The Emory University swimming team continued a string of strong performances at the Miami Invitational this weekend, setting three more school records, while recording 15 NCAA 'A' cut times and 58 'B' cut times during the third and fourth sessions of the meet.

The Emory program records were set by freshman Ross Spock and sophomore Peter O'Brien on the men's side, and by senior April Whitley for the women.  Spock became the first Eagle to break the 50-second mark in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming an 'A' cut time of 49.47 seconds in the finals of the event on Friday night, good for a first-place finish.  O'Brien's 'A' cut time of 2:00.77 in the 200-yard breaststroke surpassed his own school record by almost two seconds, allowing him to finish first in the preliminaries of the event on Saturday morning.  Whitley rounded out the group of record setters with a time of 1:02.86 and a third-place finish in the finals 100-yard breaststroke, which was not only good for an NCAA Division III automatic qualifying time, but also a Division I provisional mark and the fastest time by a Division III swimmer this year.

The record-setting performances were not the only impressive marks for either the men's or women's squad during the two sessions.  The men's squad saw its 400-yard medley relay of Spock, Peter O'Brien, junior Patrick Augustyn and junior Sean Ransenberg swim an 'A' cut time of 3:19.92 in the event, the fourth-fastest in school history and a first-place finish.  Spock, sophomore Richard Upton, Ransenberg and freshman Ryan Bass also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 'B' cut time of 1:21.97, the third-fastest in Emory history.

In the men's 200-yard butterfly, Augustyn finished first with an 'A' cut time of 1:48.93, the sixth-fastest time in school history, while senior Mackenzie Perry (third place, 1:49.60) and freshman Matt O'Brien (fourth place, 1:50.76) also recorded automatic qualifying times.  Senior Mark Bernstein finished third in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:40.25, good for a provisional qualifying time. 

Others recording 'B' cut times during the Friday night session for Emory were Peter O'Brien, who won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.11 seconds, the fourth-best in school history, and Spock, who claimed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.60 seconds, the second-fastest ever by an Eagle.  O'Brien (second place, 4:00.12), junior Bryant Jones (seventh place, 4:05.13) and sophomore Justin Beegle (11^th place, 4:06.33) all had 'B' cut times in the finals of the 400-yard individual medley, while freshman AJ Khosla had a provisional time of 51.78 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing seventh overall.

Besides' Peter O'Brien's record-setting performance in the 200-yard breaststroke during the Saturday morning session, he also had an 'A' cut time of 1:51.77 in the 200-yard individual medley to finish first in the preliminaries.  Also finishing at the top of the standings during the preliminary round was Augustyn, who was the top swimmer in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49.52 seconds.

Recording 'B' cut times during the Saturday morning preliminary session for the Emory men were junior Jared Dubnow (third place, 1:52.71) in the 200-yard backstroke, Bernstein (sixth place, 4:35.02) in the 500-yard freestyle, Matt O'Brien (third place, 50.20 seconds), sophomore Stephen Czaja (fifth place, 50.60 seconds) and Perry (sixth place, 50.61 seconds) in the 100-yard butterfly, Beegle (third place, 2:06.66) in the 200-yard breaststroke, Spock (third place, 46.00 seconds) and Ransenberg (fourth place, 46.08 seconds) in the 100-yard freestyle, and junior Ben Redpath (second place, 1:53.05), Augustyn (fifth place, 1:54.23) and Perry (sixth place, 1:54.60) in the 200-yard individual medley.

During the Friday night session for the Emory women, the Eagles' 400-yard medley relay of freshman Sadie Nennig, Whitley, sophomore Leslie Hackler and junior Claire Pavlak finished second with an 'A' cut time of 3:45.98 (the third-fastest in school history), while sophomore Jacqueline Schneider, senior Katie Mroz, freshman Adelaide Taylor and sophomore Ann Wolber finished eighth with a 'B' cut time of 3:52.77.  In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Wolber, freshman Suzanne Lemberg, senior Morgan Klinzing and Pavlak combined for a first-place finish in an 'A' cut time of 1:33.72, while sophomore Renee Rosenkranz, senior Marie Kim, junior Rachael Mullen and freshman Jennifer Pak claimed eighth with a 'B' cut time of 1:36.71.

