Dragons Tally Four Titles and 14 Podiums CAA Swimming Championships

Wednesday, February 25

Richmond, Va.

All Day

Drexel University

CAA Swimming Championships

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Dragons Tally Four Titles and 14 Podiums CAA Swimming Championships

2/25/2015 9:08:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Day 4 Results | Final Results

RICHMOND, Va. – On the final day of competition at the CAA Swimming Championships the Dragons added another conference title and three other podium finishes.

The men finished in fourth place with 464 points, three ahead of Delaware. The women finished in eighth just one and a half points behind the College of Charleston for seventh. William & Mary took home the men's title and Towson claimed the women's title.

Joel Berryman added his second conference title of the championships with his win the 100 free with a time of 43.77, which is a NCAA "B" cut time. Berryman qualified first with a 44.82 then dropped a second in the finals and beat the field by .74 seconds. Like with his 50 free win on Thursday night, Berryman became the first Dragon to win the title in the CAA.

Kyle Lukens grabbed another podium with his third place finish in the 200 butterfly. Lukens' time of 1:46.87 is fast enough for a NCAA "B" Cut time and is just one-hundredth of a second slower than his school record.

For the second straight day Rachel Bernhardt hit a NCAA "B" Cut time en route to a podium finish, this time in the 200 breaststroke. The New Jersey native finished second with a time of 2:14.13. Bernhardt shattered her own school record in the prelims with 2:15.82 than dropped it another 1.6 seconds in the final.

In the final event of the night, the 400 free relay, the Dragon men logged a third place finish with a 2:58.94. The time is a new school record by .61 seconds. The team of Sean Swartz, Alex Chialastri, Lukens and Berryman was just .17 seconds behind UNCW for second.

The women's 400 free relay also broke a school record with their time of 3:26.56. The team of Katie Duggan, Aubrey Murray, Brianna Bentz and Bernhardt bested the previous mark by .36.

Gillian Gress finished seventh in the 200 backstroke with a 2:00.69. The freshman broke coach Gizem Yali's record of 2:00.57 in the prelims with her 2:00.32.

Zoltan Gercsak finishes ninth in the 1650 free but shatters the school record by 8.2 seconds with a 15:38.48. In the women's 1650, Emily Joyce broke the freshman record in event with her 17:20.27 by just under 12 seconds.

Overall the Dragons recorded 14 podiums and claimed four conference titles at the CAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Dragons Tally Five Podiums on Day 3 of CAA Swimming Championships

Day 3 Results | Total Results

RICHMOND, Va. – Day three of the CAA Swimming Championships saw the Dragons record five podium finishes and set multiple school and one freshman record.

Overall the Dragon men are in fifth place with 303 points, just 12 behind Delaware for fourth, after 27 scored events. The women are in eighth with 142 points but are just 2.5 points behind College of Charleston for seventh.

Joel Berryman, Kyle Lukens and Rachel Bernhardt all hit NCAA "B" cut times on the night. Berryman hit it in the 100y backstroke where he finished third with a 47.54, which lowered his school record. The top three finishers all broke the previous meet record which was a 47.87 set back in 2013. Lukens hit the "B" cut in the 100y butterfly with a 47.60. The mark breaks his team record of 47.99. Rachel Bernhardt lowered her school record in the 100y breaststroke with a 1:01.16, which netted her a second place finish. That was after she had already lowered her school record in the prelims.

Also in the men's 100y backstroke, JT Lumpkin finished in seventh with a 49.02, which broke Berryman's freshman record and is the second fastest mark in school histroy. The time is more than 1.5 seconds faster than Lumpkin's previous career-best.

Alex Chialastri recorded another podium for the Dragons with his third place finish in the 200y free. The senior swam an 1:38.66, which is 4.36 seconds faster than his best mark this season and just .03 off his personal best in the event. Andrew Reimon won the consolation final in the men's 100 breaststroke with a 56.08. Mike Krohn was 11th with a season-best 56.41.

Katie Duggan got the Dragons their final podium of the evening with her third place finish in the 100 back. The senior swam a 55.22, which is a new season-best, career-best and school record.

Both the men and women set new school records in the 400 medley relay. The men set the new mark with a 3:17.61 while finishing sixth and the women set a new record with a 3:48.06 while finishing seventh.

Aubrey Murray laid down the second fastest time in school history in the 200y free with a 1:51.21 while finishing 14th. Brianna Bentz did not qualify for the finals but did set a new season-best time of a 56.85 in the 100 butterfly.

14 of 15 night swims improved on their times for the morning session.

