Salisbury splits meet with Catholic on Senior Day
SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's and women's swimming teams split a meet with Catholic University on Saturday afternoon in the Maggs Center pool. The SU women's team claimed a 114-91 victory over Catholic while the men dropped a 118-87 decision to the visiting Cardinals. It was Senior Day at the meet, as it was the final home contest of the season for the Sea Gulls.
The Salisbury women's team (7-4, 3-3 CAC) posted five of eleven first-place finishes as SU topped Catholic by 31 points. The maroon and gold also posted five second-place finishes and seven third-place finishes. The Sea Gulls had nine women collect at least one first, second, or third place finish. The Sea Gulls had a clean sweep in the 100-meter fly and had atleast two members of the top-three in six other events. SU was led by another outstanding performance by sophomore Katy Turner. The Salisbury, Md., native continued her assault on the record books as she had a first-place finish in the 100-meter fly in a school-record time of 1:08.41. She also claimed a second-place finish in the 100-meter breast (1:20.66).
"She had an awesome performance," said Head Coach Jill Stephenson. "We would have liked for her to set the pool record today as well, but it gives her something to work for next year. She went into the meet looking to break the 100 and she did just that."
The Sea Gulls saw three other women claim first-place laurels in seniors Laura Kordzikowski and Raienne South, and freshman Katie Fitzenreiter. Kordzikowski held off Catholic's Brenna Foust as she was victorious in the 400-meter free with a time of 4:57.83. South won a close race of her own in the 200-meter freestyle (2:19.20). Fitzenreiter dominated the 800-meter free for the second consecutive week as she won by over 17 seconds with a time of 9:57.16. Fitzenreiter touched the wall third in the 100-meter breast (1:24.48) and South was third as well in the 100-meter free (1:04.06). Freshman Robin Stone had two second-place finishes in the 200-meter IM (2:41.72) and the 100-meter backstroke (1:13.77). Junior Angie Hammond was solid for SU as she had a second place-finish in the 100-meter fly (1:14.26) and a third-place finish in the 50-meter free (29.72). Junior Lindsay Southworth had two third-place finishes in the 200-meter IM (2:43.81) and the 100-meter backstroke (1:14.70). SU had two freshman notch third-place honors in Katie Thompson (100-meter fly, 1:16.67) and Katie Stamm (200-meter free, 2:24.45).
"We are so excited," said Kordzikowski. "It was an entire team effort today. It's really great to see all the hard we have put in pay off."
The women opened the day with a first and second place finish in the 200-meter relay. The team of Southworth, Turner, junior Jessica Krauss, and freshman Katie Leffner won the event with a time of 2:15.19. They were closely followed by SU's Hammond, sophomore Jenelle Irwin and freshmen Jessica Cahill and Kelly Closs as the group claimed second in 2:17.15. SU was also first in the 200-meter freestyle relay (1:59.35) as Kordzikowski, Fitzenreiter, and South teamed up with freshman Jenna Petrella. The team consisting of Stone, Stamm, Leffner, and senior Allie Ziegler was second (2:02.14).
The Salisbury men's team (6-5, 4-2 CAC) had four-first place finishes, four second-place finishes, and six third-place finishes. The men had six swimmers notch at least one first, second, or third-place finish. SU was led by junior Mike Ferrari, who claimed two first-place honors. The Columbia, Md., product edged out Catholic's Sean Murphy to claim the first victory on the day for the SU men in the 200-meter IM (2:22.50). He also won another close race in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:11.38.
"The men looked good out there today," said Stephenson. "Catholic is a huge competitor and our teams are so evenly matched. Although we didn't win, the men still swam a great meet. I am really happy with their performances."
Senior Benjamin S. Overholt won the 100-meter free (57.21) and collected second-place laurels in the 200-meter free (2:05.32). Sophomore Drew Robichaud notched the most top-three finishes for the men as he was second in the 800-meter free (9:26.78) and third in both the 100-meter backstroke (1:05.62) and the 200-meter IM (2:25.57). Senior Brad Buckley had a second-place finish in the 50-meter free (26:10) and sophomore Michael Radloff finished third in the 400-meter free (4:37.54). SU was paced by the performance of freshman Jason Preston, who had a pair of third-place awards in the 200-meter free (2:09.39) and the 100-meter fly (1:04.44).
The men opened the day with a second and third-place in the 200-meter medley relay. Overholt, Ferrari, and Preston teamed up with sophomore Tim Metcalf to finish second (1:57.31). Salisbury senior Ian Branigan, sophomore Kyle Miller, and freshmen Steve Eyler and Tim DiFatta were third with a time of 2:01.02. The final race of the day, the 200-meter freestyle relay, saw a disqualification from one Salisbury relay team and a slow start from the top Catholic relay team. The group of Eyler, Miller, Radloff, and Branigan put together a remarkable performance to take advantage of the other's misfortunes to win the race in a time of 1:45.68.
"We knew we had to step it up after what happened in the beginning," said Branigan. "The pressure was on and we capitalized on it. We have worked so hard to get to where we are. It was my final race here and I have mixed feelings about it all. I know I am going to miss swimming at Salisbury, but it's been the greatest time I have ever had."
The meet marked the final home meet for seven Salisbury swimmers in Ryan Forbes, Branigan, Buckley, Overholt, Kordzikowski, South, and Ziegler. The seven seniors claimed a total of 12 first, second, and third-place finishes in the meet.
The Sea Gulls will have two weeks before they swim in the CAC championships, which are scheduled to begin on February 13 at St. Mary's (Md.). Last season, the men took home third-place honors while the women claimed a fourth-place finish.
