Clemson vs. Emory

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 5. THE mood was festive for the Emory University swimming and diving teams, despite a pair of respectable losses to NCAA Division I Clemson University, as the Eagles paid tribute to their 11 graduating seniors who were participating in their final career meet at the Woodruff P.E. Center on Saturday.

The second-ranked Emory men suffered a 153 – 138 loss to the Tigers, while the Emory women fell 162 – 132.

Prior to the start of the meet, the Eagles recognized the four graduating seniors from the men's squad – Mark Bernstein, Justin Leemis, Mackenzie Perry and Matt Spooner – and the seven soon-to-be graduates from the women's team – Sylvie Curci, Liz Horvat, Marie Kim, Morgan Klinzing, Amy Minowitz, Katie Mroz, and April Whitley.

Among the group of seniors, a number turned in top performances for Emory. For the men, Bernstein placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 500-yard freestyle, both the top finishes by an Eagle at the meet. The women's group of seniors were led by Horvat, who finished second with an ‘A' cut time of 4:27.36 in the 400-yard individual medley, after finishing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle earlier in the meet. Whitley added a pair of first-place finishes, recording ‘B' cut times in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.46) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.86). Mroz chipped in with a ‘B' cut time of 2:24.75 in the 200-yard breaststroke, good for a third-place finish.

The Emory women also received a first-place finish from Jennifer Pak in the 200-yard freestyle, as the freshman recorded a ‘B' cut time of 1:53.50. Other provisional qualifying times by the Eagles' came from freshman Sadie Nennig in both the 100-yard backstroke (58.22 seconds) and 200-yard backstroke (2:06.47), sophomore Leslie Hackler in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.40), junior Claire Pavlak in both the 50-yard freestyle (23.66 seconds) and 100-yard freestyle (52.46 seconds), and Anne Culpepper in the 500-yard freestyle (5:01.14).

The Emory women had strong performances in both relays during the meet, as Ann Wolber, Pak, Culpepper and Pavlak won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a ‘B' cut time of 3:29.12, while Nennig, Whitley, Hackler and Pavlak finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with a ‘B' mark of 1:47.21.

For the Emory men, junior Patrick Augustyn and sophomore Peter O'Brien notched the Eagles' two first-place finishes during the meet, as the former won the 200-yard freestyle with a ‘B' cut time of 1:53.01, while the latter claimed the top spot in the 200-yard breaststroke with a ‘B' mark of 2:06.14. Freshman Ross Spock added on a ‘B' cut performance with a time of 51.95 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke, good for a third-place finish.

Rounding out the meet, two Emory divers turned in NCAA qualifying performances. Sophomore Kolin Smialek won the men's one-meter dive with a qualifying score of 285.00, while freshman Sarah Greene claimed fourth in the three-meter dive with a qualifying score of 277.73.

With the losses, the Emory men's team ended its dual meet season with a record of 3-5, while the women now stand at 4-4. The Clemson men improved to 5-2, while the women raised their record to 4-3 for the campaign.

Emory will now turn its attention towards the championship season, as the Eagles will begin to prepare for the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships at the University of Rochester, starting February 16th.

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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