Wingate teams lead SCAD Invitational Friday

Savannah, Ga.----The Wingate University men’s and women’s swimming teams lead the Savannah College of Art and Design College Invitational Friday. The annual event concludes Saturday at the Chatham County Aquatics Center.

The Wingate women extended their lead, posting 692 points. Host SCAD is second with 525 points. Converse College is third with 474 points. The Bulldog men passed the host Bees Friday, as they accumulated 682 points. SCAD has 619 points, while Darton (Ga.) College is third with 265 points.

Freshmen Beatrice Svensson (Lomma, Sweden) and Valerie Dembny (Bremen, Germany) participated in three victories each for the Bulldog women. Dembny won two individual events: the 100 Backstroke (58.81) and the 100 Butterfly (58.33). In the 100 Backstroke, the Bulldogs took the top four spots with junior Malin Kersmark (Malin-Bjarred, Sweden), senior Nicole Moody (Grovetown, Ga.) and freshman Cameron Washburn (Wilmington, N.C.) completing the victory stand.

Dembny teamed with Kersmark, Svensson and senior Cheryl Vaccaro (Charlotte, N.C.) to set a new meet record in the 400 Medley Relay with a triumphant time of 3:57.58. In the first event of the day, Svensson paired with Moody, Vaccaro and freshman Amanda Gilbert (Metairie, La.) to take the checkered flag in the 200 Freestyle Relay with a 1:38.97 posting.

Svensson earned an individual meet record to go with her performance in the 400 Medley Relay. She won the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:52.89. Senior Kelsey Trabue (Dexter, Mich.) helped bolster Wingate’s depth, as she won the 200 Freestyle “B” Final with a time of 1:57.97.

            All total, the Wingate women won three “B” finals. In addition to Trabue’s victory, Kersmark won the 50 Freestyle “B” final with a time of 25.43. Sophomore Elly Speer (Sydney, Australia) won the 100 Butterfly “B” final with a 1:01.20 clocking.

Sophomore Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa) led the Bulldog men, as the 2010 national champion (400 Freestyle Relay) won two events. Julyan touched first in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 21.03. Senior teammate Dwight Richardson (Newport News, Va.) was second at 21.79.

Julyan and Richardson opened the day by teaming with sophomore Spencer Waganaar (Satellite Beach, Fla.) and junior Lee Sousa (Cornelius, N.C.) to win the 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:25.17. Waganaar had a busy day, as he finished second in the 200 Freestyle (1:42.34) and the 100 Butterfly (51.16).

Waganaar finished his day by placing second in the 400 Medley Relay (3:30.45) with Julyan, freshman Tim Kniffler (Mulheim, Germany) and junior captain Danny Palmiotto (Brookfield, Conn.). Kniffler was second in the 100 Backstroke (53.35), leading a 2-3-4 Wingate finish in the event. Richardson was third, while junior Santino Viselli (Windsor, Ontario) was fourth.

Wingate senior Marcelo Machado (Recife, Brazil) won the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:10.48. Freshman Marko Blazevski (Skopje, Macedonia) won the 400 Individual Medley with a new meet-record time of 4:00.68. Interestingly enough, the former record was held by Wingate All-American Kyle Corcoran. Machado finished second in the 400 IM Friday.

The Bulldog men equaled the women’s team by winning three “B” finals. Senior Lucas Willers (Tacoma, Wash.) won the 200 Freestyle “B” final with a time of 1:46.77. Junior captain Ben Murphy (Chapel Hill, N.C.) won the 400 Individual Medley “B” final with a time of 4:24.58, while freshman Reed Miller (Mobile, Ala.) won the 50 Freestyle “B” final with a time of 22.36.