Buffalo, N.Y. - (Feb. 19, 2010) - The Fordham women's swimming & diving team will head into the final day of competition with the lead after five second place finishes and three school records on day three at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Swimming & Diving Championship, held at the Flickinger Center in Buffalo, New York.
Fordham and Richmond have separated themselves from the other eight competing teams, as the Rams lead the Spiders by 49 points, 442 to 393. The rest of the field follows with Massachusetts (285), Duquesne (257), La Salle (250.5), Xavier (190), St. Bonaventure (189), Rhode Island (181), George Washington (128.5), and Saint Louis (123).
The night of finals started in the 400 individual medley, as both Courtney Collyer and Megan McGorry found their way into the "A" final. Collyer would place second overall in a school record time of 4:21.37, bettering her school record from last year (4:22.16). McGorry placed fifth overall in 4:31.30.
The next event was the 100 butterfly, where Kelly Bunster qualified fifth for the "A" final, while Kim Bouton was 16th overall, getting her into the "B" final. Bouton would take seventh in the "B" race in 58.59 seconds, while Bunster took bronze in the "A" final, clocking in at 56.35 seconds.
In the 200 freestyle, four Rams qualified for the finals, including three in the "A" final. Leading the qualifiers was Caitlin Napoli, who posted the top preliminary time of 1:51.17, followed by Alexandra Alessi in third and Tressa Dunn in fifth. Lara Moseley got her way into the "B" final, placing eighth in 1:57.36.
In the "A" final, Napoli and Dunn would take second and third respectively in 1:50.63 and 1:51.90, followed by Alessi in sixth (1:53.90).
Fordham increased its lead in the standings after the 100 breaststroke, as Nicole Marshall placed second overall in a time of 1:03.90, getting touched out by just .05 seconds for first.
The Rams lead however got cut back in the final two events of the night, despite record breaking performances by Fordham. In the 100 backstroke, Brienne Ryan set the school mark in the 100 backstroke for the fifth time this year, placing second overall in an NCAA "B" cut time of 54.21 seconds. Christina Cosentino also scored in the "A" final for Fordham, taking sixth in 57.40 seconds.
The final event was the 400 medley relay, where Ryan, Marshall, Bunster, and Dunn posted a school record and NCAA "B" cut time of 3:42.86, taking second to Richmond's time of 3:42.11.
The championship will conclude on Saturday with day four at the Flickinger Center beginning at 10:30 AM with preliminary heats in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and the women's three meter diving competition. The finals of those events plus the 1650 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay will complete the championship.
