Feb. 28, 2003
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Western Kentucky University senior swimmer Gord Veldman (Kingston, Ontario) picked up the Hilltoppers first individual title at this year's National Independent Championships on Friday as the men jumped two spots into third place - one point ahead of host Oakland - heading into the final day of the meet.
With 341 points, WKU trails only Southern Methodist (534) and Hawai'i (455) in the standings and leads Oakland (340) by one point. Florida Atlantic (281) is fifth followed by Louisiana-Monroe (206) and Denver (145).
Veldman picked up Western's first win of the meet by winning the 100 backstroke by over a half second with a time of 48.41. The time is Veldman's personal best in 2003 and further solidifies his qualifying time for the NCAA meet.
The senior's success wasn't the only highlight of the day for the Hilltoppers. Western began the afternoon by placing three swimmers in the top five of the 400 IM. Paul Graves (So., Louisville, Ky.) (3:59.94) and Greg Strickler (So., Midland, Mich.) (4:00.87) led the way with second and third place finishes, respectively. Karl Swanson (Fr., Bowling Green, Ky.) finished fifth in (4:03.31). All three completed the course in season-best times. The strong showing continued in the 100 Butterfly as Ryan Crosby (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) (49.07) and Chad Waits (Shelbyville, Ky.) (49.54) finished third and fifth, respectively. Alex Handley (So., Kensington, England) capped WKU's success in individual events by cutting three seconds off his top time in the 200 Freestyle to finish tenth (1:41.85). The Hilltoppers capped the day with a fourth-place finish by the foursome of Veldman, Chris Tarter (Fr., Campbellsville, Ky.), Crosby and Jerrod Janes (Carlsbad, N.M.) in the 400 Medley Relay in a time of 3:18.62. On the 1-meter board, Donny Glass (Sr., Bay City, Mich.) finished ninth with a score of 209.25.
The women also had several strong performances led by junior diver Marci Kascir (Indianapolis, Ind.). Kascir finished second in the 3-Meter, 11-Dive event with 459.95 points - a personal-best score. Jordan Beck (Fr., Normandy, Tenn.) got a third place finish in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 57.47 - over second faster than her previous top time in the event. Penta Stanley (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.) added fifth place result in the 400 IM (4:37.42), while Lori Ludwiczak (So., Owensboro, Ky.) and Sarah Besco (Jr., Dayton, Ohio) finished in the top 10 in the 100 Breaststroke. Ludwiczak was eighth with a time of 1:09.11 in the finals after setting a personal record in the preliminaries with a time of 1:07.31 while Besco completed the distance with a time of 1:08.31.
The meet concludes on Saturday with preliminaries at 11 a.m. (EST) and the finals at 6:30 p.m.
Individual Results From NIC, Day 3
Event Place Competitor(s) Time Points
400 IM 2nd Paul Graves 3:59.94 17 3rd Greg Strickler 4:00.87 16 5th Karl Swanson 4:03.31 14 13th James Campbell 4:10.40 4100 Butterfly 3rd Ryan Crosby 49.07 16 5th Chad Waits 49.54 14 15th Nick Bracco 50.43 2 16th Jay Smith 50.96 1200 Freestyle 9th Alex Handley 1:41.85 9 16th Matt Nalbonne 1:44.03 1100 Breaststroke 11th Charles Knight 57.92 6 12th Chris Tarter 57.93 5100 Backstroke 1st Gord Veldman 48.41 20 11th Nick Bracco 50.96 61-Meter Diving 9th Donny Glass 208.25 9 11th Michael Laake 176.80 6400 Medley Relay 4th Gord Veldman, Chris Tarter 3:18.62 30 Ryan Crosby, Jerrod Janes
