University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Big East Championships Preview: Men's IM/Relays
2/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Big East Championships Preview: Men's IM/Relays
2/19/2003
PITTSBURGH ? The men's swimming and diving team's recent dominance in the Big East Championships is very evident in the fact that the Panthers have won 16 of the 30 relay races since 1997, including five straight 200 free relay titles.
Men's Individual Medley
Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech are well represented at the top of the 200 individual medley rankings, heading into this weekend's meet. The Panthers and Hokies occupy the top seven spots in the conference between them. Leading the way is Virginia Tech's Joey Piekarski, with a time of 1:50.25. He is followed by Ken Shelhorse (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) and Michael Bernardi (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex), with times of 1:50.98 and 1:51.90, respectively. After Anders Frahm, who is ranked fourth, two more Panthers appear in the rankings. Chris Ippoliti (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) is ranked fifth with a time of 1:52.66 and junior Randy Gertenbach (El Centro, Calif./Paradise Valley) is sixth, just 0.07 seconds behind Ippoliti. All four of the Panthers' qualifying times in the 200 IM were swum at the Pittsburgh Invitational.
Three other Panthers have also qualified for the 200 IM, which will have a new Big East champion after three-time winner Djordje Filipovic of Syracuse graduated. Freshman Jason Miller (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), sophomore Brian Bonczek (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), and junior co-captain Eric Limkemann (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) join the top four IM swimmers as seven of the conference's 29 qualifiers.
The 400 IM is a little different as the Panthers only have three 'A'-time qualifiers. Limkemann swam the third-fastest time in the conference this year, 4:00.07 at the Pittsburgh Invitational, and two spots below him is Bernardi, a freshman. Sean Smith of Rutgers is currently the top-ranked 400 IM swimmer, followed by Virginia Tech's David Szabo, who is also seventh in the 200 IM.
The only other Panther swimmer who qualified was sophomore Hannes Kohnke (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan), with a time of 4:04.13 in November. Limkemann won last year's Big East title in the 400 IM with a time of 3:54.38.
Men's Relays
Things shouldn't change too much as far as the relay success the Panthers have enjoyed over the past six years. They are currently ranked first in all three freestyle relay events and are second in both medley relay events, behind Virginia Tech.
Senior Mike Grube (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) and freshman Darryl Washington (Aldan, Pa./Penn Wood) are freestyle specialists that appear in four of the five top Panther relay times Junior Adam Webber (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) also appears in all three of the Panthers' freestyle relays.
The Panthers won four of the five relays in last year's Championships, with Rutgers taking the 200 medley title.
Tomorrow's Preview: Diving
