Syracuse University
at Nike Cup Challenge
Orangewomen in Fifth Place After First Night at Nike Cup
11/20/2003 5:33:40 PM | Swimming / Diving
Senior Elyse McDonough set two school records and had a hand in scoring 70 of SU's 90 points on the first night of finals competition at the Nike Cup, which is being held at Koury Natatorium on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
McDonough's performance helped push Syracuse into fifth place behind North Carolina (286 points), Michigan (262 points), Clemson (167 points) and Virginia Tech (151 points). LSU trailed SU after the first night in sixth place with 82 points, followed by Kentucky (68), East Carolina (52), North Carolina State (45) and Kenyon (27).
The Orangemen tallied 84 points on the first night to place seventh overall. Tennessee moved out to a substantial lead on the men's side with 307 points. Kentucky and Virginia Tech were tied for second with 172 points and UNC was fourth with 168 points. Clemson was in fifth place with 151 points, followed by LSU with 89, Syracuse with 84, Kenyon with 49, East Carolina with 23 and NC State wtih 15.
McDonough broke her own school record in the women's 200 Individual medley with a new personal-best time of 2:02.60. She placed second in the super final by 23 tenths of a second behind East Carolina's Diane Parker (2:02.37).
Two events later, McDonough topped Erica Bobrek's 1999 SU record in the 50 freestyle (23.77) by swimming the race in a time of 23.70. The new school record gave McDonough a sixth-place finish and helped her garner 13 points for the Orangewomen. Overall, McDonough tallied 30 points in her individual races and assisted on 40 others as she helped SU's 200-yard freestyle relay to an eighth-place finish (1:36.89) and its 400-yard medley relay team to a ninth-place finish with a time of 3:52.77.
In the women's 500-yard freestyle, sophomore Lisa Wittich placed fourth with a time of 4:54.93, while classmate Kristi Westrich was 12th with a time of 5:02.26 in the finals. Also scoring points for the Orangewomen on the first night at the Nike Cup were freshmen Vanessa Martinez and Randi Beaulieu, who contributed in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. Senior Kalei Mahi helped record 18 points for SU in the 400 medley relay. Wittich swam with the 200 freestyle relay.
On the men's side, junior Josh Scott was the top individual point producer with 12 points in the men's 500 freestyle. His time of 4:28.90 gave him a seventh-place finish.
Sophomore diver Dewey Schultz chipped in with nine points for his performance in one-meter diving (9th place - 423.30 points). Senior diver Ricky Rodriguez also scored points for SU.
Senior Spencer Raymond had a hand in 53 of SU's 84 points. He swam with both of SU's top relay teams and was 12th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.10.
Junior Mike Anstrom helped SU out with 51 of its total points on the first night by finishing 14th in the 50 freestyle (20.91) and swimming the anchor leg of the 200 freestyle relay (6th - 1:22.99) and the third leg of the 400 medley relay, which finished eighth with a time of 3:21.33.
Competition continues on Friday, Nov. 21, with preliminary races beginning at 10 a.m. Finals are held at 6 p.m. each night
Syracuse Women's Results - First Night at Nike Cup
200 Freestyle Relay: 8) SU A (Martinez, Beaulieu, Wittich, McDonough) 1:36.89, 19) SU B (Jansen, Fong, Wong, Clune) 1:40.10. 500 Freestyle: 4) Wittich 4:54.93, 12) Westrich 5:02.26. 200 IM: 2) McDonough 2:02.60. 50 Freestyle: 6) McDonough 23.70, 18) Beaulieu 24.20. 400 Medley Relay: 9) SU A (Beaulieu, Mahi, McDonough, Martinez) 3:52.77, 20) SU B (Westrich, Jansen, Clune, Fong) 4:01.14.
Syracuse Men's Results - First Night at Nike Cup
200 Freestyle Relay: 6) SU A (Raymond, Caponera, Schelling, Anstrom) 1:22.99, 19) SU B (Scott, Polucha, Boral, Kertzscher) 1:26.73, 25) SU C (Evans, Ackroyd, Rehrig, Matson) 1:29.85. 500 Freestyle: 7) Scott 4:28.90, 17) Persico 4:34.99, 19) Mugavin 4:35.79. 200 IM: 15) Ackroyd 1:52.67. 50 Freestyle: 12) Raymond 21.10, 14) Anstrom 20.91, 20) Caponera 21.38. 1M Diving: 9) Schultz 423.30, 12) Rodriguez 377.85. 400 Medley Relay: 8) SU A (Schelling, Boral, Anstrom, Raymond) 3:21.33, 21) SU B (Kertzscher, Ackroyd, Persico, Caponera) 3:28.80, 27) Polucha, Matson, Evans, Rehrig) 3:39.13.
Thursday Preliminary Recap from the Nike Cup
Senior Elyse McDonough and sophomore Lisa Wittich each recorded NCAA "B" qualifying times on the first morning of the 2003 Nike Cup being held at the University of North Carolin from Nov. 20-22. Syracuse is one of 10 schools competing at the prestigious Nike Cup. The other participants are from: Clemson, East Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Kenyon College, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
McDonough was first in the preliminaries of the women's 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.46. Wittich was third in the women's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:52.60.
Other top 10 performers for the Orange were sophomore Kristi Westrich, who swam the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:56.78 to place seventh. McDonough tied for ninth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.92. Senior Spencer Raymond was fifth in the men's 50 freestyle with a time of 20.56, while divers Dewey Schultz and Ricky Rodriguez finished ninth and 10th respectively in the men's one-meter competition. Schultz scored 198.45 points, while Rodriguez totalled 197.35 points.
Nike Cup - Thursday Morning Prelims
Women's 500-yard Freestyle
3) Lisa Wittich 4:52.60 (NCAA B time)
7) Kristi Westrich 4:56.78
55) Lisa Fong 5:13.82
Men's 500-yard Freestyle
12) Josh Scott 4:32.39
20) Pat Mugavin 4:35.36
21) Luk Boral 4:35.38
22) Rob Persico 4:35.82
34) Mike Gavan 4:41.05
36) Wes Matson 4:41.28
41) Geoff Harrison 4:46.42
Women's 200-yard IM
1) Elyse McDonough 2:03.46 (NCAA B time)
28) Vanessa Martinez 2:10.10
Men's 200-yard IM
15) Devon Ackroyd 1:53.25
41) Steve Polucha 1:58.20
52) Gustavo Kertzscher 1:59.16
56) Clay Rehrig 2:00.49
Women's 50-yard Freestyle
T9) Elyse McDonough 23.92
20) Randi Beaulieu 24.17
43) Christina Jansen 24.77
45) Melissa Clune 24.80
Men's 50-yard Freestyle
5) Spencer Raymond 20.56
13) Mike Anstrom 20.94
20) Ryan Caponera 21.12
26) Bobby Schelling 21.25
64) Pete Evans 22.11
Men's 1 Meter Diving
9) Dewey Schultz 198.45
10) Ricky Rodriguez 197.35
14) Tony Campagna 186.45
