Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"February 22, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
February
22, 2002
|
| Sophomore Garrett Shannon competes in the 500m freestyle event at the West Point Open earlier in the season. She placed second in the 200m butterfly event during the Patriot League championships Saturday. |
The Army’s men’s swimming and diving team’s two-year winning streak at the Patriot League Championships came to an end Saturday at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md., as the Lehigh Mountain Hawks came away with the team title. Despite placing third, the Army men have captured the championship nine times in the past 12 seasons.
Lehigh completed the three-day competition with 694 points, while newcomer American finished behind them with 643 points. Army’s third-place tally of 575 was its lowest point total since the league’s inaugural championship meet in 1991.
The men’s team had a number of strong performances on Saturday, but claimed only one winner when freshman Sebastian Rodriguez took first-place in the 100-yard butterfly (1:51.20). Rodriguez’ time was only .04 seconds faster then Colgate’s James Hadley.
In their final Patriot League appearances, senior Lucas Meyers picked up a second-place finish in the 100-freestyle (45.84) and classmate Mychajlo Eliaszewsky placed third in the 200-breaststroke (2:03.10). Also performing for the final time in a Patriot League event was senior diver Matt Lofton, who finished in third-place off the 1-meter springboard (262.95). Lofton will return to Lejeune Hall March 16 to compete at the NCAA Diving Regionals.
The women’s sixth-place finish was its lowest ever, and its total of 327 points was enough to beat only Lafayette (225 points) and Holy Cross (198). Although the Army women experienced a tough three-day tournament, they still received strong performances Saturday from sophomore Garrett Shannon who placed second in the 200-fly (2:08.01) and freshman diver Sarah Get who scored a 367.95 off the 3-meter springboard.
Navy ended up capturing the women’s title with 663 points, the Bucknell Bison placed second with 632 points.
Army’s swimmers and divers will now prepare for their next set of tournaments. The men’s team looks forward to the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships, while the women will train for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. Both meets run from Thursday through March 2.
All-Patriot accolades earned
The Patriot League announced Wednesday that five Black Knights were named to its
2002 Patriot League Swimming and Diving all-league team. Being honored were
Eliaszewskyj, Lofton, Meyers, Rodriquez and Shannon.
This is the third time Meyers has earned a spot on the all-league squad. Lofton and Eliaszewskyj grabbed their second nominations while Rodriguez and Shannon are first time selections.
