Atlantic 10 Championships: Day Three

BUFFALO, New York, February 23. AFTER sitting atop the leader board for the first three days, the Massachusetts men and Richmond women closed out championship titles at the Atlantic 10 Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday evening at the Flickinger Center. Both programs extended their consistency, as the Spiders were crowned the conference champions for the seventh consecutive year, while the Minutemen won for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. Massachusetts finished with a total of 791.5 points and Richmond accumulated 690.5 points.

In the 200-yard backstroke, Duquesne senior Kyla Favret (2:01.49) and George Washington junior David Zenk (1:47.15) both captured gold in the event for the second time in three years. Freshman Nicole LePere of Richmond won silver in the finals (2:02.25) after setting a new conference record of 2:01.08 during preliminaries.

For the third consecutive season, junior Lauren Beaudreau of Richmond took first place in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:15.73, good enough for NCAA qualifying consideration. St. Bonaventure sophomore Mariusz Michalik won the men’s event for the second straight year (2:03.37).

Massachusetts sophomore Mike Berthaume garnered the gold medal in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:51.66. The Spiders’ senior Jessica Witt touched for a time of 2:02.80 on the women’s side for the victory.

The 100-yard freestyle saw Duquesne senior Melissa Johnson earn gold in the event for the second straight year (50.96). On the men’s side, senior Brad Byars of Saint Louis outpaced his competitors in 45.27.

On the women’s three-meter boards, a pair of Minutewomen broke the old A-10 diving record. Freshman Anne Fogerty scored the gold medal winning score of 568.15, while junior Karen Upperco took silver with 563.95 points.

In the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Duquesne men’s team of senior Ian Walsh, sophomore Brendan Schilling and freshmen Edward LeBlanc and Jim O’Hara swam to a gold finish (3:03.05). Witt, Beaudreau and sophomores Alex Helland and Katie Sieben teamed up to capture the win for the Richmond women (3:26.02).

Xavier freshman Kari Peglar captured the gold in the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:05.10. For the men, sophomore Justin Brooks of Massachusetts posted the event’s top time of 15:41.72 to grab the gold for the second consecutive season.

St. Bonaventure finished with 567.5 points to earn second place in the men’s standings, with Xavier placing third with 426.5 points. Rounding out the rest of the field were Duquesne (402), Fordham (357), La Salle (332), Rhode Island (287.5), Saint Louis (257) and George Washington (174).

On the women’s side, Xavier claimed second with 488 points followed by third place Duquesne’s 470. The Dukes were followed by Massachusetts (420.5), Fordham (414), St. Bonaventure (308), La Salle (225), Rhode Island (215), Saint Louis (214) and George Washington (189).

INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS:
Women’s Most Outstanding Performer: Jessica Witt (Richmond)
Women’s Most Outstanding Rookie: Kari Peglar (Xavier)
Women’s Most Outstanding Diver: Karen Upperco (Massachusetts)
Women’s Coach of the Year: Matt Barany (Richmond)
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon (Massachusetts)
Men’s Most Outstanding Performer: David Zenk (George Washington)
Men’s Most Outstanding Rookie: Edward LeBlanc (Duquesne)
Men’s Most Outstanding Diver: RJ Rappe (Massachusetts)
Men’s Coach of the Year: Russ Yarworth (Massachusetts)
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Mandy Hixon (Massachusetts)

Special thanks to the Atlantic 10 for contributing this report.

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