George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Patriot Invitational
Leor posts fastest time in the Atlantic 10
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 20, 2009
FAIRFAX, VA - The George Washington men's and women's swimming team hit the water for the first day of the 2009 Patriot Invitational Friday on the campus of George Mason University.
In the morning session, junior Paola Leor finished the 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:06.72- the fastest time in the Atlantic 10. Leor later returned to action in the 50-yard freestyle. Her time of 23. 90, currently the second fastest time in the Atlantic 10 and second fastest time in the history of the program, is just .33 hundredths of a second off her GW record of 23.69.
The night session saw some terrific swims for the Colonials. Freshman Niklas Glenesk swam the 500 yard freestyle. During the morning preliminary session, Glenesk's time of 4:48.92 qualified him into the 23rd position. During the night finals Glenesk trailed most of the race; however, mustered up an incredible last 100 yards to chase down the entire field and win the bonus heat. Glenesk swam his last 100 yards in an outstanding time of 54.07 seconds. His final time of 4:43.19 was the 12th fastest time of the meet.
Head coach Dan Rhinehart had this to say in reaction to Glenesk's race, "Nik's swim tonight was impressive. In all honesty, I think Nik is capable of a much faster time; however, his race tonight was definitely inspirational. It is pretty rare that you see someone bring back their last 100 yards in a time that is faster than their first 100 yards. That race was all heart. I look forward to seeing what Nik is capable of the rest of the meet." According to times posted on CollegeSwimming.com, Glenesk's time put him within the top five times of the A-10 in the event, shaving 7 full seconds off his time.
Fellow freshman Stephan Franke had the Colonial's next swim of the evening in the 200-yard individual medley. The morning heats saw Franke post a time of 1:58.67 earning him the 19th position. After some modifications to his morning race plan Franke was able to shave off half a second and finish with a time of 1:58.14 (an in-season best.) Franke's time currently places him 7th in the conference.
Sophomore sprinter Marshall Seedorff also performed well for the Colonials winning the bonus heat of the 50-yard freestyle. Seedorff led the pack the entire way turning at the wall a full body length ahead of his competitors. His time of 21.6 (an in-season best) was .10 faster than his preliminary swim.
Day one relays included the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. The men's team posted top 10 times in both races.
The men's 200 Freestyle relay (1:26.75), was swum by Seedorff (21.70), Luke Quimby (21.79), Alex Etz (21.62) and Glenesk (21.57), and took the seventh from the pack of 18 teams in the 200-yard freestyle. Etz, Paolo De Luca, Davin Harding and Glenesk took 10th of 18 in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:34.15.
The women's medley relay team of Emily Leik (1:01.63) in Backstroke, Jennifer Cohn (1:07.94) in Breaststroke, Sarah Beggs (57.80) in Butterfly, and Katrina Timlin (54.03) in Freestyle was able to post a solid 4:01.40 for ninth place out of the 16 teams in the field.
On Saturday morning the Colonials will be back in action for day two of the Patriot Invitational. GW will be competing in the 400 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 200 Medley Relay and 800 Freestyle Relay Saturday with preliminary sessions begin at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
