Men's Race
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County men won the 2016 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielson Natatorium. UMBC earned 1,502 points to claim back-to-back titles.
Runner-ups, Incarnate Word finished with 1,281 points, while Old Dominion placed third with 1,255.50 points in their first year as a member of the CCSA. Gardner-Webb took fourth-place with 1,111 points; Florida Atlantic finished in fifth with 969 points, while New Jersey Tech Institute scored 525.50 points to earn sixth. Howard finished in seventh place with 335 points, while Virginia Military Institute rounded out the field with 270 points.
Incarnate Word’s Kyrylo Shvets saw the first victory of the day for the men as he finished the 1650-yard freestyle in 15:37.87, while UMBC freshman Felix Richtsfeld finished less than a second behind him in 15:38.13.
In the 200-yard backstroke, Ahmed Wahby of UMBC placed first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:46.81. Incarnate Word’s Aaron Moran saw second place just .03 seconds behind Wahby.
Gardner-Webb standout, Nathan Lile, set a CCSA all-time record in the men’s 100-yard freestyle in 43.26 in today’s finals. That time was a full second ahead of the previous record, which was also set by Lile during last year’s CCSA championships. UMBC’s Gregor Spoerlein took second place in 43.90, while Matthieu Burtez of Florida Atlantic took the bronze with a time of 44.16. Their times were good enough to make the NCAA ‘B’ cut standard.
Leo Endres of UMBC won the 200-yard breaststroke with his time of 1:58.99, while Incarnate Word junior, David Moore, finished .01 seconds behind Endres to score an even 1:59.00. Both Endres and Moore made the NCAA ‘B’ cut list.
Old Dominion senior, Reed Matthews, smoked Geoffrey Peitz’s 200-yard butterfly all-time record of 1:46.09 by more than three seconds as Matthews finished in 1:43.04. Freshman Beau Fusilier of Incarnate Word earned second place with a time of 1:47.39. Both Matthews and Fusilier made the NCAA ‘B’ cut standard of 1:47.99.
Gardner-Webb saw the final victory of the day as the Runnin’ Bulldogs were led by Nathan Lile in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Lile joined Connor Bos, Tyler Gomez and Cameron Pou to win in 2:58.41. Old Dominion finished in second place as Anton Mikaelsson, Graham Thatcher, Jacob Zedler and Vitor Sa completed the relay with a time of 2:59.09. Florida Atlantic finished .04 seconds behind ODU with Matthieu Burtez, John Nolte, John Brennock and Konstantin Byshnev.
Felix Richtsfel of UMBC took home the Most Outstanding Male Freshman of the Championship after claiming first in the 500-yard freestyle preliminary, placing second in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing second in the 1650-yard freestyle and participating on UMBC’s second place 800-yard freestyle relay team.
Gardner-Webb senior, Nathan Lile, closed out his CCSA career as he earned the Most Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Championship award. He set the all-time record in the 50-yard freestyle in preliminaries with a time of 19.86 and went on to win the event in finals. The senior then set another all-time record in the 100-yard butterfly as he swam in 46.52. Lile also swam in the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ three relay victories in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
UMBC head coach Chad Cradock won Male Swimming Coach of the year, while Florida Atlantic’s diving coach Bryan Gillooly and Old Dominion’s Noah Sculley took home Male Diving Coach of the Year honors.
Women's Race
The Florida Gulf Coast University women won the 2016 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielson Natatorium with a total of 1,670 points.
Liberty University finished second with a total of 1,358 points, followed by Georgia Southern University with 925 points. Fourth went to Gardner-Webb University with 898 points. Campbell finished fifth with 715 points, while Incarnate Word earned 683 points for sixth and UNC Asheville saw seventh with 506 points. North Florida finished in eighth place with 470 points, followed by Howard with 183 points and North Carolina A&T with 177 points. Virginia Military Institute rounded out the field with 166 points.
