The 2009-2010 City University of New York Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving championships began on Thursday afternoon at the APEX Aquatics Center in the Bronx. The Lehman College men's swimming and diving team entered the day hoping to use a strong collaborative effort in an attempt pace themselves to a fifth consecutive conference crown, while the Lightning women – who served as a surprise during the regular season in finishing second in the standings – came in confident and hungry.
In the men's one-meter diving competition, Joaquin Cruz of Lehman College earned gold with a cumulative score of 305.70. Antonio Gaspar from the College of Staten Island won silver with a 244.50, and Rafeal Abreu of Lehman College won bronze with a 244.50.
From there, though, it was Kenny Kim and the Baruch College Bearcats dominating the remainder of day one. Baruch started off competition in dramatic fashion - setting a championship record on their way to gold in the 200-yard freestyle relay event. Kevin Kim, Ryan Flynn, Boris Zhabinski, and Kim finished in 1:28.41, to earn the Bearcats first medal of the day. The College of Staten Island (Pavel Buyanov, Mohamed Hikal, Vladislav Romanov, Nikolay Shevchenko) finished in second with a time of 1:29.38, and Lehman College (Orlando Urena, Shqiprim Shala, Ivan Srdanovic, Luis Arias) finished in third with 1:32.60.
Kim won his second gold medal in as many events by finishing first in the men's 500-yard freestyle in 5:04.42. Joe Lee of CSI finished second with a time of 5:04.67, while Patrick Campbell of Baruch finished in third with a time of 5:19.44.
Romanov earned gold for CSI by winning the men's 200-yard IM in 1:57.21. Zhabinski and Gabriel Yanez of Baruch followed with times of 2:03.26 and 2:05.81.
Kim won his third gold medal of the day by setting the championship record in the men's 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.73. Berlado Reynoso of the Borough of Manhattan Community College finished second overall with a time of 21.86. CSI's Buyanov won silver with a 21.88 time and Aaron Bennett of York won senior college bronze with a 23.55 performance.
The 400-yard medley relay results will be posted on CUNYAthletics.com as soon as they are verified.
On the women's side, in diving - for the second year in a row, the College of Staten Island swept all three medals in the women's three-meter diving competition. Freshman April Bartlett earned gold with a cumulative score of 309.65, while 2009 gold medal winner Patricia Crea won silver with a 261.00. Kelly Kenny won bronze with a 254.80.
When the swimming portion of competition started, records started to fall at a rapid pace. Dorene Chin, Julianna Fricchione, Jessica Penaherrera, and Alyssa Lubrino from Baruch College got things started by winning the women's 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:47.34. Lehman College (Yudelka Espinal, Luisa Garcia, Basilisa Alonso, Jillian Acevedo) finished in second with a time of 1:29.38, and the College of Staten Island finished in third (April Bartlett, Patricia Crea, Tara Meiners, Svetlana Oleynik) with a time of 1:32.60.
The women's 500-yard freestyle came next, and Heather Alvord of Hunter College broke her own CUNYAC women's championship record - swimming to gold in 5:34.27, three seconds faster than her performance last year. Baruch's Fricchione followed with a time of 5:54.78, while Lehman's Garcia placed third with a 6:14.63.
In the women's 200-yard IM, Priscilla Arana from Baruch won gold with a 2:28.82 finish. Marian Wu of Hunter followed with a 2:29.80 while Grace Kim from Baruch finished bronze with a 2:34.23.
Lubrino won her second gold medal of the day by winning the 50-yard freestyle in 25.84. Lehman's Espinal finished silver with a 26.86, while Stacey Geoghegan from the Borough of Manhattan Community College won bronze with a 27.40. Averie Mohammed of York College won the senior college bronze medal by finishing with a time of 27.69.
The 11th Annual CUNY Athletic Conference men's and women's swimming and diving championships resume at the APEX on Friday, February 5th at 1:30pm and conclude on Saturday, February 6th at 9:00am.
Story Details Provided by CUNYAthletics.com
