Swimming ends season with 13 new records

February 17, 2009

Charlotte, NC -- The Pfeiffer men’s and women’s swim teams participated in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference championship last week and broke 13 school records in the process. The Pfeiffer men’s team came in 9th place, while the women’s team finished out the meet in 15th place.

Sophomore Patrick Porter (Kannapolis, NC) left Charlotte with five new school records.  Porter bested Pfeiffer’s record times in the 50 and 100 free with a 21.62 and 48.54, respectively.  Porter also swam on the record-breaking 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, and 400 free relay teams. 

The 200 medley relay team was composed of Porter, junior Marc Kourie (Johannesburg, South Africa), sophomore Kevin Parks (Mesa, Arizona), and freshman Zach McMichael (Raleigh, NC).  The team broke the school record with their 10th place finish and a time of 1:37.82.  The same group swam the 400 medley relay in 3:34.13.

The 400 free relay team of Porter, Kourie, McMichael, and sophomore Edwin Torres (Miami, FL) finished the race in 3:13.21, almost three seconds faster than it’s ever been recorded for Pfeiffer before. The 800 free relay team of Torres, McMichael, Kourie, and sophomore Jeff Cannon (Lewis Center, OH) swam their race in 7:15.94 to best the previous school record by more than 16 seconds.

Along with marking three new records with his relay teams, Zach McMichael took home best marks for the 100 fly and 200 fly.  He beat the old record for the 100 fly by almost three seconds with a 50.72 and finished in 5th place.  McMichael beat the former 200 fly mark by close to nine seconds with a 1:54.67. Kevin Parks also tallied an additional record with a 2:15.02 in the 200 breast. 

The women’s team did not mark any new records, but still walked away with solid performances all week.  The 200 medley relay team of freshman Amanda Shields (Severna Park, MD), senior Joy Prim (Yadkinville, NC), junior Brittany Byrum (Matthews, NC), and junior Nicole DiVaccaro (Woodstown, NJ) walked away with a 15th place finish and a total time of 2:09.07. Byrum also took two 21st place finished in the 200 fly (2:24:86) and 200 free (2:04.04).

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 37

1. University of Tampa               657  
2. Johns Hopkins University          647
3. Savannah College of Art & Design  543  
4. Wingate University M&W            502
5. Limestone College                 294 
6. Rollins College                   185
7. Transylvania University           175  
8. Catawba College Indians           136
9. Fairmont State University         121 
10. West Virginia Wesleyan College    118
11. Lenoir Rhyne University            89 
12. Florida Southern College           76
13. Saint Leo University               44 
13. Wheeling Jesuit University         44
15. Pfeiffer University                22                                          

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 38

1. Wingate University M&W          657.5  
2. University of Tampa               552
3. Washington & Lee University       547  
4. Limestone College               498.5
5. Savannah College of Art & Design  266  
6. Rollins College                   259
7. Transylvania University           196  
8. Catawba College Indians           180
9. Pfeiffer University               112 
10. West Virginia Wesleyan College    106
11. Florida Southern College           86 
12. Saint Leo University               84
13. Fairmont State University          61 
14. Wheeling Jesuit University         40