|
WOOLSTON SMASHES 200 BACK RECORD; SAINTS TIE FOR TENTH AT UNYSCSA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 28: Junior Chris Woolston broke another team record in the last day of competition for the St. Lawrence University men’s swimming and diving team, who concluded their final meet of the season Saturday evening with several best times at the 2009 Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championships, held at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY.
The Scarlet and Brown entered the last of six sessions in 11th place but jumped up a spot and tied Vassar College with 327 points to place 10th in the 15-team field. Alfred University won the championship, while Ithaca and Rensselaer rounded out the top three, respectively.
St. Lawrence had three top-ten individual finishes Saturday evening, including one in the diving well. Woolston (Madison, CT/Fairfield Prep) placed third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:52.62, earning his second NCAA ‘B’ cut of the meet while erasing the previous school record of 1:53.41, set back in 1985. Sophomore Jared Pellerin (Plattsburgh, NY/Seton Catholic Central) dropped nearly 30 seconds off his previous best time in the 1650-yard freestyle, clocking in at 17:08.90, placing 10th overall in the event.
St. Lawrence was well-represented in the three-meter diving event, with senior Jason Johnson (Newark, NY/Newark) earning ninth place points with a score of 352.65. Rookie Graham Steen (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) placed 13th in the 26-competitor field with a score of 324.10.
Junior captain Stephen Dally (Tonawanda, NY/Canisius) was also an individual competitor on Saturday night, earning 22nd place points in the 200-yard breaststroke. His preliminary time of 2:16.82 was a career best.
Earlier in preliminaries, several members of the squad enjoyed career best swims to finish the season on a successful note. Rookie Andrew Hayes (Avon, NY/Avon) earned a personal best time in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking in at 2:07.89, while senior captain Russ Hendrick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) enjoyed a season-best time, finishing the race in 2:14.87. Hendrick also competed in the 1650-yard freestyle achieved a personal best in the event, finishing with a time of 18:13.30, shaving fifteen seconds off his previous record.
In the 100-yard freestyle, junior Brandon Barone (Westport, CT/Staples) continued to have a wonderful meet, finishing with a personal best time in the 100-yard freestyle (50.75). Not far behind was teammate sophomore Mike McPhillips (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls), who touched the wall at 51.71, just under his personal record set last season.
Sophomore Rob Sibley (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) and senior Chris Judge (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) also enjoyed individual success in the 200-yard breaststroke, as Sibley shaved nearly five seconds off his career best time by clocking in at 2:18.48, while Judge smashed his previous best time by six seconds, touching at 2:33.08.
The meet concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay, where Sibley, Hayes, Pellerin and Woolston placed 12th overall with a time of 3:19.82.
Several Saints on both the men’s and women’s teams will wait to hear whether or not they will be competing at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in March. Information will be posted as soon as it becomes available.
WOOLSTON BREAKS UNIVERSITY RECORD; SAINTS SWIM STRONG IN SECOND DAY OF UNYSCSA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 27: Junior Chris Woolston broke a 28-year old team record Friday evening as the St. Lawrence University men’s swimming and diving team continued to have a spectacular meet at the 2009 UNYSCSA Championships, held in Syracuse, NY.
St. Lawrence remains 11th overall heading into the final two sessions on Saturday. Alfred, RPI and Ithaca are the frontrunners in the team standings after the four sessions.
Woolston (Madison, CT/Fairfield Prep) was the Saints’ top individual competitor on Friday evening, placing third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.10, just under the previous University record, of 52.15, set in 1980 by Nick Nichols ’82. His time also was an NCAA ‘B’ cut, which he achieved in Thursday’s finals, but his time from Friday puts him in a better position to make the meet scheduled for March. Rookie Andrew Hayes (Avon, NY/Avon) also swam the backstroke event in prelims and beat his best time this season by nearly a second, finishing with a time of 59.24.
Other individual finishers included first-year Russ Newton (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme), who placed 20th in the 400-yard IM. His time in prelims on Friday, 4:32.04, was a personal best time for the rookie this season.
Sophomore Rob Sibley (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) and junior captain Stephen Dally (Tonawanda, NY/Canisius) were both strong competitors in the 100-yard breaststroke, with the two Saints finishing 21st and 22nd, respectively. Sibley’s time of 1:01.55 from prelims was a career best, as was Dally’s 1:01.58, also a time he earned in the earlier session. Senior Chris Judge (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) also competed in the 100-yard breaststroke earlier on Friday and smashed his previous best time by nearly five and a half seconds, touching the pads at 1:07.98.
Junior Brandon Barone (Westport, CT/Staples) was the lone individual competitor for St. Lawrence in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing the race with a time of 1:51.24 to place 24th overall. His time in prelims, 1:50.54, was a personal best. Sophomore Mike McPhillips (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) also competed in the event on Friday and finished with a time of 1:55.18.
In the two relays, St. Lawrence had a couple of great swims as well. The 200-yard medley relay, which included Woolston, Dally, Barone, and Sibley finished 12th overall with a time of 1:41.55. The 800-yard freestyle relay concluded the session with a time of 7:27.77, good enough for 11th place. Swimming for the Saints in the final event of the evening was McPhillips, Newton, Barone, and sophomore Jared Pellerin (Plattsburgh, NY/Seton Catholic Central).
Saturday will be the final day of competition for St. Lawrence, with prelims scheduled to begin at 10:30am and finals starting at 6:30pm.
