The mood was festive for the Emory University swimming and
diving teams, despite a pair of respectable losses to NCAA Division
I Clemson University, as the Eagles paid tribute to their 11
graduating seniors who were participating in their final career
meet at the Woodruff P.E. Center on Saturday.
The second-ranked Emory men suffered a 153 – 138 loss to the
Tigers, while the Emory women fell 162 – 132.
Prior to the start of the meet, the Eagles recognized the four
graduating seniors from the men’s squad - Mark
Bernstein, Justin Leemis,
Mackenzie Perry and Matt Spooner
– and the seven soon-to-be graduates from the women’s
team - Sylvie Curci, Liz
Horvat, Marie Kim, Morgan
Klinzing, Amy Minowitz, Katie
Mroz, and April Whitley.
Among the group of seniors, a number turned in top performances for
Emory. For the men, Bernstein placed second in the 200-yard
freestyle and third in the 500-yard freestyle, both the top
finishes by an Eagle at the meet. The women’s group of
seniors were led by Horvat, who finished second with an
‘A’ cut time of 4:27.36 in the 400-yard individual
medley, after finishing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle earlier
in the meet. Whitley added a pair of first-place finishes,
recording ‘B’ cut times in both the 100-yard
breaststroke (1:05.46) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.86).
Mroz chipped in with a ‘B’ cut time of 2:24.75 in the
200-yard breaststroke, good for a third-place finish.
The Emory women also received a first-place finish from
Jennifer Pak in the 200-yard freestyle, as the
freshman recorded a ‘B’ cut time of 1:53.50.
Other provisional qualifying times by the Eagles’ came from
freshman Sadie Nennig in both the 100-yard
backstroke (58.22 seconds) and 200-yard backstroke (2:06.47),
sophomore Leslie Hackler in the 200-yard butterfly
(2:08.40), junior Claire Pavlak in both the
50-yard freestyle (23.66 seconds) and 100-yard freestyle (52.46
seconds), and Anne Culpepper in the 500-yard
freestyle (5:01.14).
The Emory women had strong performances in both relays during the
meet, as Ann Wolber, Pak, Culpepper and Pavlak won
the 400-yard freestyle relay with a ‘B’ cut time of
3:29.12, while Nennig, Whitley, Hackler and Pavlak finished second
in the 200-yard medley relay with a ‘B’ mark of
1:47.21.
For the Emory men, junior Patrick Augustyn and
sophomore Peter O’Brien notched the
Eagles’ two first-place finishes during the meet, as the
former won the 200-yard freestyle with a ‘B’ cut time
of 1:53.01, while the latter claimed the top spot in the 200-yard
breaststroke with a ‘B’ mark of 2:06.14. Freshman
Ross Spock added on a ‘B’ cut
performance with a time of 51.95 seconds in the 100-yard
backstroke, good for a third-place finish.
Rounding out the meet, two Emory divers turned in NCAA qualifying
performances. Sophomore Kolin Smialek won
the men’s one-meter dive with a qualifying score of 285.00,
while freshman Sarah Greene claimed fourth in the
three-meter dive with a qualifying score of 277.73.
With the losses, the Emory men’s team ended its dual meet
season with a record of 3-5, while the women now stand at
4-4. The Clemson men improved to 5-2, while the women raised
their record to 4-3 for the campaign.
Emory will now turn its attention towards the championship season,
as the Eagles will begin to prepare for the University Athletic
Association (UAA) Championships at the University of Rochester,
starting February 16th.
Emory Swimming & Diving Honors Seniors during Dual Meet against Clemson
Posted: Feb 05, 2011