February 11, 2011
Rodriguez Swims NCAA Automatic Qualifying Time
Geneseo junior CJ Schaub swam into the SUNYAC conference and meet record books for the men’s 100-yard breaststroke Friday morning with a time of 57.10, highlighting the preliminaries of the second day of the 2011 SUNYAC Championships. Schaub topped the previous meet record by five-tenths of a second (57.63, 2007 held by James Kallio, Geneseo) and broke a 16 year-old conference record by almost three-tenths of a second (57.37, 1995 by Charlie Manners, Oswego). Schaub will compete in the finals tonight, joined by teammate Ken Pink who is the two-time defending champion in the event.
Geneseo’s Michelle Rodriguez became the first swimmer of the SUNYAC Championships to post an NCAA Division IIII Championship automatic qualifying time Friday morning. Competing in the 200-yard freestyle, the senior touched the wall at 1:52.08, besting the “A” cut time by .46 seconds (1:52.54). New Paltz’s Marissa Morris made a “B” cut time in the event at 1:54.86.
Other highlights from the preliminaries included Chelsea Allocco of New Paltz earning the top seed in the 400 individual-medley finals with a national provisional time of 4:37.64, seven seconds faster than the second seed tonight. New Paltz holds the top two seeds on the men’s side in the event, led by defending champion Rob Webb (4:16.40) and followed closely by Marc Battisti (4:17.69). Two other Hawk swimmers will also return to the event finals tonight as the top seed, hoping to defend their conference titles, including Becky Baker in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.86) and Yuka Suzuka in the 100 backstroke (59.48).
The Cortland Red Dragons have three individuals entered as the top seed following the preliminary swim Friday morning. Sophomore Benjamin Strickland clocked a “B” cut time of 52.54 in the 100-backstroke but will have tough competition going up against the current conference record holder Josh Kaplan of Geneseo who is seeded second at 52.80.
Matt Distler and Jessica Evans are the other two Red Dragons who posted top times this morning in the 200 freestyle (1:44.19) and the 100-butterfly (59.01), respectively. On the men’s side of the 100-butterfly Austin Brennan of Geneseo is the top seed entering tonight’s final with a 52.32.
The 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relays will also take place this evening as the SUNYAC teams return to the Burt Flickinger Center for the finals at 6pm.
The 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relays will also take place this evening as the SUNYAC teams return to the Burt Flickinger Center for the finals at 6pm.