WOOLSTON, DIVERS LEAD SAINTS IN FIRST DAY OF UNYSCSA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 26: First-year athlete Graham Steen and senior Jason Johnson both had top-eight finishes in the one-meter diving event and junior Chris Woolston achieved his first ever NCAA 'B' cut Thursday evening to highlight the first day of competition for the St. Lawrence University men’s swimming and diving teams at the Upstate New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championships in Syracuse, NY.
The Scarlet and Brown are currently in 11th place following the meet’s first finals session. Alfred University, Ithaca College, and Union College round out the top three, respectively.
Steen was the highest-placing individual for the Saints Thursday, placing third on the one-meter board with a score of 392.95. Johnson was close behind, placing fifth, scoring 385.25. Both athletes will be competing in the three-meter later on in the meet.
In the lead-off backstroke leg of the 400-yard medley relay in Thursday's finals, Woolston (Madison, CT/Fairfield Prep) split a 52.33 to earn the NCAA 'B' cut (53.79). His time was only two-tenths of a second off the University record in the event heading into Friday's 100-yard backstroke race.
St. Lawrence had two relays compete in Thursday night’s final session. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Woolston, sophomore Rob Sibley (Hudson, NH/Alvirne), rookie Andrew Hayes (Avon, NY/Avon) and junior Brandon Barone (Westport, CT/Staples) finished 11th with a time of 1:29.95. Woolston, Barone, and Sibley combined forces with junior captain Stephen Dally (Tonawanda, NY/Canisius) in the 400-yard Medley Relay to complete the evening session, as they placed 12th with a time of 3:39.28.
Individually, every Saint was rewarded for their months of training. Nearly every member of the squad enjoyed career best swims in their respective races. First-year Russ Newton (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme) dropped nearly 19 seconds in his 500-yard free (4:55.92) and nearly thirty minutes later dropped more than four seconds in his 200-yard IM (2:09.81). Sophomore Jared Pellerin (Plattsburgh, NY/Seton Catholic Central) had a career-best swim in the 500 free as well (5:00.34), as did senior captain Russ Hendrick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena), who touched at 5:12.48, a personal best by nearly five seconds.
Dally led the Scarlet and Brown in the 200-yard IM, finishing with a time of 2:07.42, dropping more than two seconds off his previous best time. In addition to Newton, senior Chris Judge (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) also lowered his career best time by about two seconds, touching the pads at 2:20.14.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Woolston led five Saints as he finished with a personal best time of 22.19. Sibley was not far behind with a time of 22.67. Barone, Hayes and sophomore Mike McPhillips (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) also enjoyed career best swims in the event. Barone’s time of 23.05 was his best by nearly three-quarters of a second, while Hayes’ time of 23.34 was just under his previous best swim this season. McPhillips finished with a time of 23.52, his best time this season by nearly three-tenths of a second and a career best as well.
St. Lawrence will resume competition Friday morning in the second day of the meet. The third session of the championships is scheduled to begin at 10:30am.
MEN’S SQUAD PREPARES TO DIVE
INTO UNYSCSA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 25: Following a very fast Upstate New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Women’s Championships last weekend, the St. Lawrence University men’s team is ready to get their feet wet as they prepare for their last meet of the season beginning Thursday morning.
The Saints are one of 15 teams competing at the meet and hope to improve upon last year’s 11th pace finish. Each squad from the Liberty League will be at the championships, while several other schools in from the area will be vying for a chance at the team title this year.
“Our men’s team has seen significant improvement since last season,” says St. Lawrence Head Coach Bob Clemmer. “Our captains have done a great job throughout this year, while there have been a couple of other swimmers who have taken a leadership position both in and out of the pool. They have been training so hard and have looked great in taper, and I think because of that we’ll see several more of our swimmers competing in the evening sessions than in years past.”
The men’s team will be stronger in the specialty events, as well as the longer distance races. In the swimming pool, junior Chris Woolston (Madison, CT/Fairfield Prep) will be a top contender in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke races, as well as competing in some of the shorter freestyle events.
Sophomore Jared Pellerin (Plattsburgh, NY/Seton Catholic Central) has seen some personal best times this season and will hope to lower his career marks in the longer distance freestyle races, as well as the butterfly. Senior captain Russ Hendrick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) will be joining Woolston in the 200-yard backstroke, but will also be competing with Pellerin in the 500-yard freestyle as well as the mile, along with rookie Russ Newton (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme).
In the breaststroke races, Saints fans can turn to junior captain Stephen Dally (Tonawanda, NY/Canisius), who has been a strength for St. Lawrence in those races, as has sophomore Rob Sibley (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) and senior Chris Judge (Cranford, NJ/Cranford). Dally will also be vying for a spot in finals in the 200-yard IM, while Newton will also be swimming in both the 200 and 400-yard IMs.
In the sprint races, the Scarlet and Brown will be well-represented by Sibley, who will be competing in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events over the course of the meet, as well as classmates Brandon Barone (Westport, CT/Staples) and Mike McPhillips (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls), as well as and rookie Andrew Hayes (Avon, NY/Avon). Barone and McPhillips will be racing in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyle, while Hayes will be looking to make waves in the backstroke races.
In the diving portion of the meet, St. Lawrence has two student-athletes that will be tough competition for the rest of the field. Senior Jason Johnson (Newark, NY/Newark) was named the 2008 Liberty League Co-Diver of the Year after winning the one-meter and placing third at the conference championships, while rookie Graham Steen (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) was right there with him, finishing second on both boards back at the December meet.
The UNYSCSA Championships kick-off Thursday morning at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY. The first of six sessions is scheduled to begin at 10:30am.
|
