Nov. 16, 2007
Baltimore, Md. - Loyola College's men's swimming and diving team is ranked 19 in this week's Mid-Major poll on CollegeSwimming.com. The Greyhounds, who are off to a great start this season, picked up 151.34 points in the poll. Navy holds the top spot with 183.48 points.
Institutions eligible for the Mid-Major designation do not come from one of the eight major NCAA Division I-A football conferences or award fewer than seven women's or five men's scholarships. The dual meet rankings use an objective point system to compare teams' relative strength in a traditional thirteen-event dual meet lineup.
Greyhound swimmers have already swam Top 5 school times in seven events this season. The 400 Medley Relay team, for example, posted the school's second fastest time when Sam McQuaid, Matthew Fralinger, Ozzy Torres, and Brad Reeser registered a time of 3:29.62. McQuaid, Fralinger, Torres and E.J. Verrico also scored Loyola's fourth fastest 200 Medley Relay time of 1:36.41.
A big part of the team's success has been its freshmen contributors. McQuaid's No. 2 time in the 100 Back (53.11), Torres' No. 3 time in the 100 Fly (51.79), and Fralinger's second-fastest times in both the 100 Breast (58.89) and 200 Breast (2:09.60) are some of the highlights. Freshmen Jake Swiggett (200 Back) and Tim Rowe (200 Fly) have also posted third and fourth fastest times in their respective events.
The Loyola women, who are unranked, are knocking on the door with points in the poll. The first part of the season for the women was highlighted by four school records that included the 400 Medley Relay (Melissa White, Kim Krzazcek, Caitlin Cassidy, Tori Kamauff - 4:01.02), and the 200 Medley Relay (Melissa White, Kim Krzazcek, Caitlin Cassidy, Meg Royer - 1:51.48). Individually, Caitlin Cassidy set a record in the 100 Fly, swimming a 58.48, while Tori Kamauff set a record in the 200 Free in 1:56.79.
Other highlights include of number of new top-5 times in school history. Those include the 800 Free Relay (Caitlin Cassidy, Sarah Birkenmeier, Megen Hadley, Tori Kamauff), and top times from Kamauff in the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 Back, 200 Free and 100 Free. White set a Top 5 time in the100 Fly, Cassidy's Top 5 times included the 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Free and 50 Free, while Meaghan McCotter posted a Top 5 time in the 1000 Free.
The Greyhounds return to the pool on November 30 when they host the H2ounds Invitational versus Delaware, Drexel and conference rival Marist.
