February 16, 2006 - at MAAC's - Men 1st / Women 2nd after Day One
February 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Swimming & Diving
Rider at MAAC Championships
Men 1st of 8, Women 2nd of 10 after Day One
BALTIMORE, MD—Like the pool you are swimming in, depth is very important. The deeper you are, the better your chances of success as a team. For both the women’s and men’s swim teams, the 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, hosted by Loyola College will be decided by depth and after the first day of competition on Thursday, that subject was on the mind of head coach Steve Fletcher.
The men’s team is in first place and the women’s team is in second place after day one of competition. “The women’s team has a stronger shot at winning the meet because the team has more depth than the men’s side,” said Fletcher. “The men are only leading second place Marist by 31 points and that’s with winning both relays on Thursday. So, yes, I am concerned on the men’s side. The women’s team, even though we are in second, we are in better position because we are deeper and they are going to get better as the meet goes on.”
Of course the depth argument can go out the window when you have a Modrov. Two Modrov’s? Even better.
For the Rider women, freshman Priscilla Modrov (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) set a MAAC and Rider school record in the 200IM, winning with a time of 2:05.92.
For the Rider men, junior Brandon Modrov (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) set a Rider school record with a first place finish in the 200 IM (1:52.01).
“Both teams swam well,” added Fletcher. "Lots of personal bests and Priscilla setting a conference record was huge, both mentally for the rest of the team and in the points standings as well.”
Both Modrov times qualified for the USA Swimming U.S. Open Cut which will be held next December. The meet features some of the top swimmers in the world.
“We’ve had swimmers qualify for the U.S. Open meet in the past but we haven’t been able to send swimmers due to schedule conflicts. This coming season, we are planning to be there in December,” said Fletcher.
On such a talented team, with a freshman so successful, you might think the pressure is on for Priscilla to carry the team. Not with the depth the team has.
“The senior and junior classes on the women’s side are clearly the leaders of the team,” said Fletcher. “Priscilla has gone through the ups and downs that every freshman has being a student-athlete. How to budget time, keep up practice intensity, train correctly. All of these things have been handled successfully by Priscilla because of the upperclassmen leading her and the rest of the team.” Not to mention the advantage of having an older brother on the men's team to look up to.
And here’s where the team depth dives right back in. For the first time in many years, the Broncs had two divers from the women’s team place in the top five of the one-meter, with freshman Erin Crossing (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) finishing third (213.85) and junior Shannen Kahler (Ojai, Calif./Chaparral/Grossmont CC) finishing fifth (202.95).
“You can’t lose sight of the importance of what Erin and Shannen did tonight,” added Fletcher. “This is going to be a close meet and every point is going to count and to put two divers in the top five, in an event when we haven’t done that in a number of years, that shows how deep the team is.”
Also for the men’s team, senior Dan Burgess (Greeley, Colo./Union Colony Prep) won the 50 free (20.83) with the men’s 400 freestyle relay team of freshman Josh Rosenbluth (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence), Modrov, Burgess and junior Eric McFerin (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) winning with a time of 3:23.78, six one-hundredths of a second faster than second place Marist. The 200 free style relay of Burgess, Modrov, sophomore Peter Starr (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area Senior) and McFerin also won with a time of 1:23.43, nine one-hundredths of a second faster than second place Marist. Junior Andy French (Richfield, Minn./Richfield Senior) finished second in the 500 free (4:36.38).
“The relays on the men’s side were huge,” added Fletcher. "To finish first in both, by such a close margin, that was an emotionally uplifting effort on the men’s side and just may carry us through the rest of the meet.”
Also for the women’s team, junior Courtney Clark (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) won the 500 free (5:04.43) and the 200 freestyle relay of sophomore Stephanie Cosentino (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy), junior Lauren Urbanski (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby), senior Rose Brenner (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) and Modrov won with a time of 1:37.72.
For the men’s diving team, senior Chris Coles (Plainsboro, N.J./WW-P North) is in first place and sophomore Dylan Korn (Hawthorne, N.Y./Westlake) is currently in second place in the three-meter dive after the preliminary round.
Competition continues on Friday with the Broncs going to whatever depths necessary to win a championship.
-RU-
| Men's Scores | Women's Scores | |
| 1. Rider 230 | 1. Marist 253 | |
| 2. Marist 199 | 2. Rider 241 | |
| 3. Loyola 130 | 3. Loyola 163 | |
| 4. Niagara 100 | 4. Fairfield 134 | |
| 5. Iona 97 | 5. Iona 94 | |
| 6. Saint Peter's 69 | 6. Niagara 87 | |
| 7. Canisius 62 | 7. Manhattan 53 | |
| 8. Fairfield 50 | 8. Siena 51 | |
| 9. Canisius 50 | ||
| 10. Saint Peter's 30 |
