2009 CAA Championships
Women Finish Fourth, Men Finish Fifth
By Broadside Staff Writer Ryan Dempsey
- This past weekend, Mason’s swimming and diving teams competed in the conference championships. The Mason women finished fourth with 468 points while the men's team ended up in fifth place with 456.5 points.
On the first day of competition, freshmen Nicole Harmon and Ashley Danner, junior Caitlin Impink and senior Mary Beth Cheslock swam the 200-yard medley relay in 1:40.65. This set new team, pool, and meet records and was the top performance in the CAA, and the time made an NCAA B-cut.
Additionally, the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay set a new team record in the event while also meeting the B-cut. The final record to fall on the women's side came from sophomore Lisa Faulkner, who competed in the 3-meter diving. Faulkner’s preliminary score is the best score in team history.
On the men’s side, freshmen Preston Wolter and Max Tyburski, junior Steven Benecki, and sophomore Zachary Hamlin set a new team record in the 800-yard freestyle relay, finishing third overall.
On day two of the meet, two Patriots took home CAA titles as Wolter won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:26.06 and freshman Brian Bahr set a new school record and took first place in the 1-meter diving. Additionally, freshman Derrick
Butts placed third in the 1-meter dive.
On the women's side, three individual performances by the Mason women shattered the record books. Danner took first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:59.99, setting the CAA's top performance record, a CAA Championship record, a team and pool record and met the B-cut standard. In the 50-yard freestyle, Cheslock broke a team record and made B-cut with a second place finish and a time of 22.76.
On day three, Danner was the focus as she earned her second individual CAA title.
Danner made the NCAA automatic cut time in the 100-yard breaststroke, placing first in the event with a time of 59.78. This time set new CAA meet, pool, and team records and is the CAA's top performance.
Other records were broken as junior Claire Weems set a new team record in the preliminaries of the 200-yard freestyle. Wolter placed first in the 400-yard individual medley, setting new meet and team records and making B-cut.
Mason's final victory of the day came in the women's 400-yard medley relay as Harmon, Danner, Impink, and Cheslock set a new team, pool, and meet records and a CAA top performance.
On the final day of competition, Mason claimed three CAA titles. Danner captured her third individual title, swimming to a first-place time of 2:10.21 in the 200-yard
breaststroke and again broke a meet record and qualified for an automatic NCAA Championship spot.
On the men’s side, Wolter won the 1,650-yard freestyle meeting the B-cut time.
Bahr earned first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 376 points.
One last record fell as Cheslock earned third in the 100-yard freestyle with a new team record. Mason finished the Championships with 10 total titles. Towson claimed the women’s team title with 456.5 points and UNC Wilmington took the men's team champion with 721 points.
Three freshmen earned recognition for their performance at the championships. Danner and Wolter were named the Most Outstanding individual swimmers, while Bahr was named the Most Outstanding Male Diver. Diving coach Roland McDonald received the Men's Diving Coach of the Year.
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