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Swimming and Diving Patriot League Championships Commence with Six Preliminary Events
Men have four top qualifiers in 200-yard Individual Medley

View Thursday Preliminary Results

Feb. 14, 2002

ANNAPOLIS, MD. -- The American men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened competition at the Patriot League Championships today as six preliminary events took place this morning at the United States Naval Academy. At the end of preliminary competition, American finished with 12 swimmers in the top eight of the six events (men's and women's 500-yard freestyle, men's and women's 200-yard Individual Medley, and men's and women's 50-yard freestyle).

In the men's 200-yard IM, junior Mark Liscinsky came in first place and will swim as the No. 1 seed in the final event after finishing in 1:49.23. Sophomore Dominick Szabo followed in second place, finishing in 1:50.57, Erik Hollingshead came in fourth with a 1:56.01 and Mike Lawson is seeded eighth after finishing in 1:56.55.

The women also had their strongest performance in the 200-yard IM with three first-heat qualifiers. Junkal Irogoien led the Eagles with a 2:07.98 and a second-place finish, Jessica Lidstrom became the fifth-place seed after swimming the event in 2:09.13 and Lindsay McDavitt came in sixth with a 2:09.61. In the 500-yard freestyle, Sarai Justes finished in seventh place with a 5:05.48.

The men also had top-notch performances in the 500-yard freestyle, as sophomore Ethan Bassett finished in first place with a 4:28.91 after completing his first 50-yard leg in 25:02. Sophomore Tim Miller and freshman Dan Sinetar also qualified for the first finals' heat with a fourth and fifth place finish, repectively. In the 50-yard freestyle, Stephen Maher will compete as the fourth seed in the finals after completing the preliminary event in 21.27.

The Eagles entered their first season of Patriot League competition in 2001-02 after competing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2000-01. The men's team went undefeated last season for the first time since 1994-95 and won the most points of any team at the CAA Championships in 2001. Meanwhile, the women broke the 400 Medley, 400 Free, and 800 Free relay records at American and finished with the second-most points of any team at the CAA Championships.

This year, the men went a perfect 3-0 against Patriot League opponents Navy, Bucknell, and Army. The women went 2-1, defeating Bucknell and Army but falling to Navy. A recent collegeswimming.com poll placed the American men at No. 15 in the nation and the women at No. 10 for all mid-major programs.

The 2002 Patriot League Championships will take place over three days in Lejeune Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Preliminary events will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 14-16 and finals will be held in the evenings starting at 6:00 p.m. Scoring will follow NCAA rues. A competitor may swim in a maximum of seven events of which no more than three may be individual events. Each team may have no more than 18 competitors in the meet.

Spectator tickets to the championship will be on sale at the door one hour prior to the beginning of the meet. There will be no advance sale of tickets. Visitors are not allowed to dirve on the Yard; tentative plans are for visitors to park at the Navy/Marine Corps Memorial Football Stadium to take a shuttle bus to Lejeune Hall.