Pitt
Big East Championships
Big East Champs!!!
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming
Feb. 23, 2002
PITTSBURGH--Records continued to fall as the Pittsburgh men's swimming and diving team won an unprecedented 17th Big East title on Saturday evening and its sixth straight at the Nassau Aquatic Center in Uniondale, N.Y.
Led by head coach Chuck Knoles, who won his sixth Big East Coach of the Year Award, the Panthers crushed the opposing 11 teams in posting 807 points, 319 more than the second-place team, Rutgers, who scored 488 points.
The final day of competition saw five Panther championships in six events including the fourth out of five relays in the 400 freestyle.
Seniors Miah Heath (Estes Park, Colo./Estes Park) and Max Von Bodungen (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan) teamed up with junior Mike Grube (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) and sophomore Adam Webber (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) to win the 400 freestyle with a meet-record time of 2:55.87, which also set the school record in the event. The same foursome won the Big East title last year with a time of 2:56.56.
The day began with Ken Shelhorse (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) winning his second title of the meet in the 200 backstroke. He topped teammate Steve Siler (Chicago, Ill./Westmont) by 0.49 seconds with a time of 1:46.31. Siler won the event in 1998 and 1999. Panther Eric Drummond (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) finished in 13th place with a time of 1:52.25.
As they have done all season, the Panthers swept the podium in the 100 free and added a fifth-place finish as well from the foursome that won the 400 free relay. Grube earned his second individual championship of the meet and fifth in his career by posting a time of 44.08 seconds to defeat Heath by two tenths of a second and Von Bodungen by 0.23 seconds. Grube's time of 43.69 seconds in the prelims broke his own school record set at last year's championships. Webber finished in fifth place with a time of 45.09 seconds.
Sophomore Randy Gertenbach (El Centro, Calif./Paradise Valley) narrowly missed out on setting a school record of his own by just four-hundredths of a second in the 200 breaststroke. His time of 1:59.49 did get him his second title of the meet and he was 2.45 seconds faster than Joey Piekarski of Virginia Tech, who finished second.
In the only event that the Panthers didn't qualify a finalist, Ryan Rahaeuser (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral) won the consolation finals of the 200 fly with a time of 1:51.83. Djordje Filipovic of Syracuse, the Big East Outstanding Male Swimmer, won the race for his third title of the meet.
In a close second to Filipovic for the award was Eric Limkemann (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) who blasted the competition and his own school record in the 1650 freestyle by winning the race with a time of 15:13.91. The time was 16.53 seconds faster than the nearest competitor and broke his old school mark by 5.17 seconds. It was Limkemann's third title of the meet as well with earlier victories in the 500 free and 400 individual medley.
"This was what I expected out of the guys but nothing can take away from winning the championship," Knoles said. "To see that many school and meet records being broken is a credit to this team because it continues to raise the bar. I am excited for every member of our team and for the University of Pittsburgh."
FINAL STANDINGS -- BIG EAST MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS1. PITTSBURGH 807 2. Rutgers 488 3. Virginia Tech 416 4. Notre Dame 390 5. St. John's 356 6. West Virginia 345.5 7. Connecticut 219 8. Syracuse 210 9. Miami 201 10. Seton Hall 143.5 11. Villanova 123.5 12. Georgetown 55.5
