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Three Titles, Booher's Athlete Of The Year Award Highlight Final Night Of 2007 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships Feb. 24, 2007 Chicago, Ill.- A sweep of the 400-yard freestyle relays titles and accolades galore for senior Blake Booher allowed the UIC men's and women's swimming and diving teams to wrap up the 2007 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships at the UIC Natatorium in tremendous fashion on Saturday night. Booher cemented his place in UIC history with an outstanding finish to his collegiate career. The Barrington native sliced :01.26 seconds off his prelim time with a :45 flat in the 100 free finals to claim the event title for the first time in his career. To cap the evening Booher anchored the 400 free relay team that featured Cameron Seebeck, Dan Hare and Brenden Dougherty. The quartet set a new UIC Natatorium record by easily finishing the race over their competition in 3:01.33. Prior to the men's race it was the UIC women's 400 free relay that turned in a league record-breaking show. Seniors Kelly Hyatt and Emily Biancalana and juniors Colleen Dougherty and Andrea Giczewski etched their names in the Horizon League record book by establishing a new conference record of 3:28.10 en route to the event championship. The performance was also the foursome's second league record set during the meet after they opened the title tilt with a record-breaking 200 free relay. Following the meet Booher was named the 2007 Horizon League Men's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year after winning two individual titles, anchoring two championship relays and completing a campaign that saw him go undefeated in the 50 free for the third consecutive season.
Other notable UIC performances on Saturday night included the 100 free finishes of Hare, Seebeck and Dougherty. After Booher took the title the threesome gave the Flames the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers in the race. Senior divers Mark Pappalardo and Ryan Fitzer dove for the final time in a collegiate competition at the UIC Natatorium during the men's one-meter finals. Pappalardo wrapped up a stellar career with All-League Second Team accolades in the event with a score of 365.95, coming less than three points short of champion Chris Dalman of Cleveland State. Fitzer completed his equally-impressive career with a fifth-place 288.20 on the board. Giczewski captured All-League Second Team honors for the third time in 2007 with a second-place :51.99 in the 100 free finals. Hyatt finished fourth in the event with a :52.43. Second-year distance standout Davor Trnovljakovic swam a fourth-place 16:17.47 in the men's 1650 free finals, while rookie Shaina Israel placed seventh in the women's 1650 free. Rookie Andy Peterson claimed sixth in the 200 back (1:54.32), while sophomore Jason Dews took seventh in the 200 fly finals. Senior Jessica Darud ended her career on a high note with a fifth-place 2:08.51 in the 200 backstroke finals. The Flames finished fourth in both team standings. Wright State won the men's team championship while UW-Green Bay captured the women's team crown. 2007 HORIZON LEAGUE SWIMMING & DIVING AWARD WINNERS
Women's Newcomer of the Year: Shannon Berndt, UW-Milwaukee |
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