 319 5 GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY GMU 303.5 6 DREXEL UNIVERSITY DREX 222 7 TOWSON UNIVERSITY SWIMMING TOWS 180.5