Lauren Oglesby of Gardner-Webb claimed victory in the very first event of the finals session Saturday night. She swam the 1650-yard freestyle in 16:41.17 to earn a first place finish for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. FGCU’s Lani Cabrera finished in second with a time of 16:43.03, while Liberty senior, Kristin VanDeventer, saw third place in 16:49.89.
FGCU standout freshman, Elise Haan, took first place in the 200-yard backstroke as she finished in 1:54.76. Victoria Tschoke from Liberty touched the pads in 1:58.11 for second place, while Georgia Southern’s Mykala Arnold finished third in 1:58.52. All three swimmers finished under the NCAA ‘B’ cut standard of 1:59.19.
Haan’s teammate, Fanny Teijonsalo, followed up Haan’s victory with a first place finish of her own. Teijonsalo took first place in the 100-yard freestyle as she finished in 48.72, while teammate Katie Latham saw second place in 49.37. Liberty senior, Kendall Hough, touched in 49.45 to claim third for the Lady-Flames. All three competitors stayed under the NCAA ‘B’ cut standard for the 100-yard freestyle of 49.99.
Katie Armitage of FGCU finished the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:11.51 for a first place finish, while UNC Asheville’s Morgan Rulevich took second with a time of 2:15.45. Both Armitage and Rulevich stayed below the NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 2:15.99.
In the 200-yard butterfly, FGCU freshman, Christina Elmgreen took home the conference crown after touching the pads in 1:57.63 and set the FGCU program record in the event. Liberty’s Alicia Finnigan finished second for the Lady-Flames with a time of 1:59.53 to keep herself and Elmgreen under the 1:59.59 ‘B’ cut standard.
In the final event of the night, FGCU continued to dominate as Elise Haan, Barbara Caraballo, Katie Latham and Fanny Teijonsalo claimed victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. FGCU finished with a time of 3:18.49. Liberty’s Kendall Hough, Natalie Beale, Prudence Rooker and Chelsea Pond completed the even in 3:21.33. Finishing in third place was Georgia Southern’s Kylee Parsons, Kaylyn Thomas, Athena Cimino and Mykala Arnold with a time of 3:24.67.
Elise Haan and Fanny Teijonsalo of FGCU took home Women’s Most Outstanding Freshman Performer of the Championship award. Both Haan and Teijonsalo saw first place in three individual events and participated in four FGCU relay victories.
Georgia Southern’s Emma Weisel took home the Diver of the Year award after establishing a new CCSA record of 300.40 in the 1-meter dive on Friday. She also won the 3-meter dive with a score of 294.90.
The 2015-16 CCSA Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year award saw five recipients of Neal Studd of FGCU, Georgia Southern’s Nate Kellogg, Shawn Hendrix of North Carolina A&T, North Florida’s Ian Coffey and Elizabeth Lykins of UNC Asheville.
David Giambra from Georgia Southern was voted the 2015-16 CCSA Women’s Diving Coach of the Year as he lead Emma Weisel to sweep both women’s diving events.
Florida Gulf Coast
The FGCU swimming and diving team continued its conference dominance by winning its seventh CCSA Championship in a span of eight years Saturday evening at the University of Georgia's Gabrielsen Natatorium.
During the four-day conference meet, FGCU clocked 21 NCAA 'B' cut times to go along with setting eight program records and five CCSA all-time marks. Additionally, the Green and Blue won 16 of a possible 20 events, including 16 of 18 swimming events.
The Eagles tallied a conference-championship record 1,670 points en route to claiming the title, breaking its own record of 1,575 points at last year's meet. Liberty finished runner up with 1,358 points while Georgia Southern (925), Gardner-Webb (898) and Campbell (715) rounded out the top five.
"I couldn't be more proud of my team and my staff," said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. "Not only did we win the championship, but we did so in record fashion. We won all but two swimming events this week, including every relay event, and set a number of CCSA record while doing so. It was a lot of fun."
Freshmen swimmers Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) and Fanny Teijonsalo (Espoo, Finland/Makelanrinteen Lukio) earned Co-Most Oustanding Female Swimmer of the Championship and Co-Most Outstanding Freshman Performer honors while Studd received his sixth CCSA Coach of the Year recognition.
