At Emory, swimmers sink

Coming off a strong performance at the Thomas Murphy Invitational at Loyola, the Blue Jay swim teams headed to the Emory Invitational in Atlanta with high expectations.

However, they were met with stiff competition from Emory, New York University (NYU) and Carnegie Mellon. Despite their best efforts, they Jays placed third out of four teams in the Invitational.

Swimmers stressed the challenges they faced at the event.

"It was hard to come and perform 100 percent with such a small squad -- we only had 12 people from each team there and it was tough to compete when we were so outnumbered," said sophomore Diana Smirnova.

But she added, "The team came together well."

The men's team scored 821 points, behind the 962.5 of Emory and 865 by Carnegie Mellon, but ahead of NYU who scored 464.5 points.

The women's team scored 688.5 points, behind Emory's 1097.5 points and NYU's 731 points and in front of Carnegie Mellon's 561 points.

Although the team result was not as good as they expected, several of the Blue Jay women swimmers were successful and were able to win their races. Freshmen led the way by winning three events.

Sida Liu won the 200-meter backstroke and the 100-meter backstroke, while fellow freshman Jessica Chang captured the 100 meter breaststroke.

The Blue Jays' relay teams also experienced a bit of success as four of the teams finished in second.

The 400-meter medley relay team of Liu, Chang, Smirnova and senior Stephanie Harbeson and the 200- meter medley relay team of Liu, Chang, junior Megan Rudinsky and sophomore Michelle Phillips both finished in the second place.

Also earning second was the Hopkins 200-meter freestyle relay team of freshman Stephanie Leaman, Rudinsky, Phillips, and Harbeson and the 400-meter freestyle relay team of freshmen Katie Herbst and Caitlin Kunkel, and juniors Emma Gregory and Liz Schlicher.

These teams all were competitive, however, none were able to capture first.

The men's team also had strong performances from its swimmers as many won events.

Junior Scott Pitz and co-captain Scott Armstrong led the Blue Jay men by winning three events.

Pitz won the 200-meter breaststroke and the 100-meter breaststroke, while senior Scott Armstrong won the 1650-meter freestyle.

Also, seniors David Loftus and Justin Brannock won events. Loftus won the 100-meter butterfly and Brannock captured the 200-meter freestyle.

Furthermore, the Hopkins 200- meter medley relay team of sophomore J.P. Balfour, Pitz, Lofthus and junior Kyle Robinson won its race.

"There were a number of exciting swims including the men's 200-medley relay which we won," said Smirnova.

The Hopkins men also had many strong second place finishes as Armstrong finished second in the 400-meter individual medley and in the 500-meter freestyle, Brannock came in second in the 100-meter freestyle and Lofthus placed second in the 100-meter backstroke.

Also, the Hopkins freestyle relay teams, both the 200 meter and the 400 meter finished second. The 200-meter freestyle relay team of Brannock, freshman Brian Sneed, senior Mark Levin and Robinson finished in 1:28.47, while the 400-meter freestyle relay team of Armstrong, Lofthus, Robinson and Brannock finished in 3:12.10.

The 400-meter medley relay team of Balfour, Pitz, Lofthus and Brannock also finished second in 3:31.77.

This disappointment is only a minor setback in the Blue Jays' quest for the top. The Blue Jays hope to improve their record and get back on track to the NCAA championships as they return to action this Saturday. They will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face the Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina.