Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
CAA Championships
Eight Drexel School Records Broken, Yavuz Takes Conference Title at CAA Championships
3/1/2009 10:49:01 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Complete Results
Final Team Scores
Fairfax, Va. - Drexel sophomore Armagan Yavuz defended his 200 fly conference title at the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Championships held on the campus of George Mason. Yavuz posted a new school-record time of 1:48.69 to win the event by 0.84 seconds over UNC Wilmington's Brandon Hicks. His time shattered Roger Baldino's 1992 school mark by 0.98 seconds. Craig Podgurski, Mert Karsiyakalilar, Sherif Madkour, Zeki Karali and Adrian Sabovici also each recorded school-record times at the conference championships. Drexel swimming keeps records for 14 individual events; eight of them were shattered at this meet. As a team, the Dragons finished sixth of the seven teams competing.
The Dragons opened the Championships with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay as Karsiyakalilar, Sherif Madkour, Yavuz and Matthew Tannenbaum recorded a time of 1:32.94 in the finals to earn the Dragons 28 team points. In the 800 free relay, Drexel took seventh as Matt Fenn, Adrian Sabovici, Zeki Karali and Podgurski posted a time of 6:48.27.
In the first individual events, Sabovici earned a finals berth in the 500 free as he recorded the third-fastest time in school history with a 4:33.31 during preliminaries. The junior then sliced 0.14 seconds off of his previous time as he took sixth in the finals to earn 13 team points. Podgurski qualified for the consolation finals in the event and won easily to take ninth place with a time of 4:31.40. The 200 IM followed as Madkour was the only Drexel swimmer to earn team points in the event as his fourth-place finish in the consolation final gave Drexel five points. The freshman's time of 1:52.60 was the second fastest time in school history and the fastest recorded by a Dragon swimmer over the past 18 years.
In the 200 free relay, Drexel took sixth as the foursome of Tannenbaum, Fenn, Podgurski and Karali recorded a time of 1:23.36. In the following event, the 100 fly, Karsiyakalilar took down Greg Rees' 18-year-old school mark of 49.45 twice. During preliminaries, the junior posted a time of 49.28 then followed with a 49.21 in the finals to take fifth. Yavuz placed third in the consolation final with a time of 49.79, just 0.02 seconds off of his career-best and third-fastest time in school history. Podgurski followed with his record-setting performance in the 200 free as he finished behind just Chad Gangwer of Old Dominion by 0.43 seconds. His time of 1:39.15 topped his old school mark of 1:39.49 set when he won the 2008 CAA Championships. Madkour then became the latest Dragon to take down a school record as he posted a 56.36 in the finals of the 100 breast to best his own school mark set earlier in the season. His time was good for fifth overall as he captured 14 team points for Drexel. Zeki Karali took 11th overall in the 100 back as he broke a school record in the event with a time of 51.40. Sam Harris held the previous school record when he swam a 51.89 in 2004.
Relay action then resumed as the Dragons' foursome of Karali, Madkour, Karsiyakalilar and Podgurski placed fifth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:22.71 in the finals. In the 1650 free event, Sabovici took fourth overall with a school-record shattering time of 15:46.76. The junior's time shaved more than eight seconds off of the previous Drexel record set by Matt Hickey in 1993 when he swam a 15:55.43. Karali followed with his second school record of the meet as he posted a 45.56 in the 100 free during preliminaries to break the previous Drexel mark of 45.69 set by Greg Rees in 1991. Karali's performance earned him a berth in the championship final where he placed eighth. The school marks continued to fall but perhaps none were shattered more than the record in the 200 breast. Madkour took down his second Drexel record in remarkable fashion as he posted a time of 1:58.80 in the finals to take second in the event. Madkour held the previous record with a 2:02.54 set earlier in the season. The next fastest time for any other Drexel swimmer in history is 5.81 seconds behind Madkour's new school mark. Yavuz responded by winning the 200 fly in his won record-setting performance while Karsiyakalilar took third as the pair racked up 36 team points between them in the event.
In diving action, Ian Jevnick took second in the 1-meter finals with a score of 319.70. The sophomore qualified second overall in the preliminaries and was edged by 2009 CAA Men's Diver of the Year Bryan Bahr of George Mason in the finals. Bahr's score of 337.70 took the event. Senior Jake Roberson placed fourth overall with a score of 306.50. In the 3-meter finals, it was Roberson who placed second with a season-best score of 359.50 in the finals finishing only behind Bahr. Jevnick took fifth in the event with a score of 331.15.
