University of Richmond Athletics
Swim & Dive Guns For Third Straight A-10 Title
02/19/2013 | Women's Swimming & Diving
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va.- The Richmond Swim & Dive team begins the quest for their third consecutive conference title this week when the team travels to Geneva, Ohio for the Atlantic 10 Championships, scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday. The meet takes place at the SPIRE Institute, the new home for the A-10 Championship.
"Winning one of these championships isn't easy. It seems there are four legitimate contenders on the women's side," said head coach Matt Barany. "I'd count us as one of the four. A close meet would bring out our best, and I think our "best" would be hard to beat."
Seniors Lauren Hines and Mina Vucic will bring experience and leadership to the Spider squad going into the meet. Hines qualified for NCAAs last season, and continued to garner the success this season, earning A-10 Performer of the Week accolades. She currently holds the A-10 All-Time Performance in the 100-yard backstroke after recording a time of 52.5.
The two seniors have been key players in the relays over the course of the year. Vucic anchored the season top performing 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, and 400 free relay. Hines paces the medley relay as the leadoff swimmer.
Junior Mali Kobelja had a superior season, earning A-10 Performer of the Week after the team's season opener, where Kobelja won the 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke. She earned the award a second time after winning all five of her individual events over the course of two double dual meets.
Freshman Kelley Yang hopes to continue to make a splash for the Spiders. Yang earned A-10 Rookie of the Week twice over the course of the season. She holds the third fastest 100 fly time Spider history, and is one second shy of breaking the Atlantic 10 meet record.
Katherine Cook and Erica Elias will look to bring the Spiders points on the boards. In the meet against Villanova, Cook broke the record in the 3-meter, while Elias posted personal best scores on both the 1-meter and 3-meter.
The Spider's completed in their final regular season meet on February 2 against Villanova. The team has spent the past two and a half weeks preparing for the championship.
"Our mental, emotional, and physical preparation has been thorough," said Barany. "We just need to fire up the engines and let it rip."
Alumni, family, and Spider fans looking for up-to-the minute results are encouraged to follow this week's action via live results and the conference's live video stream. Additional details will be offered through live in-meet tweets, and video on the team's Facebook.
A written recap will be posted on RichmondSpiders.com following each day of action, as will photos and video. Event results will also accompany meet recaps. The complete meet results will be posted Saturday after the meet concludes.
Head coach Matt Barany will continue his championship mee blog. The blog will be featured on the Swim & Dive page.
Players Mentioned
