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Day Four Complete at America East Swimming and Diving Championships
Orono, Maine - Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams placed fifth at the 2007-2008 America East Championship. Courtney Healey and Colleen Miller led the women's team, while Jeremy Bender and Cully Wakelin were the top performers for the men. Before the final session of the championships got underway, the America East held their Senior Recognition Ceremony, honoring each team's senior swimmers and divers. Among those honored from Maine were divers Keith Burgie, Lauren Cassidy, and Isaac Forbes, and swimmers Dustin Carrier, Candace Coville, Mike Goede, Kiki O'Donnell, and Dan Thornton. FINALS Colleen Miller broke her own school record in the 1650 yard freestyle after swimming a 17:24.38. Miller finished fifth in the championship final, her second fifth place finish of the weekend. Jeremy Bender jumped up one spot from his 1650 yard freestyle seed and finished seventh overall in a time of 16:28.49. The seventh place finish gives Bender his second top eight finish for the weekend.
In the consolation final, Mimi Chovanec cut over five seconds off of her prelim time of 2:14.81 to finish first in the heat at 2:09.65. Chovanec trailed Vermont's Stephanie Tomlin for the first 150 yards, but propelled herself to victory with a quick turn on the last wall, powering past Tomlin to victory. Courtney Healey held tight with Rachel Lesslie of UMBC and Lyndsi Worthington of Binghamton in a battle for fourth place overall. With less than 25 yards to go, Lesslie used her last push to grab a hold of fourth place, while Worthington managed to out-touch Healey for fifth. Healey's time of 2:10.52 makes her the sixth fastest 200 yard backstroke in the America East. Kevin Staples, Jamie Young, and Chase Filaroska gave chase to Jeff Wurm of BU in the men's 200 yard backstroke consolation, eventually finishing 14th, 15th, and 16th respectively. Staples finished in 2:02.18, Young in 2:03.99, and Filaroska 2:05.56. Kari Boffa finished fifth in the women's 100 yard freestyle consolation final in a time of 54.84. In the final 50 yards Boffa held off a late surge from Allyce Brand of Binghamton, finishing thirteenth overall. In his second nail biting finish of the day, Cully Wakelin was out-touched by two Bearcats and a Seawolf, finishing sixth overall in the 100 yard freestyle in a time of 47.05. For Wakelin, the sixth place finish is three spots better than last year's ninth place finish. Megan McLean finished fourth in the consolation finals of the 200 yard breaststroke in a time of 2:27.62, good for 12th overall in the conference. Erin Little finished 16th overall in 2:32.70. Dustin Carrier and Brian Smith squared off in the consolation final of the 200 yard breaststroke. Smith touched right behind Carrier, who finished fifth in 2:18.01, at 2:18.49. Five Black Bears met in the consolation finals of the 200 yard butterfly. Meag Fisher jumped out to a quick lead in the first 50 yards, completing her second turn in 28.91. Fisher held her lead through the 100 yard mark at 1:01.18, with Mackenzie Grobmyer close on her trail. Grobmyer over took Fisher at the 150 yard mark, splitting at 1:35.97. In the final 25 yards however, Brittany Detlef of Binghamton powered past Grobmyer, winning the consolation final in 2:10.48. Adi Levy finished second at 2:10.81, Grobmyer third (2:10.92), and Kerstin Fenton finished fourth in 2:12.09. Fisher finished sixth (2:15.09) and Nissa Marione finished eighth (2:18.17). David LaMarche did all he could to take down Timothy Dosch of Stony Brook, but Dosch outlasted Lamarche for fifth place. Lamarche ended with a sixth place finish in 2:07.15, while Zach Cravens came in seventh (2:09.68), and Kyle Thornton earned an eighth place finish (2:18.61). The women's 400 yard freestyle relay team consisting of Miller, Boffa, Fenton, and Sarah Knight finished sixth in a time of 3:36.85. For the men, Wakelin, Staples, John Quinn, and Mike Goede placed fifth, touching the final wall at 3:14.61. PRELIMS In the 200 yard backstroke, Maine had three women competing. Erica Simpson swam a 2:16.31 in the second heat of prelims. Mimi Chovanec and Courtney Healey faced off in the final heat of prelims, where Healey put up at 2:10.13, good for a fifth place seed in tonight's finals. Chovanec finished in 2:14.81, which was good enough to qualify for the consolation finals tonight with a 16th place seed. The men will send three swimmers to the 200 yard backstroke consolation final tonight. Jamie Young will lead the Black Bears with a 14th place seed, after swimming a 2:01.99 in the prelims. He will be joined by Kevin Staples and Chase Filaroska. Kari Boffa will return to a consolation final tonight, where she will swim the 100 yard freestyle. Boffa posted a 54.59 in the fourth heat of prelims, which seeded her 15th overall. Cully Wakelin brought his A-game to the men's 100 yard freestyle. In a race where Wakelin almost took down last night's 200 yard freestyle (and defending 100 yard freestyle) champion Justin Bronson of UMBC, he posted a 46.97, good for a fourth place seed in tonight's championship final. Six women competed in the 200 yard breaststroke. In the third heat Erin Little poured it on in the last 50 yards to win in a time of 2:30.40. Megan McLean posted a time of 2:28.00 in the fourth heat. Caitlin Shelley and Lily Herbold met in the sixth prelim heat, where Shelley posted a 2:30.62 and Herbold swam a 2:32.54. McLean (9th) and Little (15th) will meet again in the consolation final tonight. Brian Smith and Dustin Carrier were Maine's representatives in the 200 yard breaststroke. Carrier is now seeded 13th overall after finishing in 2:17.97, and Smith sits in 14th place with a 2:20.02. Mackenzie Grobmyer posted the top time for Maine in the 200 yard butterfly at 2:10.59, which seeds her tenth overall for tonight's consolation final. Kerstin Fenton was the next best for Maine at 2:12.41, while Adi Levy swam a 2:12.87 and Meag Fisher posted a 2:14.68. Nissa Marione touched her final wall at 2:16.19, which qualified her for the consolation final at 16th seed. Marione will be joined by Grobmyer (10th), Fenton (11th), Levy (12th), and Fisher (14th), in the consolation final tonight. In the final event of the prelims, Zach Cravens, David LaMarche, and Kyle Thornton competed in the 100 yard butterfly. Cravens (2:06.86), Lamarche (2:06.97), and Thornton (2:12.06) will meet again in the consolation final tonight. The final team scores for the 2007-2008 America East Championships are listed below. The University of Maine men's and women's swim team will return to action at the ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh, PA on February 29 to March 2, 2008. WOMEN 1. UMBC -- 741 2. BU -- 685 3. UNH -- 628.50 4. Vermont -- 462.50 5. Maine -- 370.50 6. Binghamton -- 302.50 7. Stony Brook -- 205 MEN 1. UMBC -- 929 2. BU -- 749 3. Binghamton -- 707 4. Stony Brook -- 459 5. Maine -- 282 |
