NCAA Division I – Top 25 Times Updated

The college conference championship season is once again upon us; several were held this past weekend, with plenty more to follow in the next three weekends. Add to that some rivalries among top teams in the West, and that makes for a pretty exciting Speedo/CSCAA Top 25 list this time.

The America East Championships were held in Orono, Maine at the campus of the University of Maine. Northeastern University won its third straight women’s title with 832 points, followed by New Hampshire with 694 points and Boston University with 466. Boston University’s men’s squad won its first crown in eight years. BU finished with 733 points, followed by Binghamton’s 613 and Stony Brook’s 558. Binghamton’s Yun Qu posted the only top-25 time of the meet with her 1:59.86 in the 200 yard fly.

The Big West Conference held its championships in Long Beach, Calif. The University of the Pacific won both the men’s and women’s titles, ending the 23-year men’s reign of the University of California-Santa Barbara. Pacific swimmers making the top-10 list include Shannon Catalano, third in the 100 fly (53.59p) and ninth in the 200 fly (1:58.73); Heidi Schmidt, sixth in the 100 breast (1:01.16); and Sarah Marshall, fourth in the 100 (53.87r) and seventh in the 200 back (1:57.65).

In Annapolis, Md., at the Naval Academy, Lehigh’s men and Navy’s women were team winners at the Patriot League Championships. Eleven meet records were bettered during the three-day meet. Winning Swimmer of the Meet honors were Navy senior Melissa Hawley and American junior Mark Liscinsky; Divers of the Meet were Holy Cross senior Kim Rinaldi and Colgate freshman Lane Ellis. Bucknell’s Jerry Foley was named Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, and America’s Mark Davin of American took home Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year honors. Holy Cross’ Brian Boyer was the Diving Coach of the Year.

Out West, several Pac-10 rivalries were renewed. Arizona and Arizona State split their dual meet. Arizona’s women bested Arizona State 199-101, while the Sun Devil men defeated the Wildcats 171.5-128.5 USC’s women defeated the Lady Bruins in Los Angeles 167-144, and the Lady Cardinal defeated California in Palo Alto 159.5-140.5. Those meets, along with Stanford’s defeat of USC the prior weekend by a score of 156.5-84.5, made for some re-writing of the top 25 list.

On the men’s side, new No. 1 times were posted by USC’s Erik Vendt in the 1000 free (8:49.59), Stanford’s Peter Marshall in the 100 back (46.55) and Marshall’s teammate, Markus Rogan, in the 400 IM (3:45.57). Vendt was also second in the 500 free (4:19.83) and sixth in the 200 breast (1:59.05). Other Stanford top-10 times were posted by Randall Bal, Jeff Guyman, Michael Bruce, Bobby O’Bryan, Jayme Cramer and Dan Westcott. For USC, top swimmers included Klete Keller, Rodrigo Castro and Tamas Kerekjarto.

In Pac-10 women’s competition last weekend, Cal’s Staciana Stitts moved up to fourth in the 200 breast (2:11.98) and teammate Alice Henriques to sixth in the 200 back (1:57.50). Stanford’s Shelly Ripple is now fifth in the 200 back (1:56.81), while Lacey Boutwell tied for ninth in the 50 free (22.89). Arizona’s Sarah Tolar is seventh in the 200 free (1:47.19).

The next list, published on Tuesday, March 5, promises to have lots more revisions with more conference championships coming up. Please have all your times in to us no later than noon Mountain time on Monday, March 4. Send them by e-mail to judyj@swiminfo.com, or fax to 928-284-2477.

Complete Top 25 Lists

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