January 31, 2004

BLACKSBURG, Va. - On a day when 11 pool records were set at War Memorial Pool, it was the final relay that decided the men's dual meet between Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh Saturday. With the Hokies holding a 104-103 advantage heading into the 400 freestyle relay, the Panthers, ranked 17^th nationally, claimed first and third place to rally for a 123.5-119.5 win over the Hokies. The Hokie women's team, meanwhile, grabbed control of the meet early and went on to win a 146-96 decision.

The Hokie women improved to 7-3, while the men's team, which took second place in the league last year, fell to 6-3 in dual meets. Pittsburgh's men, the defending BIG EAST champion, improved to 10-1, while the Panther women dipped to 6-5.

In the much-anticipated men's battle, the Hokies took a 31-24 lead after the third event - the 200 freestyle - and held a double-digit lead until the second round of diving results came in. The Panther men trimmed a 101-87 Tech lead to just a 104-103 Hokie advantage by taking the top three spots in the men's 1 meter diving. The Hokies outscored the Panthers 11.5-7.5 in the 200 breaststroke, setting up the final race. Virginia Tech needed to finish first or take second and third places, but the Hokie team of Tom Alberi, Aaron Sherman, David Litchfield and Kevin Furlong was the lone Tech squad to place, giving the Panthers a four-point win. In the race, the winning Panther team of Eric Bugby, Thomas Bird, Stephen Kilroy and Darryl Washington set a pool record with a time of 3:02.62.

For the men, Hokie senior Christian Lindberg set two pool records and was involved with a 400-medley relay team that set another one. He won the 50 freestyle with a pool and school record 20.01. Lindberg also won the 100 freestyle with a pool record time of 45.11. The 400 medley relay team of Lindberg, Furlong, Litchfield and Gus Calado swan to victory with a pool record time of 3:20.14. Calado was also a double individual winner, taking the 200 butterfly with a pool record time of 1:49.94. He also won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.41. In his final home meet on senior day, David Szabo won the 200 IM with a pool record time of 1:52.74. Pittsburgh's Eric Limkemann set a pool record and won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:33.65.

On the women's side, the Hokie swimmers won eight races and set three pool records. Senior Jamie Spradlin was a double winner, taking the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:10.55. She also claimed first place in the 500 freestyle with a winning time of 5:00.57. Mason Walsh shattered the pool record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.15. Sarah Gardner took first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.21, while Emily Guschke won the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.84. Katy Peterson set a pool record with her winning time of 2:01.62 in the 200 backstroke, while Jen Brielmaier won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:21.14.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Guschke, Walsh, Spradlin and Meagan Cleary set a pool record with a winning time of 3:28.12. During a time trial, Tech's Jeanette Batten established a pool record in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:20.81. In the first event of the day, Pittsburgh's 400-medley team of Andrea Shoust, Kelli Tielking, Ryan Redman and Kristin Brown set a pool record with a time of 3:49.74.

The Virginia Tech swimming and diving teams are now idle until the BIG EAST championships, scheduled for Feb. 19-21 on Long Island, N.Y.