Capital Athletic Conference Championships

SAINT MARY'S CITY, Maryland, February 16. THE Mary Washington swim teams did it again impressively, extending their win streaks to 19-straight women's championships and nine-straight men's titles at the 2009 CAC Swimming Championships.

The UMW women totaled 904 points to capture top honors, which they've done every year since the inception of the championship in 1991. Host St. Mary's captured second place with 631 points, followed by Marymount (512), Salisbury (388), York (311), Gallaudet (158) and Hood (117).

St. Mary's senior Brie McDowell and head coach Andre Barbins were selected as the Women's Swimmer and Women's Coach of the Year, respectively. McDowell also won the Women's Swimmer of the Year in 2007 while Barbins won the Coaching award for the second-straight season.

Mary Washington freshman Megan DeSmit was named the CAC Rookie of the Year, the sixth-straight year an Eagle has won the award.

In the men's team standings, UMW captured the crown for the 15th time in 19 years with 851.5 points. York placed second with 683, and St. Mary's (470) outdueled Salisbury (422.5) for fourth place. Marymount finished fifth with 370, followed by Hood (154) and Gallaudet (117).

UMW swept the men's individual award as sophomore Stephen Clendenin was named the Men's Swimmer of the Year, classmate Tyler Henderson was picked as the Rookie of the Year and Matt Sellman was selected as the Coach of thge Year. Clendenin previously earned the 2008 CAC Rookie of the Year award.

In Sunday's women's action, McDowell became the first swimmer in CAC history to win seven gold medals as the three-day 2009 CAC Men's & Women's Swimming Championships came to a close Sunday night. She established seven CAC meet records either individually or as part of a relay team. She notched nine conference records as well as nine St. Mary's marks. Four of her record-setting performances were also NCAA automatic qualifying times.

UMW sophomore Sarah Crockett finished second in the 100 yard freestyle, but in the morning preliminaries, she set the CAC and school records with a time of 52.23, which was later tied in the finals by the winner.

In the women's 1650 freestyle, freshman Virginia Page led the Eagles to a 1-2-3 finish with a time of 18:11.42. In the 200 breastsroke, DeSmit finished first, with a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:24.23, a new CAC championship record.

Marymount's Emily Campbell (52.23 in the 100 freestyle) and SMC's Rachel Hotchko (2:09.65 in the 200 butterfly), along with the Seahawks' 4×100 freestyle relay team (3:31.78), all recorded gold-medal performances Sunday.

In the men's competition, UMW sophomore Brad Dunn won the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:18.32. Henderson finished first in the 200 backstroke at 1:54.23, and Clendenin gained another NCAA provisional time and CAC Championship record of 1:52.06. The men's 400 free relay took first at 3:07.58.

In one of the closest races of the night, York junior Mike Murphy propelled his 6'7" frame to victory in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.14, edging Marymount's Greg Murtha by a mere twelve hundredths-of-a-second. Teammate Matt Jennings touched the wall just behind Murtha, as he recorded a time of 47.48.

Salisbury's Mike Ferrari also gained his second win of the weekend, capturing top honors in the 200 breaststroke (2:13.24). Ferrari also won the 100 breaststroke Saturday.

Special thanks to Capital Athletic Conference for contributing this report.

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