Gators Start Strong at NCAC's

Feb 14, 2008

NCAC Championships Website
Men's Updated Season Bests List (.pdf) | Women's Updated Season Bests List (.pdf)

CANTON, Ohio – Twenty three Allegheny College swimmers, 11 from the women’s squad and a dozen from the men's, set career bests during the first morning of competition at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, hosted at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. The Gators set themselves up well for the finals tonight, sending ten women and five men swimmers, along with four relays to the finals in their events.

The Gators opened the meet by qualifying for the #2 spot in the finals with a season-best time in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the team of Ashley Whitehead (Meadville, Pa./Meadville), Carolyn Nairn (Denver, Colo./Brownell Talbot, Neb.), Katie Scherry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River), and Megan Knox (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) finished in a time of 1:39.62. Their mark was less than a second off the school record (1:38.9) and just below a provisional NCAA qualifying mark (1:38.2).

Knox went on to set a new career-best in the 500-yard free (5:22.37) while Arielle Conti (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Meg Hiestand (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) finished with season-best times of 5:22.22 and 5:30.44, respectively, as all three qualified for the finals.

Four swimmers in the 200-yard medley qualified for the finals including Ham in a season-best 2:17.47, Rachelle Barrett (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) in a career-best 2:17.82, Scherry in a time of 2:21.20, and Alycia Conway (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) in a career-best 2:22.28.

Whitehead placed seventh in the 50 free finals with a time of 24.73 as Nairn and Megan McGuire each set career-best times of 25.15 and 25.71 in qualifying for the finals later tonight. Molly Hanlon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntington Area) and Tara Stein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) also set career marks in the event.

On the men’s side, the 200-yard freestyle relay team opened the meet by qualifying for the finals with a season-best time of 1:28.64 behind the squad of Ryan Lawrence (Union City, Pa./Union City), Colin Gundling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), Cory Monroy (Goleta, Calif/Dos Pueblos), and Rob Schreiner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair).

In the 500-yard free, Ashton Kinney (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) just missed a career-mark but did achieve a season-best with a time of 4:58.64 as both Beau Whiteman (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) and J.P. Rusell (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) set career-marks with respective times of 4:59.02 and 5:33.32, the latter of which broke a season-best by almost 30 seconds. Kinney and Whiteman’s times were good enough to advance to the finals.

Josh Sesek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) qualified for the finals in the 200-yard medley with a personal-best time of 1:57.99 while Monroy and Adam Gailey (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) finished the event in career-best times of 2:05.33 and 2:09.86.

Two Gators, Gundling and Lawrence qualified for the finals in the 50-yard freestyle with career-best times of 22.15 and 22.35, respectively.

The meet continues at 6:30 p.m. with the women’s 200 free relay, and will follow the same meet schedule as the morning session, with races consisting of three heats, each comprising of eight individuals.

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