February 17, 2007 - Broncs at ECAC's - Day Two

February 17, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Swimming – Rider @ ECAC’s
Day Two – Women: 2nd of 16 / Men 5th of 18

Cambridge, Mass.-- The Rider men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are competing at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Harvard University with the women’s team in second place out of 16 teams and the men in fifth out of 18 teams after day two.  “Both teams swam extremely well,” said head coach Steve Fletcher.  “I expect Sunday to be the same way.”

For the women’s team, freshman Amanda Burke (Churchville, Pa./William Tennett) won three-meter dive with a score of (285.95), sophomore Priscilla Modrov (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge ) won the 400 IM with a time of 4:25.70 and freshman Kellyanne Tomasula (Sussex, N.J./Vernon Township) won the 100 back (57.51).

“We had some of the swimmers drop their times from the MAAC Championships last week,” Fletcher said.  “And that speaks to their mental toughness.  It’s very hard, after the emotion of the conference meet to stay focused and perform as well at ECAC’s but historically, we’ve gotten stronger as this meet has gone on.”

For the men’s team, senior Brandon Modrov (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) won the 100 breast (56.96) and sophomore Josh Rosenbluth (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) won the 100 back with a time of 51.38.

Also for the women’s team, senior Lauren Urbanski (Lansdowne, Pa./Upper Darby) was second in the 100 butterfly (57.17) with the 200 medley relay of junior Stephanie Cosentino (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy), Urbanski, Modrov and Tomasula finishing second with a time of 1:48.40.  Cosentino also placed ninth in the 200 free (1:56.94).

Also for the men’s team, junior Peter Starr (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area Senior) was third in the 100 back (51.75), senior Andy French (Richfield, Minn./Richfield Senior) was fifth in the 400 IM (4:06.30) and freshman Scott Player (Chino Hills, Calif./Ruben S. Ayala) was sixth in the 100 butterfly (51.50).

The men’s 200 medley relay of Player, Rosenbluth, Brandon Modrov, and Starr placed second with a time of 1:33.84.

“I think as a team, we are really strong mentally,” Fletcher added.  “We emphasize this type of swimming from the start of the year and the team knows that the events are coming and they know what is expected of them as the season goes along.”

The women’s 800 free relay of senior Courtney Clarke (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), freshman Lovette Leonhard (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), senior Hayley Wittsack (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) and senior Adrianne Glasgow (Davidsonville, MD/Saint Mary’s) placed ninth with a time of 8:05.91.  Wittsack was ninth in the 400 IM (4:43.54), Glasgow was 13th in the 400 IM (4:49.72) and 17th in the 100 butterfly (1:00.86) and Clark placed 24th in the 200 free (2:02.44).

Sophomore Ericka Kriedel (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield) was 13th in the 100 back (1:02.65) and senior Ryan Mitten (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) was 14th in the 100 butterfly (1:00.15).

Junior Matt Bauer (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) was 10th in the 100 breast (1:00.42), sophomore Drew Palmieri (Hanover, Mass./Boston Coll. HS/Mercersburg Acad.) was 13th in the 400 IM (4:17.44) and sophomore Bryan Mejia (Long Branch, N.J./Long Branch) was 15th in the 100 back (56.47)

The men’s 800 free relay of Rosenbluth, French, freshman Alex Grubbs (York, Pa./York Suburban) and freshman Brian Brady (Turnersville, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) finished 10th with a time of 7:09.46.  Brady was also 37th in the 200 free (1:47.69) and Grubbs finished 47th in the 200 free (1:51.98).

Earlier in the day, senior diver Shannen Kahler (Ojai, CA) hit the board competing in the three-meter dive and is expected to be hospitalized overnight for observation after receiving stitches according to Fletcher.  “Shannen was more upset that she didn’t get to finish the event,” Fletcher said.  “She has already qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving in early March and hopefully she will be back for that event.”

After Kahler was injured, fellow Bronc diver Amanda Burke shook off the incident and won the three-meter event.  “Amanda set a team record and shook off what happened to her teammate to win and it shows how strong she is mentally that she was able to do that,” Fletcher said.  “You are worried for your teammate but you still have to perform your dives and you don’t want to make an error and have the same thing happen.  It was hard on all of the divers after Shannen was injured but we hope to have Shannen back with us on the pool deck on Sunday, cheering the teams on.”

-RU-