In the 400-yard individual medley, senior Liz Horvat led all Emory swimmers with a first-place finish, recording a NCAA Division III automatic qualifying time (and a 'B' cut for Division I) of 4:18.81.  Freshman Brooke Woodward (seventh, 4:28.58), freshman Laura Manor (ninth, 4:35.76), sophomore Taryn Lushinsky (12^th, 4:29.76), sophomore Theresa Gallagher (16^th, 4:32.65), freshman Courtney McDermott (18^th, 4:36.14) and sophomore Mia Michalak (20^th, 4:32.08) all had 'B' cut performances in the event.

Hackler was Emory's top finisher in the 200-yard butterfly with an 'A' cut time of 2:03.47, good for a fourth place finish.  She was followed by Manor (12^th, 2:05.89), freshman Kylie McKenzie (14^th, 2:07.45), and sophomore Samantha Neumann (16^th, 2:08.43), each with a provisional qualifying time.  In the 100-yard breaststroke, besides Whitley's school-record performance, Mroz had an 'A' cut time of 1:04.22, finishing 10^th, while junior Jennifer Aronoff finished 12^th with a 'B' cut time of 1:05.30.

After setting a school-record in the 100-yard backstroke during the preliminary session, Nennig finished third in the finals with an 'A' cut time of 56.40 seconds, while Schneider (7^th, 57.28) and Pavlak (15^th, 58.35) each had 'B' cut times.  Pavlak would later record an 'A' mark of 23.30 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to finish second overall.  Wolber (seventh, 23.86), Lemberg (eighth, 23.87) and Rosenkranz (11^th, 24.03) all had 'B' cut times in the event.

Rounding out the third session, junior Anne Culpepper was the top Emory finisher in the 200-yard freestyle, placing fourth with a 'B' mark of 1:51.91.  Joining her with 'B' cut times were junior Whitley Taylor (seventh, 1:53.39), Mroz (16^th, 1:53.64), Wolber (17^th, 1:54.14), Pak (20^th, 1:53.15) and senior Amy Minowitz (22^nd, 1:53.91).

During the Saturday morning preliminary session, the Emory women had a trio of 'A' cut performances in the 200-yard backstroke, led by Culpepper (last year's NCAA Division III Champion in the event) with a time of 2:01.99.  She was followed by automatic qualifying performances from Nennig (sixth, 2:02.85) and Schneider (ninth, 2:03.70), and provisional times from Lushinsky (11^th, 2:04.12) and Whitley Taylor (13^th, 2:05.07).

Horvat recorded her fourth automatic qualifying time of the meet with a mark of 4:56.98 in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries, good for third place, where she was followed with 'B' cut times from Emory's McDermott (seventh, 5:00.03), Culpepper (ninth, 5:02.27) and Minowitz (11^th, 5:04.65).   In the 100-yard butterfly, Hackler recorded an 'A' cut time of 55.76 seconds to finish third in the prelims.

Whitley continued her strong meet with a preliminary time of 2:18.31 in the 200-yard breaststroke, the third-fastest mark in school history and good for a third-place finish, while Mroz (ninth, 2:21.93) and Kim (17^th, 2:23.99) each had provisional times.  In the 100-yard freestyle, Pavlak recorded a first-place finish with an 'A' cut time of 50.87 seconds, while Wolber (seventh, 52.00) and Lemberg (11^th, 52.18) each had 'B' times.

To wrap up Saturday's preliminary session, six Eagles recorded provisional qualifying marks in the 200-yard individual medley, led by Woodward who finished fourth in a time of 2:06.96.  She was followed by Manor (sixth, 2:07.29), Nennig (eighth, 2:07.55), Michalak (10^th, 2:08.27), Wolber (11^th, 2:08.29) and Whitey (14^th, 2:08.81).

The Emory men will enter the final session of the meet in first place with 914 points, leading second-place Miami University by 126 points.  The women are in second place, trailing Miami by 459.5 points, but leading third-place Oakland University by 286 points.

The meet will conclude Saturday night at 6:00 PM with the finals of the morning events, in addition to the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.