Feb. 27, 2010
FAIRFAX, Va. -- The 2010 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Swimming & Diving Championsihps came to a close on Saturday with the ODU men finishing fourth and the ODU women taking sixth. The Monarchs crowned CAA Champions in the 200 breast (Arni Arnason) and 200 back (Mikael Ramkvist).
UNC-Wilmington won its ninth straight title on the men's side with 705 points over the four-day championship. Host George Mason took second (633), followed by Delaware in third (542.5), and the Monarchs in fourth with 498 total points.
Towson was crowned the CAA champion on the women's side totaling 792 points in the conference championship. UNC-Wilmington took second (633.5) with James Madison taking third (533). The Lady Monarchs collected 298.5 points in their sixth place finish.
The 1650 free opened the final day of action at the conference championships. For the women, freshman Danielle Naylor (Swinton, England) took a ninth place time of 16:59.47, while the Monarchs' freshman Jason Brame (Lynchburg, Va.) took home a sixth place finish in a time of 16:03.12. Naylor's time placed her third on the Lady Monarchs' top 10 times list, while Brame put his name ninth on the all-time list. Kris Hagg (Skovde, Sweden) was also among the top 16 in the event, placing 12th with his time of 16:21.48.
In the 200 back, ODU crowned another CAA Champion. Junior Mikael Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden) won the event hitting the wall with a first place time of 1:48.60. Sophomore April Barrientos (Va. Beach, Va.), the two-time 100 back champion, swam to a fifth place finish in the 200 back clocking in at 2:02.10, besting her personal top time and landing second on the Lady Monarchs fastest times in the event.
The 100 free finals featured senior Chad Gangwer (Va. Beach, Va.) taking eighth place with his time of 46.21. Junior Steven Loccisano (Fredericksburg, Va.) notched a 16th place finish in the event logging a time of 47.44.
The 200 breast saw a pair of Lady Monarchs in the finals. Sophomore Erla Haraldsdottir (Njardvik, Iceland) earned her third NCAA "B" cut time of the championships with her time of 2:13.46. Her performance also gave her another ODU record. Junior Lauren Fiskus (Yorktown, Va.) placed seventh in the 200 breast finals with her time of 2:20.15, besting her previous personal best and giving her the second fastest time in the Lady Monarch logs.
The 200 breast saw Arni Arnason (Msfellsbaer, Iceland) crowned the men's champion for the second straight year. Arnason swam his way to an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:59.32. Two other Monarchs were also featured in the 200 breast finals. Junior Josh Kinas (Reston, Va.) took sixth in a time of 2:04.12 and freshman Jobin Bahminipour (San Diego, Calif.) came in seventh in a time of 2:05.29, placing his name among the 10 best performances in ODU history. Seniors Johan Lundberg (Fjaras, Sweden) and Kristian Ramkvist (Bjarred, Sweden) swam in the consolation finals. Lunberg finished ninth (2:05.01) followed by Ramkvist in 10th (2:05.06).
Freshman Jessica Hubert (Newport News, Va.) reached the finals of the 200 fly for the women. Hubert raced to a time of 2:04.44 to place eighth. Earlier in the day, Hubert collected a prelim time of of 2:02.96, setting a new Lady Monarch record. Sophomore Maddie Stiles (Fairfax, Va.) placed 10th in the consolation heat with a time of 2:03.56. Classmate Ashley Lushsinger (Va. Beach, Va.) also swam in the consolation finals finishing in 16th with her time of 2:06.28.
On the men's side, senior Kevin Latimer (Newport News, Va.) made the consolation finals of the 200 fly taking 15th with a time of 1:53.91.
Men's 3 meter diving saw junior David Skorupa (Richmond, Va.) a top of the consolation final. Skorupa scored a 306.00 in the finals after scoring just a 176.05 in the prelims earlier in the day.
Competition came to a close with 400 free relay. The women's squad of sophomore Emma Forbes (Peekskill, N.Y.), Maddie Stiles, freshman Carrie Goodman, and senior Agata Nowak (Gorzow, Poland) placed seventh with a time of 3:29.13. The ODU men's team of Arni Arnason, Mikael Ramkvist, sophomore Ryan Peart (Fort Washington, Pa.) and Chad Gangwer wrapped up the championship with a fourth place time of 3:03.95.