Men's Swimming and Diving 12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM

Women finish third, men fourth at Asbury Invitational

The Sewanee Tigers finished third in the women's competition and fourth in the men's at this weekend's Asbury Invitational hosted by Asbury College. The Tigers gained crucial points in the women's 1-meter diving competition as they edged out Union College, 415 to 412.5, for third place in the women's race. On the men's side, Sewanee squeaked out a three-point edge over Lindsey Wilson College for the fourth spot. Host Asbury won both competitions, tallying 1,005 points in the women's meet and 815 in the men's.

In the women's competition, freshman Astrid Escobar (Panama City Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Sara Neil (Decatur, Ala.) tallied the Tigers' only two first-place finishes among the strong field of swimmers. Escobar won the 100 yard breaststroke race after turning in a time of 1:09.03 in the finals. She edged out second-place Larissa Meadows of Asbury by 1.83 to take home the win. The Tigers also picked up top honors from Neil in the 100 yard butterfly. Neil brought home the win with a time of 59.37 in the finals, topping Taryn Albright of Asbury by over a second.

The women picked up two second-place finishes from their relay teams. The Tigers finished second in the 400 yard medley relay with a time of 4:09.37. Haley Shepherd (Evans, Ga.) and Katie Wakefield (Fayetteville, Tenn.) teamed up with Escobar and Neil in the race, as the Tigers finished less than five seconds behind Asbury College's relay team. The same four teamed up again in the 200 yard medley relay and again turned in a second-place finish, this time clocking in at 1:55.68, less than three seconds behind first-place Asbury College.

Shepherd picked up an individual second-place finish in the 400 IM event. Shepherd clocked in at 4:54.56 in the race and was edged out by Asbury's Martin by less than a second in the final. Neil also picked up a top-three finish for the Tigers in the 500 yard freestyle event. Neil took home third-place honors after turning a time of 5:21.24, just over two seconds behind first-place Molly Fittro of Union College.

Sewanee got crucial team points from the women divers after Kaitlyn Breiten (Cooperstown, N.Y.) garnered two second-place finishes over the weekend. Breiten finished second in the 3 meter diving event with a score of 151.25, edging out teammate Liz Urquhart (New Orleans, La.) who tallied a finals score of 117.60. In the 1 meter event, Sewanee took home third through seventh places, with Breiten's third-place finish leading the way. Breiten finished third with a score of 166.65, followed by Alex McEntire (Pike Road, Ala.), Caroline Moore (Cookeville, Tenn.), Mae Missana (Accokeek, Md.), and Urquhart in fourth through seventh-places respectively.

In other top-five finishes for the Tigers, Shepherd picked up fifth-place honors in the 200 IM after turning a time of 2:18.88. Sewanee also got a fourth-place finish from the women's 200 yard free relay team. Shepherd and Neil teamed up with Katie and Mollie Wakefield (Fayetteville, Tenn.) to bring home fourth place with a time of 1:46.23 in the race.

On the men's side of the competition, Sewanee was led by Phillip Link (Atlanta, Ga.)'s second-place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke. Link finished second with a time of 1:00.71, just behind first-place Edward Malick of Union, who turned in a time of 1:00.37 to barely edge out Link. In the same race, Sewanee's Courtland Day (Barnesville, Ga.) finished fourth with a time 1:03.62 and Forrest Mayer (Sacramento, Cali.) and Peter Schildknecht (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Jamie de la Fuente (Prospect, Ky.) recorded two top-four finishes for the Tigers in the meet. de la Fuente tallied third-place honors in the 100 yard butterfly after recording a time of 55.24, just three tenths of a second behind second-place Pat Armstrong of Asbury. de la Fuente also finished fourth in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 57.60. Day picked up an individual top-three finish in the 500 yard freestyle, finishing third with a time of 5:09.20. John Richards (Evans, Ga.) tallied a top-five finish for the Tigers with a fifth-place showing in the 400 yard IM after turning in a time of 4:38.36.

The Tiger men picked up important team points all weekend from their relay teams. In just the second event of the meet, de la Fuente, Link, and Day teamed up with Ryan Holody (Austin, Texas) to finish fifth in the 200 yard free relay. The foursome turned in a finals time of 1:32.43 and were edged out by SCAC rival Centre, who finished in 1:32.27. The same four also teamed up in the 800 yard free relay to bring home their third top-four finish of the weekend. The team finished third with a time of 7:37.56, edging out the fourth-place Colonels of Centre by less than a second.

The same relay team finished fourth in the 400 yard medley relay after turning in a time o 3:47.49. In the 200 yard medley relay, Link, de la Fuente, and Holody teamd up with Marcus Rochelle (Nashville, Tenn.) to earn fourth-place honors after finishing the race with a time of 1:43.11.

The teams now approach their mid-season break and won't be back in action until January 8th, 2011, when they will compete in a three-way meet with Gordon College and Rollins College.

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Players Mentioned

Courtland Day: Junior

Ryan Holody: Junior

Phillip Link: Sophomore

Forrest Mayer: Redshirt

John Richards: Junior

Marcus Rochelle: Sophomore

Peter Schildknecht: Junior

Players Mentioned

Courtland Day
: Junior

Ryan Holody
: Junior

Phillip Link
: Sophomore

Forrest Mayer
: Redshirt

John Richards
: Junior

Marcus Rochelle
: Sophomore

Peter Schildknecht
: Junior