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Bulldogs Open Horizon League Championships With School Record, Top-10 Times
Feb. 21, 2007
Chicago - The Butler men's 200 freestyle relay team highlighted a day of fast times for the Bulldogs' men's and women's swimming teams, as the teams combined for a school record and a flurry of all-time top-10 marks on the first day of the 2007 Horizon League Championships at Flames Natatorium on Wednesday (Feb. 21). The relay team of Korey McCulley, Chris Gordon, Jason Brozek and Jimmy Howard got the men's squad off to a fast start in the first event of the tournament, as McCulley notched a lifetime-best 21.75 in the lead-off 50 yard leg and helped to propel the quartet to a 1:25.49 for fifth. The time placed the Bulldogs ahead of UW-Milwaukee in the race, marking the first time since 2001 that Butler has out-paced another league school in a relay event. The Bulldogs continued to post fast times in the remaining events, as Raj Duggal swam to a finalist showing and season-best time in the 1,000 freestyle (9:38.21), and Ben Shafer notched a lifetime-best performance in the same event (10:26.19) while trimming nearly 20 seconds from his previous season-best mark and finishing in the all-time top-10 list. The men's squad closed the evening with the 200 medley relay, as McCulley, Brozek, Howard and Gordon notched the fourth-fastest time in school history with a 1:37.16. The women's squad fared just as well, starting the tournament with a top-10 all-time mark in the 200 freestyle (1:40.87). Sarah Lynne Gates got the team off to an explosive start with a lead-off 50 yard leg of 25.35, the sixth-fastest 50 mark in school history, while Elizabeth Shafer, Ali Overgaard and Mary Beth Arnold closed the trek.
Julie Elmore added another top-10 finish in the 1,000 freestyle, recording a lifetime-fast mark of 11:24.98 while cutting 15 seconds off her season-best time. The day ended for the women in similar fashion as it began for the men, as the 200 medley relay team of Gates, Arnold, Overgaard and Shafer swam to a 1:51.29 to finish in fifth and ahead of Youngstown State in the finals standings, the first time that a women's relay team has topped a league foe in the championships since 2004. The time is also the second-fastest 200 medley relay mark in school history. "I am pleased with our relay and individual performances this evening," head coach Maurice Stewart said. "The team is off to a great start, and I am confident we will carry this positive energy forward into Thursday's events. "We really surprised some teams, with multiple lifetime bests, swimmers moving up in the all-time rankings and our relays beating other Horizon League teams." The second day of the Horizon League Championships gets underway on Thursday (Feb. 22) with preliminary swimming beginning at 10:30 p.m. CT, diving at 2:00 p.m. and swimming finals at 6:00 p.m. Men's Scores - Through Day One
Women's Scores - Through Day One |
