Wheaton finishes sixth at NEWMAC Swimming and Diving Championship; 14 school records posted in the meet, nine by Hurley

March 2, 2003

CAMBRIDGE, MA- The Wheaton College men's swimming and diving team broke or tied 14 of the program's 25 school records, with junior co-captain Chris Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) figuring in nine of them, as the Lyons finished sixth overall with 299 points at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship at MIT this weekend.

Hurley started the weekend meet on Friday, helping to lead the 200-yard freestyle relay team to a sixth place finish. Teaming with senior co-captain Chris Peterson (Ashland, MA/Ashland), junior Patrick Sagui (Westwood, MA/Westwood) and sophomore Chris Klinkow (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline), the quartet broke the seven-year old school record in a time of 1:30.87. Later that evening, Hurley shattered his second school mark, this time besting Josiah Crump's nine-year record in the preliminary race of the 50-yard freestyle (22.38). He finished seventh in the finals with a time of 22.39. In the last event of the night, two more records were broken, again with Hurley in the mix. Hurley, Peterson, Klinkow and freshman John Kuckens (West Hartford, CT/Hall) finished sixth in the 400-yard medley relay in a time of 3:44.54. Hurley swam the 100-yard backstroke portion of that race in 55.14, beating his own mark.

On Saturday, Peterson, Hurley, Sagui and Klinkow broke the school mark in the 200-yard medley relay with a sixth place finish in 1:41.50. In that relay, Hurley swam the 50-yard backstroke in a school-best 25.70, breaking Braden Ferrari's seven-year mark. In the 100-yard backstroke, Hurley shattered his own school mark while finishing third in 54.34. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow and Kuckens finished fifth in a time of 7:24.85, also breaking that school record. Within that relay, Hurley set his fifth record of the day, swimming the 200-yard free in 1:46.33. On Sunday, one more record fell by Hurley, as he swam the 200-yard backstroke in a record 1:58.38.

Not to be outdone by Hurley were Klinkow and Kuckens. Klinkow broke one record while tying another. On Saturday, he shattered his own 100-yard butterfly mark with a time of 53.22. On Sunday, he tied Jim Thomas' nine-year record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 24.42. Kuckens meanwhile set two school records of his own. In the 1,650-yard free on Sunday, he broke his own school mark by over 50 seconds at 17:56.38. During that race, he swam the first 1,000-yards in a school-record time of 10:49.91, breaking Hurley's old mark in the event. On Friday, despite failing to make the finals of the 500-yard freestyle, Kuckens tied the 500-yard freestyle mark with a time of 5:05.43.

Other point scoring finishes in the relays came from senior Nick Luise (Bloomfield, NJ/Blair Academy), sophomore Loren Simmons (Oakland, CA/The Head Royce School) and freshmen Chris Diaz (Southwest Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) and Aaron Ramsey (York, ME/Berwick Academy), who finished the 200-yard free relay 13th overall. Simmons, Diaz and Ramsey also teamed with sophomore Kirill Bernshteyn (Stamford, CT/Stamford) to finish 13th in the 400-yard medley relay, while Luise, Bernshteyn, Simmons and Diaz recorded a 12th place mark in the 200-yard medley relay. In the 800-yard freestyle, Luise, Bernshteyn, Diaz and Ramsey posted a 13th place finish, while Simmons, Ramsey, Luise, and Bernshteyn rounded out the relay scoring with a 14th place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Individual point scorers came from Bernshteyn in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, Luise in the 400-yard IM and 200-yard butterfly, Peterson in the 200-yard IM, 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, Sagui in the 1,650-yard freestyle and Simmons in the 400-yard IM.

Sophomore Aaron Beaulieu (Freeport, ME/Freeport) and first-year Charles Sawyer (Brooklyn, NY/Beacon School) paced the Lyons in the diving events, as Beaulieu finished sixth and eighth in the three and one-meter dives, respectively, while Sawyer posted a sixth place finish in the one-meter dive.

Following is a complete list of the Top 16 individual and relay finishers for Wheaton over the three-day competition of the NEWMAC Championship:

Individual
Name Event Time Place
Chris Hurley 100 yard backstroke 54.34 3rd*
Chris Hurley 200 yard backstroke 1:58.38 4th*
Charles Sawyer 1 meter dive 270.40 (points) 6th
Aaron Beaulieu 3 meter dive 258.45 (points) 6th
Chris Hurley 50 yard freestyle 22.39 7th
John Kuckens 1,650 yard freestyle 17:56.38 7th*
Aaron Beaulieu 1 meter dive 229.65 (points) 8th
Patrick Sagui 1,650 yard freestyle 18:29.41 10th
Kirill Bernshteyn 200 yard butterfly 2:17.78 11th
Chris Peterson 200 yard breaststroke 2:22.69 11th
Kirill Bernshteyn 100 yard butterfly 58.39 12th
Chris Peterson 200 yard IM 2:07.49 14th
Nick Luise 400 yard IM 5:13.55 14th
Nick Luise 200 yard butterfly 2:35.02 15th
Loren Simmons 400 yard IM 5:16.31 15th
Chris Peterson 100 yard breaststroke 1:05.50 16th

Relay
Name Event Time Place
Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow, Kuckens 800 yard freestyle relay 7:24.85 5th*
Peterson, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow 200 yard freestyle relay 1:30.87 6th*
Peterson, Hurley, Sagui, Klinkow 200 yard medley relay 1:41.50 6th*
Peterson, Sagui, Klinkow, Kuckens 400 yard freestyle relay 3:23.30 6th
Peterson, Hurley, Klinkow, Kuckens 400 yard medley relay 3:44.54 6th*
Luise, Bernshteyn, Chris Diaz, Simmons 200 yard medley relay 1:56.15 12th
Luise, Simmons, Diaz, Aaron Ramsey 200 yard freestyle relay 1:39.72 13th
Bernshteyn, Simmons, Diaz, Ramsey 400 yard medley relay 4:14.07 13th
Luise, Bernshteyn, Diaz, Ramsey 800 yard freestyle relay 8:20.24 13th
Luise, Bernshteyn, Simmons, Ramsey 400 yard freestyle relay 3:41.51 14th

* Denotes school record

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