Swimming and Diving Beat Delta State and Henderson State
11/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
The Alabama Swimming and Diving teams beat Delta State and Henderson State on the road in Cleveland, Miss. today by sizeable margins.
Alabama's women beat Delta State 115-25 and Henderson State 117-21, putting the Tide at 2-1 on the season. The Tide men go to 2-1 as well after beating Delta State 96-44 and Henderson State 109-31.
"It was a good meet for us," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "We did some things really well today. Mark Randall in the 1000 freestyle was amazing. His 9:04 today ranks right up there with the best in Alabama history and is really strong for this time of year. Hunor (Mate') grabbed a couple of wins in the breaststrokes along with a pool record in the 100, and that was good to see. Overall we had a solid day and we're improving."
On men's side, freshman distance phenom Mark Randall swam a scorching 1000 freestyle, posting the fastest time in the nation so far this year with a 9:04.69, a time that also puts him fifth all-time for the Tide in just his second meet wearing the crimson and white and shattered the Delta State Aquatic Center record.
Randall came back later in the meet to win the 400 IM, tying with junior Tim Hansen at 4:08.14. Junior Hunor Mate' also won two events, taking top honors in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, touching the wall at 55.83 and 2:04.93 respectively. His time in the 100 breaststroke also set a pool record.
Sophomore Mike Jones won the 100 backstroke with a 52.21 while junior Luke Dickson won the 200 with a 1:55.94. Junior Apostolis Tsagkarakis won the 50 freestyle with a 21.18 while senior Darren Erasmus won the 100 freestyle with a 46.22. Junior Spiros Bitsakis won the 100 butterfly with a 51.70. Junior Alan Harris won the three-meter diving event, scoring a 221.45, while junior Aaron Ashworth won the one-meter with a 216.50 total.
For the women, sophomore Erin Sparks won the 50 freestyle, going 24.50. She then went on to tie for first in the 100 freestyle with freshman Vanessa von der Heyde, when both women posted a 52.62.
Sophomore Hanna Miluska won the 200 freestyle with a 1:55.20 while classmate Stephanie Johnson won the 500 with a 5:06.21. Junior Tara Theilmann won the 1000 freestyle with a 10:32.14.
Rookies claimed the top spots in the backstroke events when Caitlin Anderson won the 100 with a 59.43 and Amanda Maher won the 200 with a 2:09.95. The butterfly events belonged to the junior class as Melina Bassino won the 100 with a 57.99 and Victoria Genova won the 200 with a 2:03.54, nearly 10 seconds better than her nearest competitor. Genova also swam away with the 400 IM, posting a 4:35.72, beating second place by nine seconds.
Senior Crystal Rasmussen joined Sparks and Genova as a double winner, taking first on both the one and three-meter boards, scoring 198.10 and 216.80 points respectively. The Tide also won the 200 freestyle and medley relays.
