Maryland Women and Western Kentucky Men Take Terrapin Invite

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland, November 23. THE Maryland women's swimming and diving team won the Terrapin Cup Invitational tonight with a total of 1,043.50 team points, 188 points more than second-place Richmond (855.50). Connecticut (685.50), Western Kentucky (376.50) and Yale (230) round out the top five. The Terp women led the field throughout the entire meet.

Junior Megan Knepper (Williamsport, Md.) broke the school record in the 200-yard backstroke during the preliminaries. Her time of 1:59.49 beat the record sophomore Inbal Levavi (Ichad, Israel) set at last season's ACC Championships by .13 seconds. The 200-back is the second school record Knepper has broken this weekend, and the third to fall at the meet. She also broke her own 100-yard backstroke record leading off the 400-yard medley relay on the first day of the invitational, and junior Elizabeth Lavell (Annapolis, Md.) broke her own school record in the 400-yard individual medley yesterday.

Knepper eventually won the 200-back with a time of 1:59.78 in the finals. Lavell had the Terps' other victory of the day, winning the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:22.07. Her times in the 1650-free and the 400-IM automatically qualify her for the NCAA Championships.

The Terps placed four women in the finals for the 100-yard freestyle. Juniors Marina Mulyayeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Cynthia Weir (Irwin, Pa.) finished second and fourth with times of 51.45 and 51.90, respectively, while senior Valerie Courtois (Saveuse, France) placed fifth (52.21) and junior Chrissy Miller (South Seaside Park, N.J.) took eighth.

Three women made it to the finals of the 200-yard butterfly, as well. Freshman Gigi deToll (Culpeper, Va.) finished third (2:04.60), freshman Erica Suguiyama (Ijamsville, Md.) placed fifth (2:05.40) and sophomore Barbara Sumrall (Chattanooga, Tenn.) took seventh (2:07.12).

Other finalists for the women included freshman Amanda Burke (Bethesda, Md.), who finished fifth in the 1650-free (17:09.41); Levavi, who placed third in the 200-back (2:02.30); sophomore Krisztina Kovacs (Budapest, Hungary), who took second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.39); and sophomore Katarina Csomova (Komarno, Slovakia), who finished fifth in the 200-breast.

The WKU Toppers entered the final day with a 111 point lead on second-place UConn, but pushed their advantage to 175 points by the meet's end (889 to 714). The 1650 Free, which Swanson won, was one of three events in which the men's team had two top-five finishers. Senior Kevin Kleman followed Swanson in the 1650 Free with a fourth-place finish, after posting a 16:05.23.

WKU Sophomore Chris Tarter and freshman Travano McPhee finished third and fourth in the 200 Breast with times of 2:06.02 and 2:06.37, respectively, while juniors Paul Graves (1:51.71) and Chad Waits (1:52.12) took second and fourth in the 200 Fly. In that event, WKU had four swimmers inside the top seven, as senior Jay Smith and junior Alex Handley placed sixth and seventh (1:53.46 and 1:54.19, respectively). Junior Nick Bracco grabbed a third-place finish in the 200 Back (1:49.58), followed closely behind by fellow classmate Greg Strickler in sixth(1:52.39).

Final Team Scores

Men
1. W. Kentucky 889
2. UConn 714
3. Maryland 559
4. West Chester 501
5. JMU 335
6. Yale 327
7. William & Mary 234
8. Drexel 230
9. ODU 81
10. Catholic 4

Women
1. Maryland 1043.50
2. Richmond 855.50
3. UConn 685.50
4. W. Kentucky 376.50
5. Yale 230
6. William & Mary 229.50
7. West Chester 218
8. Old Dominion 114
9. James Madison 80.50
10. Drexel 40

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use