Devon Healy was a second team all-league honoree in 2009
2/16/2010 2:02:17 PM
OFF THE BLOCKS
The Colgate men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will take to the road to compete at the Patriot League Championships at Navy’s Lejeune Hall in Annapolis. The event begins Thursday morning with the close coming Saturday. Fans can follow the championship on Patriot League All-Access as well as LiveStats.
MEN
The men will look to improve on their fifth place performance at last year’s championship at Bucknell. The Raiders made a late push for fourth, but fell 4.5 points short of Lehigh. Colgate set eight school records and just missed the school mark in the 1650 by less than a second. Also, seven freshmen records fell and Colgate posted nine top 10 finishes. The Raiders ended the meet on a high finishing second in the 400 free relay, their best ever showing in that event at the Patriot League Championships.
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PERFORMERS
Returning first team all-league performer Tucker Gniewek (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and second team honoree Devon Healy (New Canaan, Conn.) led Colgate into the three-day event. Gniewek posted three top five performances at Bucknell finishing third in the 50 (20.35), fourth in the 100 free (45.07) and fifth in the 100 back (51.16). The junior is seeded seventh in the 50 free, 11th in the 100 free and 14th in the 100 back. Healy had three top 10 individual performances last year – finishing sixth in the 400 IM (3:59.20), seventh in the 200 IM (1:53.14) and 10th in the 1650 free. Healy is seeded eighth in the 400 IM, 12th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 1650 free.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS FROM LAST SEASON
Sophomore Costas Hadjipateras (New Canaan, Conn.) made a nice opening splash at his first Patriot League Championship. In 2009, he placed fifth in the 200 fly (1:51.62) and 12th in the 100 free. Hadjipateras will take the eighth best time into competition in the 200 fly. Other top 12 individual performances came from Pat White (Stamford, Conn.), who finished ninth in the 200 free and 12th in the 1650; Casey Powers (Chappaqua, N.Y.) was eighth in the 1650 free (16:00.88); Teddy Perley (Harrison, N.Y.) was eighth in the 100 breast (57.69); Tyler Coolman (Fort Collins, Colo.) was 11th in the 200 breast, while Robert Rutkowski (Lititz, Pa.) finished 12th in the 100 and 200 fly events.
LOOKING TO MAKE A SPLASH
Freshman Dan Sweeney (New Canaan, Conn.) is seeded among the top 10 in two events – fifth in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free. He also will carry the 12th best time into the 100 fly. Colgate has two divers seeded among the top 10 from the one-meter board in Tyler Makepeace (Wallingford, Conn.) and Nick Burkus (Weston, Mass.) who are seeded seventh and eighth respectively. Burkus is ranked ninth in three meters heading into the event.
WOMEN
Colgate heads to Annapolis looking to win its third consecutive league title. The Raiders captured their first crown at Lejeune Hall in 2008 and then successfully defended the title last year at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium. Colgate dominated the event in Lewisburg as it claimed first place performances in 14 of 18 swimming events; set 14 league and championship records, as well as 11 pool records en route to a 102.5-point victory over its closest competitor – Navy. The 862 points were the second highest total in the championship’s three-day history. After the meet, 13 Raiders garnered either first or second team all-league honors – eight of them will be competing in Annapolis including five first team honorees.
DEFENDING THEIR CROWNS
Juniors Erin McGraw (Penfield, N.Y.) and Caren Guyett (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) will each be defending two individual titles in Annapolis. Last year, McGraw, the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Meet, captured the titles in the 100 fly (54.08) and 200 back (1:58.77). Entering the preliminaries this year, she is the top seed in the 100 fly (55.31) and is seventh in the 200 back. Guyett will be out to defend her two titles in the 400 IM (4:15.63) and 200 fly (2:01.31). She is seeded second in both events. McGraw is entered in three additional events – the 200 IM and the 200 fly, where she is seeded fifth and third respectively. She is also seeded second in the 100 free. Guyett will carry the third-seeded time into the prelims of the 500 free.
OTHER FIRST TEAM RETURNEES
Senior Caitlin Curran (Alpharetta, Ga.), junior Emily Kelly (Potomac, Md.) and sophomore Erica Derlath (Garden City, N.Y.) were also major factors in Colgate’s 2009 title team. Curran posted three top five efforts in the 100 breast (4th – 1:03.26) and 200 breast (3rd – 2:17.15) and fifth in the 200 IM (2:06.20). She is only seeded among the top 10 in two of the events – seventh in the 200 breast and 10th in the 200 IM. Kelly posted three top five finishes at Kinney Natatorium, placing third in the 500 free (4:55.20), 200 fly (2:03.27), and fifth in the 1650 (17:11.77). Her top seeded event is 11th in the 1650. Derlath tallied a pair of seconds in the 1650 free (16:39.72) and 400 IM (4:15.79) as well as an eighth place performance in the 200 back (2:05.61). In the 2010 championships, she is the top seed in the 400 IM; third seed in the 1650 free and fourth in the 500 free.
SECOND TEAM RETURNEES
Three returning second team all-league performers will be competing for the Raiders in Annapolis. Courtney Callahan (White Plains, N.Y.) finished sixth in the 200 breast (2:21.04) and seventh in the 100 breast (1:04.7), while Jenna Daly (Garden City, N.Y.) placed fourth in the 500 (4:56.75) and 1650 free (17:05.55) and later finished ninth in the 200 free. Sarah Button (Mendham, N.J.) is the third and final returning second team all-league honoree. She recorded fourth place efforts in the 100 (56.77) and 200 backs (2:01.24) as well as a 10th in the 100 fly. Daly’s top seeded event is 14th in the 500 free, while Button is 11th in the 200 back and 12th in the 100 back. Callahan isn’t seeded among the top 15 in her events.
OTHER TOP 10 FINISHERS FROM LAST YEAR
Seniors Kim Siembieda (Narbeth, Pa.) and Sarah Sciarrino (Buffalo, N.Y.) will be performing in their final collegiate competition. As juniors, Sciarrino placed ninth in the 50 free, while Siembieda touched in 10th in the 100 back. Sciarrino will take the eighth seeded time into the preliminaries of the 50 free, while Siembieda’s top seeded event is 12th in the 50 free. Erika Mortenson (Chesterfield, Mo.) finished eighth in the 1650 as a freshman. This time around, she is seeded 14th in the 1650.
TOP FRESHMEN
Three rookies look to make immediate impact on the roster at the league championships. After failing to get points in the two diving events in 2009, Colgate appears primed to get some help from Kim Pilka (Great Falls, Va.). The freshman is the top seed in the three-meter competition (280.55) and is second off the one-meter board (262.20). Earlier this season, she set the freshman record from the three-meter board and qualified for Zones. Lia Kunnapas (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) is seeded second in the 100 and 200 backs; fifth in the 100 fly and sixth in the 200 fly, while Emma Santoro (Fall River, Mass.) is seeded among the top six in two events – third in the 200 breast and sixth in the 100 breast.