Congratulations Ed, Jim and Tara

ATLANTIC 10 ANNOUNCES SWIMMING & DIVING ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
La Salle’s Shannon Duval and Edward LeBlanc of Duquesne Garner Student-Athlete of the Year Distinction

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - La Salle’s Shannon Duval and Edward LeBlanc of Duquesne have been tabbed the Atlantic 10 Student-Athletes of the Year in women’s and men’s swimming & diving, respectively, in voting conducted among the Conference’s sports information directors.

Duval won both the 100-yard (1:03.85) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.35) events and placed third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.67) at the 2010 A-10 Championship (Feb. 17-20) in Buffalo, N.Y. A native of Trinidad & Tobago, the senior also swam the second leg of the Explorers’ 400-yard medley relay which established a school record with a time of 3:48.84.

A three-time Academic All-Conference selection, Duval boasts a 3.81 grade point average as an Accounting major. She is the first La Salle female swimmer to garner Student-Athlete of the Year distinction since Melissa MacPherson in 2001.

Joining Duval on the women’s swimming & diving Academic All-Conference team are teammates Nicole LePere and Katie Sieben of Richmond; Martha Cutter-Wilson and Kari Peglar of Xavier; La Salle’s Emily Heath; Anna Larson of Saint Louis; George Washington’s Paola Leor; Massachusetts’ Jessica Starosielec; and Tara VanNatta of Duquesne. Both Cutter-Wilson and Larson have been selected to the team for the third consecutive year.

LeBlanc was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the A-10 Championship after winning gold medals and eclipsing league records in the 100-yard freestyle (44.32) and 200-yard freestyle (1:37.64) events. The resident of Raleigh, N.C., also placed first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:27.25), established four league records and posted six NCAA “B” cut performances.

The first male swimmer in program history to earn A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year honors and two-time Academic All-Conference selection, LeBlanc maintains a 3.39 grade point average while majoring as a Physician Assistant.

Joining LeBlanc on the men’s swimming & diving Academic All-Conference team are Justin and Ryan Coombs of Fordham; La Salle’s Brandon Hargraves and Justin Huckel; Sal Cruz and Michael Dahle of Saint Louis; Massachusetts’ Adam Duffield; Duquesne’s Jim O’Hara; and Nathan Green of Xavier. It marks the third consecutive year that Ryan Coombs has been named to the team, while Dahle, Duffield and Justin Coombs are repeat selections.

Saying Goodbye

The last night of the meet was bitter-sweet as the entire conference said "good-bye" to our men's team. It was very emotional and inspirational for all involved. The outpouring of support from the other teams and their parents made the ending a little more bearable.

I want to send out a special thanks to Sean/Seth (St. Bonaventure), Matt/Jamie (Lasalle), Russ/Bob (UMass), Brent (Xavier), Jim (St. Louis), Steve (Fordham), Dan (GW), Matt (Richmond), Mik (URI). All of your support over the weekend helped Dave and I get through it.

Dave

Out with a bang!!!

What a Saturday!!! The men lit the night up with several great swims and put an exclamation point on their meet, winning the 400 free relay in record setting fashion. Not only did they win, they set a new team and conference record and also made an NCAA "B" cut time.

All-in-all it was a fantastic meet! The women finished fourth; I was very proud of that because there were no champions from individuals or relays.......it was a combined team effort. The men finished third and as far as I am concerned were the most dominant team at the meet, winning three relays, three individual titles and recording 6 NCAA "B" cut times.

One statement I do want to put to rest though regarding our teams....the teams that finished ahead of us did not do so because of diving or our lack of a diving facility, they beat us because of better support (scholarship) from their respective universities.

See you around the pool,
Dave

Great first night!

Well, we wrapped up the first night of the conference championships in a great position. The women are tied for 3rd with 56 points on the strength of a 5th place 200 medley relay (Tara VanNatta, Caitie Zajko, Kirstie Shumaker and Meghann McGoldrick) with a time of 1:45.53, only .11 from third place. The 800 free relay of Kristi McGee, Annie Hayles, Angela Majkut and Amanda McClleland put together a strong showing finishing 4th place with a time of 7:36.03. On the men's side we are also in 3rd place, 13 points behind St. Bonaventure with one diving event down. The third place was on the strength of a school record setting 200 medley relay as Mitch Smith, Ian Walsh, Jim O'Hara, and Brendan Schilling finished second with a time of 1:31.64. The climax of the evening came in the night's last event, the men's 800 free relay, as the team of Jim O'Hara, Chris Kobela, Roman Becicka and Ed LeBlanc recorded a first place time, school record and NCAA Division I "B" standard of 6:40.84. Ed LeBlanc secured the victory in the final leg with a 1:35.96!

Tomorrow morning's prelims kick off at 10:30 AM with the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free.

See you around the pool, Dave

Here we GO!!

It is now less then 5 hours until the first splash of the 2010 A-10 Championships! This evening's session kicks off at 6:30 PM and will be composed of three events: 200 Medley Relay, men's diving and the 800 free relay. The Duquesne Swimming family is ready to go and prepared to make a statment to the rest of the conference. I will do the best I can to give my take on how the meet is going with reports on both prelims and finals. You can find all of the Live Results at: http://www.atlantic10.com//index-main.html

See you around the pool,
Dave