Sept. 14, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. -- Catch your first glimpse of the 2012-13 Old Dominion men's and women's swimming & diving teams in the annual Blue-Gray Intrasquad at 9 a.m. at the J.C. "Scrap" Chandler Pool in the Student Recreation Center.
The ODU swimming & diving squads will have four home meets this season including Richmond and UNC-W on October 12th-13th, the Pod Meet with George Mason, Northeastern, and Towson on November 2rd-3rd, George Washington and Rutgers on December 1st, and William & Mary on January 26th.
The men's team returns several key members including junior Olympian Sidni Hoxha, distance swimmer Bernardo Figueredo, and All-Conference swimmer Jason Haigh.
Hoxha, representing his native Albania at the 2012 London Olympics, swam to a first place finish in heat #3 in a time of 51.11, .33 seconds ahead of Kevin Avila Soto of Guatemala for the top time of the heat and 37th overall. The 2011 Rookie of the Year, Hoxha earned a pair of All-CAA honors last season as the champion in the 50 freestyle and with a second place finish in the 100 freestyle. In the 50 free, Hoxha captured a new ODU benchmark and NCAA "B" cut time of 19.71 becoming the second ever Monarch to come in under the 20-second mark in the event, while he tied the school record of 44.31 in the 100 freestyle.
Figueredo earned All-CAA accolades in the distance events with a pair of third-place finishes and ODU record setting times in the 1650 and 500 freestyle. He collected a time of 15:23.90 in the 1650 freestyle resetting a mark that had stood since 1999 and swam to a record time of 4:26.34 in the 500 freestyle.
Haigh earned All-Conference accolades in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The sophomore Monarch captured a personal best of 55.80 in finishing the 100 breaststroke in third place, putting his name third all-time in the Monarch record books. He also earned All-CAA in the 200 breaststroke with a third place time of 2:01.30 and the second fastest time in ODU history behind Arnason.
Junior Andrew Crockett also picked up a trio of All-CAA selections in the relay events. Crockett helped the 400 medley relay race to an NCAA "B" cut time of 3:16.01 and new ODU record for the CAA title, while he placed second with the 200 medley relay with a new ODU record of 1:29.33. He also helped the Monarch swim to a third place finish in a time off 3:01.38 in the 400 freestyle relay.
On the women's side, the Lady Monarchs return a pair of All-Conference performers in senior Kimberley Rashleigh and sophomore Yesim Giresunlu.
Rashleigh earned a pair of all-conference honors with NCAA "B" cut times coming in the 400 individual medley and 200 backstroke. Rashleight swam to a time of 4:17.20 for a second place finish in the individual medley while she bested her own school record by .32 seconds with her time of 1:58.54 to take second place in the backstroke.
Giresunlu picked up All-CAA accolades in the 1650 freestyle in her first appearance at the conference championships. She had a third place third place finish in the event setting a new ODU benchmark by three seconds with her time of 16:42.59.
Following Saturday's intrasquad, the Monarchs and Lady Monarchs will return to the pool to host Richmond and UNC-W in a two-day meet beginning on October 12th.