Men Finish Third At Terrapin Cup Invitational
11/22/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 22, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's swimming and diving team won the Terrapin Cup Invitational tonight with a total of 1,043.50 team points, 188 points more than second-place Richmond (855.50). Connecticut (685.50), Western Kentucky (376.50) and Yale (230) round out the top five. The Terp women led the field throughout the entire meet.
The men finished in third place with a total of 559 points behind Western Kentucky (889) and Connecticut (714). West Chester (501) and James Madison (335) round out the top five.
Junior Megan Knepper (Williamsport, Md.) broke the school record in the 200-yard backstroke during the preliminaries. Her time of 1:59.49 beat the record sophomore Inbal Levavi (Ichad, Israel) set at last season's ACC Championships by .13 seconds. The 200-back is the second school record Knepper has broken this weekend, and the third to fall at the meet. She also broke her own 100-yard backstroke record leading off the 400-yard medley relay on the first day of the invitational, and junior Elizabeth Lavell (Annapolis, Md.) broke her own school record in the 400-yard individual medley yesterday.
Knepper eventually won the 200-back with a time of 1:59.78 in the finals. Lavell had the Terps' other victory of the day, winning the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:22.07. Her times in the 1650-free and the 400-IM automatically qualify her for the NCAA Championships.
The Terps placed four women in the finals for the 100-yard freestyle. Juniors Marina Mulyayeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Cynthia Weir (Irwin, Pa.) finished second and fourth with times of 51.45 and 51.90, respectively, while senior Valerie Courtois (Saveuse, France) placed fifth (52.21) and junior Chrissy Miller (South Seaside Park, N.J.) took eighth.
Three women made it to the finals of the 200-yard butterfly, as well. Freshman Gigi deToll (Culpeper, Va.) finished third (2:04.60), freshman Erica Suguiyama (Ijamsville, Md.) placed fifth (2:05.40) and sophomore Barbara Sumrall (Chattanooga, Tenn.) took seventh (2:07.12).
Other finalists for the women included freshman Amanda Burke (Bethesda, Md.), who finished fifth in the 1650-free (17:09.41); Levavi, who placed third in the 200-back (2:02.30); sophomore Krisztina Kovacs (Budapest, Hungary), who took second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.39); and sophomore Katarina Csomova (Komarno, Slovakia), who finished fifth in the 200-breast.
Senior Mark Hill (Rye Brook, N.Y.) had the Terps' only individual victory of the day for the men. Hill won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.84. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Hill, freshman Kevin Ford (Sinking Spring, Pa.), junior Mike Fried (Ambler, Pa.) and freshman Chris Tappis (Olney, Md.) also won with a time of 3:02.49.
Other finalists for the men included junior Brad Schertle (Baltimore, Md.), who finished third in the 1650-free (16:04.17); junior Chris Brandenberger (Stony Brook, N.Y.), who took second in the 200-yard backstroke (1:49.40); junior Erik Weinberg (Phoenix, Md.), who finished seventh in the 200-back (1:52.44); junior Tim Potter (West Deptford, N.J.), who placed fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:07.34); and senior diver Steve Vigilante (Plano, Texas), who took third on the 3-meter board (416.34).
After next week off for the holiday, the Terps travel to Federal Way, Wash., for the U.S. Open Dec. 4-6.
Terrapin Cup Invitational Final Team Results WOMEN Place School Finish 1. MARYLAND 1,043.50 2. Richmond 855.50 3. UConn 685.50 4. W. Kentucky 376.50 5. Yale 230 6. William & Mary 229.50 7. West Chester 218 8. Old Dominion 114 9. James Madison 80.50 10. Drexel 40Place School Finish 1. W. Kentucky 889 2. UConn 714 3. MARYLAND 559 4. West Chester 501 5. James Madison 335 6. Yale 327 7. William & Mary 234 8. Drexel 230 9. Old Dominion 81 10. Catholic 4