Haan and Teijonsalo capped off the competition having each won three individual titles and contributing to four relay victories. The Finland native set the CCSA all-time standard in the 200-yard IM and the FGCU record in the 100-yard butterfly while Haan eclipsed the conference mark in 200-yard freestyle. Additionally, the duo contributed to the all-time CCSA record in the 400-yard medley relay.
On Saturday, Haan capped off the championship with a win in the 200-yard backstroke as she achieved a NCAA 'B' cut in the event in a time of 1:54.76. Teijonsalo won the 100-yard freestyle in 48.72 seconds, coming up just 0.13 seconds shy of Emma Svensson's CCSA record.
Also in the freestyle event, Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood's School) finished runner-up in a time of 49.37 seconds, also good enough for a NCAA 'B' cut. FGCU placed four swimmers in the top six in the event as Sarah Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy) and Kirsten Jamison (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona) finished fourth and sixth.
After being disqualified in yesterday's 100-yard breaststroke, Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) responded in a big way as she not only won the 200-yard event by nearly four seconds, but also set the CCSA all-time record with a time of 2:11.51.
Later, in the 200-yard butterfly, Christina Kaas Elmgreen (Charlottenlund, Denmark/Ordrup Gymnasium) took home the conference crown after touching the pads in 1:57.63 and set the FGCU program record in the event. Teammate Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls' School) finished third in a time of 2:01.97.
Lastly, to put the finishing touches on their seventh conference crown since 2009, the FGCU 400-yard freestyle relay team of Haan, Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS), Latham and Teijonsalo closed it out in style as they won the event after clocking a season-best time of 3:18.49, coming up just shy of the program and CCSA record set last year.
Campbell
Madison Scott added a school record and Campbell concluded the 2016 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Swimming and Diving Championships.
Scott, a freshman from Front Royal, Va., posted a Campbell record 2:02.53 in Saturday’s 200 fly finals, taking sixth after just missing the record in the day’s preliminaries.
Caroline Clark also set a CU record in the 100 fly (55.17) on Friday after broking a Campbell 200 freestyle relay (1:33.77) mark on Thursday.
Campbell posted 715 points for its fifth place finish, overcoming Incarnate Word (683) on the championships’ final day.
Florida Gulf Coast took the team title with 1670 points, followed by Liberty with 1358. Georgia Southern finished third with 925 points, and Gardner-Webb took fourth with 898. UNC Asheville (506), North Florida (470), Howard (183), North Carolina A&T (177) and VMI (166) rounded out team scoring.
In other Campbell action, Geena Squartino took a fourth place finish in the 1650 free with a 16:56.78 mark, and Karah Sizemore finished ninth in the 200 back, tallying a 2:04.32 mark. Sindija Silina gathered a time of 51.60 in the 100 freestyle, finishing 13th overall, and Taylor McMinn earned a 12th place finish in the 200 breaststroke, taking 12th.
Campbell earned a fifth place showing in the 400 free relay, posting a 3:28.00 performance to close out the meet.
The Camels will finish out the 2015-16 season with the CSCAA Championships on March 21 in Rockwall, Texas.
Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern closed the 2016 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships by claiming third place in the final team standings. The Eagles earned a pair of podium finishes in the 400 Free Relay while Mykala Arnold took third in the 200 Back.
Head Coach Nate Kellogg was named Co-Swimming Coach of the Year while David Giambra claimed Diving Coach of the Year. With a pair of wins in the 1M and 3M events, Emma Weisel took the CCSA Diver of the Year award.
What Coach Said
Head Coach Nate Kellogg
"I'm so impressed with how we fought and never backed down. This is a tremendous group of young ladies who have worked very hard for every bit of success they've achieved. Today was a product of that consistent effort."
