For Immediate Release: February 11, 2007
Contact: Anthony G. Naglieri (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Men's Swimming and Diving Takes Second at AE Championships; Holmes named Most Outstanding Swimmer
Bearcats grab four victories, set four meet records; Coaching staff earns league's top accolade

Final Meet Results
Day Four Results
Championship Recaps: Day Three Day Two Day One

BOSTON -- Senior swimmer David Holmes (Doncaster, England) notched his third individual crown and fifth overall en route to earning America East Men's Most Outstanding Swimmer honors on Sunday evening in the final night of the 2007 America East Swimming and Diving Championships.

The men’s team delivered four record-setting performances and captured four of the six swimming events en route to their fourth straight runner-up finish. The women’s team had three finalists on Sunday as they took home seventh-place honors.

"We outdid ourselves again," said head swim coach Sean Clark. "The last four days have been the culmination of a long, hard season and I can't be more proud of how my teams represented both themselves and our university. There was an awful lot of Bearcat pride on display this weekend."

Holmes notched his sixth NCAA 'B' cut of the year and fourth in as many nights, as he set a new school, pool, and conference high-water mark in the 200-yard butterfly, touching in 1:46.70. He swam the lead leg on Binghamton's second record-setting 400-yard relay effort to close out the four-day meet.

A Binghamton men's swimmer has now earned the conference's top individual accolade in three consecutive years. Former BU swimmer Kaan Tayla won the award at each of the last two championship meets. In addition to Holmes' honor, Clark, diving coach Anna Tutnnikova and first-year assistant Aimee Bourassa were named America East Men's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year.

In the 200 fly, Holmes was one of five Binghamton finalists in the 200 fly as freshman John Blatchford (Amsterdam, N.Y.) took fifth and the trio of Peter Rodrick (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.), junior Jason Lapp (Linwood, N.Y.) and Alex Goldstein (Huntington, N.Y.) occupied slots 8-10, respectively.

Senior co-captain Brian Koizim (White Plains, N.Y.) picked up his second individual championship crown of the weekend, setting a new school and championship record in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking at 1:48.77. For his stellar efforts over his four-year BU career, Koizim was awarded the Senior Coaches' Award, given to the swimmer who earned the most points at the championship meet from freshman through their senior years. Joining Koizim in the finals, sophomore Sean Lorenz (Norwich, N.Y.) finished in fifth in 1:54.05

For the second consecutive night, sophomore Brenno Varanda (St. Petersburg, Fla.) set a new pool, school and championship record while successful defending his individual crown, this time around claiming the gold in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:03.34. For the meet, Varanda finished with three titles, a pair of individual wins and one relay, to go along with runner-up honors in the 200-yard individual medley.

Sophomore Brian Koralewski (Floral Park, N.Y.) was less than four-tenths of a second off the pace in the 100-yard freestyle, taking home the silver in a lifetime best time of 46.34. Capping off a fantastic weekend, freshman Philip Dzieniszewski (Bayside, N.Y.) reached his third final, finishing in sixth in 47.50.

BU also had a pair of finalists in the 1650-yard freestyle as Brian Jacobs (Bloomingburg, N.Y.) and Peter Rodrick placed sixth and eighth, respectively. Alex Goldstein won the consolation final in 17:16.94, finishing ninth overall.

In the final meet of the night, the Bearcats capped off an outstanding day weekend as the BU quartet of Holmes, Koizim, Lorenz, and Koralewski teamed up to capture the 400-yard freestyle relay in a record-setting time of 3:01.18.

UMBC (876.5 points) captured its fourth straight America East title since joining the league. Despite finishing as conference runners-up for the fourth straight year, BU's marked improvement cannot go unnoticed. This year the Bearcats significantly narrowed the gap between themselves and the Retrievers (from 201 points to 71.5), while putting a healthy amount of distance in front its closest competitor.

"To close the gap as much as we did is a real testament to the character of our men," said Clark. "They were just incredible this weekend."

New Hampshire followed BU in third (596), while Boston University (488) and Maine (393) rounded out the five-team field.

Junior Nicole Sweeney (Commack, N.Y.), along with freshmen Lindsay Wright (Johnson City, N.Y.) and Anne Malvasi (Liverpool, N.Y.) were all finalists pacing the Bearcat women's efforts on the final day of the championship meet.

Sweeney cut 40 seconds off her time from a year ago finishing seventh in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a lifetime best 17:50.32, while Wright took eighth in the 100-yard freestyle in 54.28, and Malvasi was seventh in the one-meter diving championships with 226.20 points. Sweeney was also a consolation finalist in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing in 11th.

Freshman Allyce Brand (Highland Park, Illinois) won the consolation final in the 200-yard breaststroke with a lifetime best time of 2:28.82. Also a consolation finalist, freshman Taryn Ferrara finished out a strong weekend with a 15th place finish in the 100 free with a lifetime best of her own, 54.44.

UMBC (719) was also victorious on the women's side, comfortably topping runner-up Boston University (616), while New Hampshire (596) finished in a close third. Maine (462) ended in fourth, followed by Vermont (454), Stony Brook (264) and Binghamton (247).

"It was a fun night going back and forth with Stony Brook," said Clark. "We definitely gave them a run. I couldn't be prouder of our women's efforts. This weekend proved that the future of our program is very bright."