Jan. 25, 2012
Norfolk, Va. - Old Dominion's men's and women's swimming & diving teams will be holding their final dual meet of the 2011-12 season and honoring their six seniors as they take on the Towson University Tigers this Saturday at the JC "Scrap" Chandler Pool in the Student Recreation Center. The Senior Day ceremony will begin at 12:45 p.m.
The schedule for the meet Saturday is as follows:
9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - Diving Meet Warm-up
10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - Diving Competition Begins (1 Board Only)
11:00 - 12:45 p.m. - Swimming Meet Warm-up
12:45 p.m. - ODU Senior Day Ceremony
1:00 p.m. - Swimming Competition Begins
Approx. 2:00 p.m. - Break -
Diving Competition Resumes (2nd Board)Swimming Resumes
The six seniors being honor at Saturday's final home meet are Birkir Jonsson and Arni Arnason on the men's side and Kelsey Thompson, Madeline Stiles, Erla Haraldsdottir, and Emma Forbes on the women's side.
The men's and women's team are both coming off a busy last weekend where they competed in a quad meet against George Mason, American, and Army, as well as took on NYU and Montclair State. The Lady Monarchs swept the competition at the quad meet and the Monarchs took two out of three, defeating American and CAA rival George Mason.
Entering Saturday's competition against the Tigers, the women stand at 7-5 overall and the men hold a 7-2 record on the season.
Last weekend, the ODU women were lead by freshman Yesim Giresunlu in the distance events. She posted top times in the 1650 freestyle (17:18.21) and 500 freestyle (5:06.26) at the quad meet. The Lady Monarchs also swept the butterfly events with junior Ashley Luchsinger hitting the wall first in the 100 butterfly (57.86) and fellow classmate Jessica Hubert earning a victory in the 200 butterfly (2:06.63).
Five-time CAA Swimmer of the Week Arni Arnason continued his impressive season by posting the top times in the 100 breaststroke (55.45), 200 breaststroke (2:00.43), and 200 freestyle (1:39.07) in the quad. The senior also had a trio of victories against NYU and Montclair State, winning in the 50 freestyle (20.99), the 100 freestyle (46.23), and the 100 breaststroke (55.31).
In diving, senior Kelsey Thompson placed second on the 1 meter scoring 214.20 points, just .55 points shy of the top position in the Lady Monarchs victory over Army, American, and George Mason.
The Towson women, the four-time CAA champions, are coming off of a pair of dual meets where they defeated UMBC, 164-136, and Loyola, 230-70, improving their season record to 8-1. The men defeated Loyola, 154-140, but fell to UMBC, 171-114, bringing their record to 3-6.
Following this weekend's competition with the Tigers, the Monarchs and Lady Monarch swimming & diving teams will be traveling to Fairfax, VA to compete in the CAA Championships, which will be hosted by George Mason, Feb. 22-25.