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. FGCU – 1670
2. Liberty – 1358
3. Georgia Southern – 925
4. Gardner-Webb - 898
5. Campbell – 715
6. Incarnate Word - 683
7. UNC Asheville - 506
8. North Florida – 470
9. Howard - 183
10. North Carolina A&T – 177
11. VMI – 166
Liberty
Liberty earned a runner-up finish for the second year in a row, taking second at the 2016 CCSA Championships, which finished on Saturday at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Florida Gulf Coast claimed its second title in a row and seventh out of the last eight seasons. The Eagles scored 1,670 points, while Liberty took runner-up honors for the second year in a row, with 1,358 points. Georgia Southern (925), Gardner-Webb (898) and Campbell (715) rounded out the top five.
For the day, Liberty had 18 finals swims (11 A finals, five B finals and two C finals), three NCAA B cuts, six podium finishes (five individual, one relay) and one program record. Liberty made the podium in every event on Saturday. On the meet as a whole, the Lady Flames posted 16 podium finishes (11 individual, five relay), nine NCAA B cuts and three program records.
Liberty got the evening off to a good start, as Kristin VanDeventer swam a lifetime-best 16:49.89 to place third in the 1,650 free. Her time is the second best in program history. Hannah Wakeley swam 17:04.37 to take sixth place. Ashlee Sall’s lifetime-best 17:20.78 was good for 12th place overall. Dani Jordan swam a personal-best 17:11.45 while swimming as an exhibition.
Victoria Tschoke finished as runner-up in the 200 back in a B cut time of 1:58.11, her first career podium finish. Natalie Beale placed fourth with a 1:59.65 clocking, good for fourth. Ashley Mauzy went 2:10.42 to gain 16th position overall.
Kendall Hough earned her seventh career CCSA medal, and third this week, finishing third in the 100 free in B cut 49.45. Rachel Hoeve swam 51.34 for eighth. Chelsea Pond (51.35) and Elizabeth Magnusson (51.93) took 11th and 15th, respectively. Shelby Black turned in a lifetime-best time of 51.69 for 18th, while Ricki Lee Hodges went 52.94 for 23rd overall.
Prudence Rooker scored her second medal of the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:16.79. Morgan Noonan went 2:18.27 for sixth, while Anna Dickinson swam a lifetime-best 2:18.94 in finishing eighth.
Alicia Finnigan claimed a runner-up for 200 fly, recording a lifetime-best and NCAA B cut 1:59.53. Wakeley placed fifth in 2:02.38. Ranndi Grubbs clocked 2:05.92 in the B final, for 12th place.
The Lady Flames wrapped up the meet with a second-place performance in the 400 free relay. Hough (50.12), Beale (50.45), Rooker (50.47) and Pond (50.29) combined for a 3:21.33 time, the third best in program history.
VMI
McKenzie Raber set two individual school records and factored in a third as the VMI swimming and diving teams wrapped up the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) swimming championships Saturday in Athens, Ga.
Raber reset her own record in the 1650 free and 1000 free, as well as serving as part of the record-breaking 400 free relay effort.
Raber's effort in the 1000 free was perhaps the most notable effort, as she split 10:51.02 at 1000 yards in the 1650 free. The mark breaks her previous school record, set earlier this season, and is valid for an ECAC A cut.
Meanwhile, Raber's full 1650 free was also a school record performance (18:05.75) and was an ECAC B cut mark. She finished 25th overall in the race.
The relay record that fell - the 400 free relay - saw Raber team with Sophia Delbondio, Gabbie Galvez and Natalie Rivas to touch the wall in 3:41.93. The team finished 10th overall in that race.
As a team, the VMI women finished 11th overall with 166 points, 11 points behind North Carolina A&T and 17 shy of ninth place Howard. Florida Gulf Coast and Liberty finished 1-2.
On the men's side, the standout of the meet for the Keydets was Joe Lincoln, who wrapped up his weekend with a 24th-place finish in the 100 free. Lincoln touched the wall in 49.72 in prelims, and then 50.31 in the finals.
As a team, VMI finished eighth at the meet with 270 points. UMBC bested Incarnate Word and Old Dominion at the top of the standings.
VMI swimming and diving will return to action Friday, when qualified Keydets take part in the ECAC Championships in Annapolis, Md.