Other season-bests set on day two; Mike Krohn broke the 50-second barrior with a 49.31 in the "B" final of the men's 100 butterfly. The same can be said for Lumpkin with his 49.37. Emily Joyce in the prelims of the 200 free with 1:54.85. Sara Golshahr also in the 200 free prelims with a 1:57.75. Ivo Pejovic in the 200 free with a 1:40.15, which is over four seconds faster. Ted Taylor also in the 200 free with a 1:42.02 in the prelims and Matthew Klotz with 1:42.25. Jessica Gidzinski in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:07.04 and Emily Chargina with a 1:07.90.

The Dragons and rest of the CAA return action tomorrow for the final day of competition, which gets started at 10 a.m. at the Colligate School Aquatics Center.

Dragons Add Two More Titles on Day 2 of CAA Swimming Championships

Day 2 Results | Complete Results | Championship Central

RICHMOND, Va. – Joel Berryman claimed the Dragons second individual title of the CAA Championships with his win the 50 free. The Dragon men added another conference title in the men's 200 free relay. The Dragons men won titles in events the Dragons have never won before as a CAA member.

The Dragon men sit in fourth place after the second day of competition with 118.5 points. On the women's side the Dragons sit in eighth place with 80.

In the 50 free prelims Berryman qualified third with a time of 20.47, which is the first time this season that the junior had gone sub 21-seconds. Then in the final the New Zealand native dropped his time by .35 seconds to a 20.11 to win the CAA crown by three tenths of a second. The 20.11 is a new school record and is a NCAA "B" Cut time. It is the first time the Dragons have won the 50 free as a CAA member.

Berryman then helped the Dragons take home the CAA crown in the 200 free relay. Sean Swartz, Alex Chialastri and Mike Shaeffer helped out the Dragons squeak past both Delaware and William & Mary by 0.02 with a 1:21.25. Shaeffer held off the Blue Hens and the Tribe by swimming a 20.18 in the final leg. With the win the Dragons end UNCW's six year run as CAA Champions in the event. The quartet missed the school record by 0.03. In the prelims the Dragons qualified fourth. The Dragon men already have three conference titles after not recording one at last season's championship meet.

Kyle Lukens recorded a fifth place finish in the 200 IM. The junior had a time of 1:49.89, which is a new school record. Shaeffer and Swartz both qualified for the "B" final in the 50 free.

In the women's 200 free relay the Dragons came home in sixth place with a 1:34.25 thanks to Brianna Bentz, Katie Duggan, Claudia Duguay and Rachel Bernhardt. The time is the fastest turned by a Dragon relay team this season in the discipline. Duggan, Bentz and Bernhardt finished 20, 23 and 24 respectively in the prelims of the 50 free.

Emily Joyce finished 21st in the prelims of the 500 free with a 5:00.92. The time is a new season-best and career-best for the freshman.

The action resumes at the Colligate School Aquatics Center at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The first event is the prelims of the men's and women's 400 IM.

Swimming Sets Four School Records on Day 1 of CAA Championships

Day 1 Results | Championship Central

RICHMOND, Va. – After the first day of the CAA Swimming Championships the Dragons find themselves in fourth place on the men's side with 61 points and seventh on the women's side with 50 points. The Dragons set new records in all four swims on the night.

"Great first day for the team, four events and four school records were set", said coach Adam Braun. "Katie Duggan set the tone of the meet by posting the fastest 50 back split in the 200 medley relay. Kyle Lukens swam a great race anchoring the men's 800 free relay, coming from behind to secure third place and a spot on the podium. Very excited for the women in the 800 free relay who broke the record that was set 24 years ago in 1991."

The best finish for the Dragons came in the men's 800 free relay that saw the Dragons record a third place finish. The team of Alex Chialastri, Ivo Pejovic, Ted Taylor and Lukens set a new Drexel record with their 6:35.93 in the process. That is 2.56 seconds faster than the previous record.

The men also set a new school record in the 200 medley relay en route to fourth place finish. Joel Berryman, Chad Schmidt, Mike Shaeffer and Lukens recorded an 1:28.77, which is .45 of a second faster than the previous mark that was set last season.

On the women's side, the Dragons set a new school in the 200y medley relay with an 1:41.83 that got the Dragons a seventh place finish. Rachel Bernhardt, Emily Lau, Brianna Bentz and Duggan set the new school mark by 1.42 seconds.

In the 800y freestyle relay the Dragon women set another school record with a 7:31.88. Aubrey Murray, Miranda Rouse, Claudia Duguay and Emily Joyce set the new school record by 7.76 seconds, while finishing in sixth.

Swimming gets started at 11 a.m. tomorrow, which is a time change from originally scheduled due to the winter weather in the Richmond, Virginia area. The first event of the day is the men's and women's 500 free.