Bulldogs cruise past Holy Cross Saturday
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In the last dual meet for multiple seniors, the Bryant University men's and women's swim teams finished on a strong note, as both sides defeated Holy Cross Saturday afternoon. The men's side edged the Crusaders, 170.00-94.00, while the women's team won, 142.00-128.00, marking the second-straight year the Black and Gold have defeated the Crusaders.
The Bulldogs took the top spot in 19 out of 29 events and had 11 different swimmers touch the wall first out of the 19 first-place finishes. Bryant took three relay competitions out of the scheduled four and won its first dual meet since both sides knocked off St. Francis (NY) on Jan. 18.
Reigning Northeast Conference Swimmer of the Year Casey Ostrander (Yarmouthport, Mass.) proved once again why she is one of the premier swimmers in the region, winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.14. The Massachusetts native went on to take the 100-yard backstroke competition with a time of 58.90.
Joining Ostrander as a top finisher on the women's side was senior Amy Howell (Clifton Park, N.Y.). Howell, who was competing in the final dual meet of her collegiate career, finished second in the 1000-yard freestyle right behind Kim Carballeira (East Setauket, N.Y.), who took the top spot with an 11:11.80 mark.
Freshman standout Taylor DeBever (Denver, Colo.) had another strong outing for the Black and Gold, recording a two first-place finishes. The Colorado native took the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.70 and won the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:22.55 mark.
There was a quartet of swimmers who led the men's side to their fifth dual meet victory of the 2010-11 season. Nichols Karadimas (New Milford, Conn.) and Cameron Hessler (Southbury, Conn.) managed to finish first and second in the 1000-yard freestyle with times of 10:43.53 and 10:46.20 respectively.
Bryant recorded another ECAC qualifier in Alex Dropo (Sandwich, Mass.), who took the top spot in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:01.04. Joining Dropo at the head of the pack was junior Thomas Hyunh (Malden, Mass.), who won the 200-yard butterfly with a 2:04.11 mark.
The women's side will now prepare for the Northeast Conference Championships in two weeks at MIT, while the men will begin practicing for the ECAC Feb. 25-27.