CLEVELAND, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay women took another step toward their
seventh straight conference title on Friday, extending their lead over the rest
of the field, while senior Jason Askew
(Durban, South Africa) paced the Phoenix men on day three of the 2011 Horizon
League Swimming and Diving Championships at the Busbey Natatorium on the campus
of Cleveland State.
The
Green Bay women's squad used its depth of Friday to build a 78.5-point lead
over second-place Milwaukee, as the Phoenix now has 566.5 points with just one
day remaining in the meet. The Phoenix men remained in fifth place after the
third day, finishing with 299 points.
Askew turned in an impressive performance in
the men's 100-yard breaststroke, cruising to an individual Horizon League title
with a time of 55.11. The winning time shattered his own school record of
56.80, which he set with a fourth-place showing at last year's conference meet.
In addition, Askew's time was fast enough to achieve an NCAA B cut.
While the women did not have an individual winner on Friday, they were
able to place several competitors in the top eight to rack up the points and
build their lead.
The Phoenix women placed three in the top five in the 400 IM, as Amber Bartholomew (Alexandria, Minn.)
earned a third-place finish (4:25.37), Melissa Killpatrick (Elk River, Minn.) picked up a fourth-place finish (4:26.47)
and Lauren Caruso (DeForest, Wis.) ended
in fifth place (4:26.66). Bartholomew broke her own school record in the event
in Friday morning's prelims (4:23.84), snapping her old mark of 4:24.97 which
she set at the 2010 championship meet.
Green Bay had three women place in the top eight in the 200 freestyle,
as Shannon Demrow (Algonquin, Ill.)
(1:52.18), Heather Bodin (Maple
Grove, Minn.) (1:52.32) and Alyssa Danielson (Rogers, Minn.) (1:52.73) went 5-6-7. In the 100 backstroke,
Green Bay's Emilee Harry (Sheboygan,
Wis.) made the podium with a fourth-place finish, touching in at 56.86.
Junior Amy Burback (Waunakee,
Wis.) picked up a third-place finish in 100 breaststroke (1:03.79), while Caruso
also performed in the event, placing fourth with a time of 1:04.40.
After a fourth-place showing in the 3-meter dive on Wednesday, Kayla Deters (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) earned
a runner-up finish in Friday's 1-meter event. The senior posted a score of
256.30 on the low board, finishing just seven points behind Cleveland State's
Kacey Cummings. Deters' freshman teammate Merissa Gatti (Lakeville, Minn.) continued her solid debut at the Horizon League
Championships, earning a fourth-place finish (239.20) after finishing eighth in
Wednesday's 1-meter competition.
Senior Andrew Gelden (Kenosha,
Wis.) had a strong showing in the 400 IM for the Phoenix men, finishing sixth
with a time of 4:05.07. Classmate Ryan Loy (New London, Wis.) also earned a sixth-place finish Thursday, finishing
the 100 butterfly in 49.80.
The Green Bay swimmers and divers have just one day remaining at the
2011 Horizon League Championships. Competition resumes Saturday morning with
preliminaries at 9 a.m. CT, with finals beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT. Fans can
watch all finals live on GreenBayPhoenix.com via the Horizon League Network.
For more information, visit the Championship
Central page.
Women's Team Scores
Green Bay - 566.5
Milwaukee - 488
Cleveland State - 471.5
Wright State - 392
UIC - 319
Youngstown State - 220.5
Valparaiso - 101
Butler - 68.5
Men's Team Scores
UIC - 538
Milwaukee - 537.5
Cleveland State - 470.5
Wright State - 348
Green Bay - 299
Valparaiso - 88
