Men's Swimming And Diving Leads At Big East Championships
2/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming
Feb. 18, 2000
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh men's and women's swimming and diving teams completed the first day of competition at the 2000 Big East Championships yesterday in Long Island, N.Y. The Panther men hold a 110-point lead (256.50) over second-place Rutgers (146), with Notre Dame (134) rounding out the top three. The women are currently fourth with 122 points, but are not far behind third-place West Virginia (129). Notre Dame (273) leads the women and Miami (148) is in second.
Looking to claim its 15th overall and fourth-straight Big East championship, the Pittsburgh men's team won three event titles, broke three school records, and set a meet record on just the first day of competition. In the first event of the championships, Michael Demos (McKeesport, Pa./Elizabeth-Forward), Miah Heath (Estes Park, Colo./Estes Park), Jerry Koller (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and Mike Grube (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) claimed the 200-yard freestyle relay title in 1:20.26, breaking the school and meet record of 1:21.35, set by Pittsburgh in 1991.
Grube, the Panthers' standout freshman sprinter, won his first individual Big East championship in the 50 free with a time of 20.35. His preliminary time of 20.32 broke a 19-year-old school record (20.34) set by Rick Carter in 1981. Grube also anchored the 400 medley relay team of Brian Elko (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls), Michael Pron (Belle Meade, N.J./Hillsborough) and Heath that won first place in a school record time of 3:16.80.
For the women, senior Jamie Tomazich (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) finished second on the three-meter diving board with a score of 495.25, while freshman Emily Colley (Pace, Fla./Pace) placed third in the 500 free to earn her first All-Big East honor (top three placewinners).
The Big East Championships will continue Friday and Saturday.