Sunday, December 4
New Haven, Conn.
All Day
Syracuse University
at
at Yale Nutmeg Invitational
Rob Persico had three first place finishes at the Nutmeg Invitational this weekend.
Swim Teams Combine for 11 First Place Finishes at Nutmeg
12/4/2005 5:24:58 PM | Swimming / Diving
NEW HAVEN, CONN.- The Syracuse University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams combined to win 11 races at the two-day Yale Nutmeg Invitational in New Haven, Conn. this weekend. Rob Persico (Fulton, Md.) and Vanessa Duenas (Miami, Fla.) each captured three titles. There was no team scoring at the event.
Persico claimed the 200-individual medley title finishing the race in 1:55.25 before finishing first in the 100-backstroke in 51.86. Adding to his already stellar weekend, Persico won the 200-backstroke by nearly three seconds, finishing in 1:51.67. Gustavo Araujo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Devon Ackroyd (Toronto, Ontario) had strong performances in the 200-IM as well finishing in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Pat Mugavin (Northport, N.Y.) won the 500-freestlye in a time of 4:41.01 with teammate Wes Matson (Wichita, Kan.) finishing eighth. Matson would have his best result in the 200-freestyle where he came in second in a time of 1:44.14.
Ryan Caponera (Latham, N.Y.) came in second in the 100-freestyle in 47.08 and was the bronze finisher in the 50-freestyle with a time of 21.89. In the 400-individual medley, Araujo finished in first place by almost five seconds, posting a time of 4:08.35.
In the diving competition, Patrick White (Poulsbo, Wash.) had a score of 247.15 in the three-meter dive to place fourth, while Jeremy Thornton (Manchester, Conn.) finished right behind him in fifth.
Duenas added to her already impressive resume this season by winning the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:09.09 before swimming to a first place finish in the 400-individual medley in 4:30.47. Duenas capped off the weekend with a first place finish in the 200-butterfly finishing in 2:07.29. She now has 10 first place finishes this season.
Melissa Clune (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) turned in a first place finish in the 100-butterfly in a time of 57.72, while Petra Zavadilova (Olomovc, Czech Republic) was close behind finishing in third. Katie Maaske (Jacksonville, Fla.) was second in the 100-breaststroke in 1:07.43, while Catrina Roth (Aurora, Ill.) was the runner-up in the 100-backstroke finishing in 59.85. Roth went on to later swim to a first place finish in the 200-backstroke in 2:06.95. Her time in the 200-back was the fastest Syracuse time of the season in that event.
In the 200-breaststroke, Dani Stein (Boylston Lake, N.Y.) finished second with Maaske taking third in times of 2:27.55 and 2:27.58, respectively. Lisa Wittich (St. Louis, Mo.) finished first in the 500-freestyle in a time of 5:07.43
In diving competition, Victoria McKenna (Westford, Mass.) finished second in the three-meter diving with a score of 242.45. Kelly Wright (Milwaukee, Wis.) came in 12th, while Shira Brown (Lansdale, Pa.) finished 14th. McKenna went on to finish third in the one-meter diving with Wright and Brown finishing in 11th and 13th, respectively.
SU has now completed its pre-holiday schedule and will return to action Jan. 14 when West Virginia comes to SU for a dual meet competition.
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