{"id":186591,"date":"2016-02-21T08:36:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T15:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=186591"},"modified":"2016-02-21T08:36:05","modified_gmt":"2016-02-21T15:36:05","slug":"umass-men-richmond-women-win-atlantic-10-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/umass-men-richmond-women-win-atlantic-10-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"UMass Men, Richmond Women Win Atlantic 10 Titles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Massachusetts men and Richmond women captured the 2016 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championship titles at the SPIRE Institute Saturday.<\/p>\n

The victory marks the Minutemen\u2019s second consecutive A-10 men\u2019s championship and third in the last five years.\u00a0 UMass, who finished with 671 points, held the lead after every day of competition.\u00a0 The Minutemen got off to a good start Saturday evening thanks to Alessandro Bomprezzi and Kyle Vieira taking gold and bronze, respectively, in the 1,650-yard freestyle.<\/p>\n

St. Bonaventure finished in second with 482 points on the men\u2019s side.\u00a0 UMass and St. Bonaventure were followed by La Salle (473.5), Saint Louis (457.5), George Washington (398), George Mason (396), Davidson (371) and Fordham (272.5).<\/p>\n

George Washington\u2019s junior Andrea Bolognesi was honored as the Men\u2019s Most Outstanding Performer after recording first-place finishes and setting A-10 records in the 100-yard breaststroke (52.44), the 100-yard butterfly (47.18) and the 200-yard IM (1:46.54).\u00a0 He was also a member of the silver-medal winning 400-yard medley relay, the bronze-medal winning 200-yard medley relay and the fifth-place 200-yard freestyle relay teams<\/p>\n

UMass\u2019 Kellen Gray and Trent Kindvall were named Men\u2019s Most Outstanding Rookie and Most Outstanding Diver, respectively. Gray finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and fifth in the 200-yard backstroke.\u00a0 The Minutemen\u2019s Trent Kindvall was honored as the Most Outstanding Diver after finishing first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 290.75.\u00a0 He also recorded a third-place finish in the 1-meter dive with a score of 285.90.<\/p>\n

In the 200-yard butterfly, Fordham senior Steve Sholdra set an A-10 record with an NCAA \u201cB\u201d qualifying time of 1:47.10.\u00a0 Saint Louis\u2019 400-yard freestyle relay team took gold, as did Michael Pilyugin in the 200-yard backstroke, Ryan McCoy in the 100-yard freestyle and Johan Roth in the 200-yard breaststroke.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts\u2019 Russ Yarworth and Mandy Hixon were named the A-10 Coach of the Year and Diving Coach of the Year, respectively.<\/p>\n

For Richmond, the title marks the Spiders\u2019 sixth consecutive A-10 crown and 14th<\/sup> in the last 15 years.\u00a0 The Spiders led after every day of competition, and finished with a total of 653.5 points.\u00a0 Richmond started the evening off strong with a bronze-medal performance in the 1,650-yard freestyle by freshman Nicole Piercy (16.56.17), which helped her earn Women\u2019s Most Outstanding Rookie.\u00a0 They also got a gold medal in 3-meter diving from Irina Chiulli (303.30).<\/p>\n

Duquesne University finished in second-place with 487 points, after Sam Ray set an A-10 record in the 100-yard freestyle (49.47).\u00a0 The Women\u2019s Most Outstanding Performer, Elise Lankiewicz, led Davidson to a third-place finish with 466 points.\u00a0 She recorded first-place in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16.39.65), the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.92) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:44.88).<\/p>\n

Trailing Richmond, Duquesne and Davidson in the final standings were Massachusetts (397), Fordham (392), George Mason (345), Rhode Island (204), La Salle (198), George Washington (197), St. Bonaventure (187) and Saint Louis (172.5).<\/p>\n

Fordham\u2019s Megan Polaha set an A-10 record in the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.46) and Davidson\u2019s 400-yard freestyle relay also set an A-10 record (3:19.65).\u00a0 Other winners were Duquesne\u2019s Lexi Santer in the 200-yard backstroke and Davidson\u2019s Katy Williams in the 200-yard breaststroke.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts\u2019 Emma Roush was honored as the Women\u2019s Most Outstanding Diver after finishing first in the 1-meter dive (290.80) and third in the 3-meter dive with a score of 266.85.<\/p>\n

Matt Barany and Sean Letsinger of Richmond won Women\u2019s Coach of the Year and Diving Coach of the Year, respectively.<\/p>\n

Atlantic 10 contributed this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

2016 A-10 Men\u2019s Swimming & Diving Awards<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n