Nov. 18, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Four Old Dominion swimmers made the finals in day one competition at the 2010 Janis Hape Dowd Nike Cup at Koury Natatorium.
The ODU men sit in sixth place overall (65.5 points) with host North Carolina leading the competition with 455.5 points followed by the Naval Academy (250 points) and South Carolina (231 points).
The ODU women are currently seventh after day one competition (67 points) with host North Carolina leading the way with 452 points followed by South Carolina (180 points) and Duke (157 points).
Beijing Olympians juniors Arni Arnason (Mosfellsbaer, Iceland) and Erla Haraldsdottir (Njardvik, Iceland) were both finalists in the 200 IM. Arnason captured his fifth ODU record as he finished in 2nd place with a time of 1:49.53, only .28 seconds away from an NCAA "B" cut time. Haraldsdottir placed eighth in the 200 IM finals clocking in at a time of 2:04.55
Another trio of ODU swimmers reached the consolation finals of the 200 IM. Senior Josh Kinas (Reston, Va.) placed 19th overall (1:54.82), while on the women's side sophomore Kimberly Rasleigh (Sydney, Australia) claimed 10th place (2:04.35) and junior Maddie Stiles (Fairfax, Va.) swam to a 15th place showing (2:08.01).
Also reaching the finals on day one action were a pair of Monarchs in the 50 free. Freshman Sidni Hoxha (Tirane, Albania) tied for second in the event. Hoxha's time of 20:32 was a mere .04 seconds off an NCAA "B" cut time and was the second fastest time in Monarch history. Freshman Malin Ekstrand (Halmstad, Sweden) took eighth and was also close to an NCAA "B" time. Ekstrand hit the wall in 23.82, .80 seconds off the "B" cut, and placed her name third in the all-time record books.
Four Monarchs reached the consolation finals of the 500 free. For the women, sophomore Danielle Naylor (Swinton, Englan) took 13th overall (4:57.71), while freshman Abby Vance (Raleigh, N.C.) placed 17th (4:56.63). On the men's side, freshman Daniel Camozzo (Herndon, Va.) swam to a 22nd place finish (4:33.80) immediately followed by sophomore Jason Brame (Lynchburg, Va.) in 2nd (4:35.55).
In relay action, the ODU men placed fifth in the 200 free relay. Arnason, freshman Andrew Crockett (Toano, Va.), junior Ryan Peart (Fort Washington, Pa.), and Hoxha combined for a time of 1:23.15.
The Monarchs and Lady Monarchs return to the pool tomorrow for day two action at the Nike Cup.