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April 11, 2005
Women swimmers claim first Div. III team title

John arenberg is emory's sports information director

Over spring break, Emory won its first national championship in women’s swimming and diving, capturing the gold at the NCAA Div. III nationals in Michigan.

This is the crowning touch in a seven-year span in which the team, coached by Jon Howell, progressed from 12th place at the nationals to seventh place, fourth, third, third (again), second, and finally, national champion. The year before Howell took over the team, it finished in 26th place at the NCAA meet. Howell was honored as the national Coach of the Year.

Samantha White won an individual national championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, and the 800-yard freestyle relay team of White, Holly Hinz, Dana Inserra and Leigh Campbell also took first place.
The men’s swimming and diving team finished second at nationals for the second consecutive year. This is the sixth straight year Emory has placed in the top three at the national meet.

Chris Halstead successfully defended his national title in the 200-yard backstroke. Halstead also helped Emory to the championship in the 200-yard medley relay, along with teammates Stefan Mianowski, Justin Hake and Christopher Press.

The swim team finishes helped Emory climb to 12th place in the national standings for the Directors’ Cup, presented to the school with the best all-around athletics program. With three nationally ranked teams in spring sports, Emory has a chance to finish in the top 10 nationally for the fifth consecutive year.

TENNIS (WOMEN)
The women’s tennis team is the two-time defending national champion and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Though the squad had to replace three All-Americans from last season, it got off to a 10-2 start this year, including a 6-1 record against national top-20 teams. Carina Alberelli, who played No. 3 singles last season, has taken over as the team’s No. 1 player. She has a 10-5 singles record this season, raising her career wins total to 66, good for 13th place on the school’s all-time list and six wins shy of the top 10.

TENNIS (MEN)
Entering the spring ranked No. 3 in the nation, the Eagles won the national indoor championships for the second year in a row. The squad returned every player from its regular lineup from last season when it finished third at the NCAA team championships. At the start of April, Emory had an 11-2 record overall, 6-0 against national top-20 teams.

GOLF
Emory is looking to extend its streak of consecutive national tournament appearances after placing 15th in 2003 and fifth last year. The Eagles were ranked eighth in the nation by the coaches’ association at the start of April. The team’s eight participants averaged between 74 and 79 shots per round. The low scorer was All-American Mike Lebow, who had a 73.9 stroke average per round. Lebow was ranked 14th in the nation among all Div. III golfers by Golfstat.

TRACK & FIELD (WOMEN)
Emory closed out the 2005 indoor season with the distance relay medley competing at the Div. III national championships. The relay finished ninth in its event with a time of
12 minutes, 16.51 seconds. As a team, Emory finished second at the University Athletic Association (UAA) indoor championships, improving on last season’s fourth-place finish. The team had six all-conference performers (top-three finishes), and senior Angela Davie was named regional indoor track female Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. Davie finished first in the mile at the UAA championships, with a school-record time of 5:05.03, qualifying her provisionally for the Div. III national championships.

TRACK & FIELD (MEN)
Emory finished the indoor season ranked 68th nationally in the U.S. Track Coaches Association power poll, placing sixth at the UAA indoor championships. The Eagles had three all-conference (top-three finish) performances. Rob Leventhal won the 800-meter run, and Blake Staub took third place in both the 55-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.

HONORS
Men’s soccer player Kevin McCarthy has been awarded a $7,500 NCAA postgraduate scholarship. McCarthy becomes one of 28 male student-athletes in the nation from the fall sports to receive the award, 11 of whom come from Div. III schools. McCarthy was one of two Div. III soccer players to receive the scholarship.

For more information about Emory athletics, visit www.go.emory.edu.

 

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