University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Swimming & Diving Opens Competition at BIG EAST Championship
2/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
EAST MEADOW, NY (Feb. 19) - The University of Connecticut women’s 400 yard medley relay team placed third in a school record time of 3:46.10 to highlight the Huskies’ opening day of competition at the annual BIG EAST Conference Swimming & Diving Championship. The event will run through Saturday evening at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y. Overall, the UConn women are fifth out of 12 schools after the first day’s events while the Husky men rank eighth out of 12.
The quartet of Ryan Smith, Jacquelyn Craft, Lindsay Hansen and Kydani Dover were UConn’s top finishers on the afternoon as they eclipsed the previous school high water mark in the event of 3:52.05, set by Erin Moran, Kate Larson, Karri Carpenter and Rachel Schwartz at the 2001 BIG EAST Championship. Not to be outdone, the women’s 200 freestyle relay team also set a school record as Courtney Townsend, Smith, Katy Cerrito and Dover teamed up to place fifth in a time of 1:34.92.
Another bright spot for the Huskies on Thursday was Townsend who qualified for the finals of the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 23.78. Townsend would place seventh in the final with a time of 23.98. Hansen and Cassie Novak were the top two finishers in the consolation heat of the 500 freestyle, posting a pair of seasonal bests with times of 4:56.14 and 4:56.78, respectively. Craft and Smith also advanced out of the qualifying rounds to make the consolation rounds of the 200 individual medley, where they placed 15th and 16th respectively in times of 2:05.91 and 2:06.90.
On the men’s side, the team’s top placing of the opening day’s competition was a sixth place finish in the 400 medley relay as Mike McNulty, Nick Acquavito, Dustin Rogers and Connor Murphy finished in a seasonal-best 3:23.25. UConn also had a good showing in the day’s other relay event as Tristan Jones, John Bellinger, Bill Monaghan and Murphy worked together to finish the 200 freestyle in 1:24.00, also a UConn seasonal-best. No Huskies advanced to event finals on day one, but a pair had good showings in consolation rounds. Rogers placed 11th in the 50 freestyle with a top time of 20.68 while Bill Monaghan placed 15th in the 500 freestyle with a top time of 4:32.13.
Competition will continue in Nassau County all day on Friday. Amongst the day’s highlights for UConn will be Rogers competing in the 100 butterfly, an event which he won at last year’s BIG EAST Championship.
