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Szabo Qualifies for NCAA A Cuts at Princeton Invitational
Eagles impress at Tigers’ national meet

December 9, 2002

Junior Dominick Szabo

WASHINGTON -- Dominick Szabo (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) powered to first place and qualified for the NCAAs in the 100-yard breastroke to lead the American University Swimming & Diving to two pool records, four school records and four Patriot League records this weekend at the Princeton Invitational. Senior Mark Liscinsky (Olney, Md./Sherwood) doubled his outstanding performances by setting three new Patriot League and school records as well as reaching NCAA B cuts.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Szabo beat the next competitor by more than 2 1/2 seconds with a time of 54.14. He set the record in the preliminaries with a 54.00. The time broke an 11-year-old Patriot League record of 54.44. He was also first in the 200-yard breastroke in 2:01.00 and was second in the 200 IM 1:49.90.

Liscinsky and Szabo finished one-two in the 200-yard IM with Liscinsky finishing in a time of 1:48.46. The senior’s previous Patriot League record-setting time of 1:48.59 was clocked at the 2002 Patriot League Championships.

Liscinsky was first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:36.79, shattering an 11-year-old Patriot League record of 1:38.72. He was also was the top finisher in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:45.85 - another personal best. He had registered the former Patriot League record of 1:47.81 at the 2002 league championships.

Ethan Bassett (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) nabbed second in both the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:00.20 and in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:03.03. He also took fourth in the 100-breaststroke in 57.20 and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:36.30.

Freshman Estebe Salgado (San Sebastian, Spain/I. E.S. Usandizaga) qualified for the Spanish Nationals to be held this month in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle.

AU’s Mike Lawson (West Chester, Pa./Westtown), Szabo, Steve Maher (Stuart, Fla./Lincoln) and Liscinsky took third in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:23.49 while Szabo, Bassett, Maher and Liscinsky were fourth in the 800-yard freestyle with a clocking of 6:50.31.

Junior Jessica Lidstrom (Stockholm, Sweden/Swedish School) was AU’s top female finisher, capturing fifth in the 100-yard freestyle. She was also eighth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:54.37.

The foursome of Elizabeth Bresnahan-McRae (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown), Kia Kilpinen (Stockholm, Sweden/Aso Gymnasium), Elizabeth West (Brentwood, Tenn./University School of Nashville) and Lidstrom took sixth in the 400-yard medley relay in 4:01.75. American was seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay (Kilpinen, Christina Huang (Hubei Province, China/Wuhan (Sports Schools), West, Lidstrom) in 3:37.15.

Bresnahan-McRae and Kilpinen teamed up with Maria Ortiz (Caliz, Colombia/Bolles) and Chelsea Oudin (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) were ninth in the 200-medley relay in 1:54.12. In the 800-yard freestyle, Lidstrom, West, Huang and Bresnahan-McRae and were ninth with a time of 8:00.70. In the 200-yard butterfly, West and Kilpinen took 12th and 13th with times of 2:10.12 and 2:10.56, respectively.

In the diving segment, Sara Barger (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) placed 11th in the 3-meter with 194.43 points.