Sun Belt Championships: Day Three

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, February 19. AT the conclusion of day three of the 2010 Sun Belt Swimming and Diving Championships the WKU men and women have perched themselves atop the team standings heading into the final day of competition.

WKU's women lead the team competition with 592 points. North Texas is second with 494 points and Denver is third with 487 points. On the men's side, the WKU men lead with 583.5 points to Denver's 573.5 points. New Orleans is third in the men's competition with 411 points and Florida Atlantic is fourth with 336.

The night's finals competition got off to a great start as Florida Atlantic's Eszter Bucz opening the evening with her second event win of the competition, winning the 400 individual medley in 4:20.31, which is a new FAU freshman record. The previous record was held by FIU's head swimming coach, Noemi Lung-Zaharia, who set the record back in 1991.

Clayton Myers of Denver defended his SBC 400 IM title winning the event in an NCAA B standard qualifying time of 3:51.05. Freshman Phili Graeter of UNO was second in 3:53.33, and Csaba Pek of FAU was third with a time of 3:54.31, all B cut times.

In the women's 100 butterfly, WKU's Claire Donahue set the building on fire blazing to a 51.95 win breaking her own SBC meet and conference record. The time was also the first NCAA A standard time set at the SBC Championships in 2010. The win marked the third-straight year Donahue has won the event. Donahue's win gave the Lady Toppers a 369-318 advantage in the team competition as WKU began to pull away.

Denver took first and third place in the men's 100 butterfly as senior Scott Madaras won the event in an NCAA B cut time of 47.93. Teammate Garth Summers finished third in 49.03.

Denver's Melissa Greeves defended her 200 freestyle crown by winning the race in 1:48.15, more than a second faster than FAU's Jonna Nyback who finished second for the second consecutive year.

In the men's 200 freestyle, Denver earned 20 team points when freshman Cole Worsley finished first in the event, registering a time of 1:38.41. WKU's Sean Penhale and Will Kunkel finished second and third.

WKU's Brittany Doss earned the second win on the evening for the Toppers in the 100 breaststroke. With Doss's win WKU stretched its team lead over North Texas on day three to 53 points (452-399).

An inspiring moment came in the men's 100 breaststroke when UNO's Mark Schindler took home the event title marking the first time a Privateer swimming and diving athlete (male or female) has won an event at the SBC swimming and diving championships in school history. Schindler clocked 55.60 to earn his first title.

In the women's backstroke, Denver's Katy Motsinger broke her own SBC meet and conference record posting a time of 53.73, which is an NCAA B cut time.

Camero Watkins of WKU won the men's 100 backstroke registering a time of 49.58. Watkins' teammate, David Menchinger finished second in the race.

WKU freshman Caitlin Dean won the third event for the Lady Toppers finishing first in the women's one-meter diving competition with 259.95 points improving on her preliminary round score.

The Toppers closed out day three of competition with wins in both the men's and women's 400 medley relay. The WKU women posted a new SBC meet and conference record in the event, posting a time of 3:39.50, while the men won the event with a time of 3:17.57.

The final day of competition begins on Saturday at 11 a.m. central time with the women's 1,650 freestyle. The WKU men look to regain the SBC title while the WKU women look to make it a three-peat.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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