Jan. 13, 2006

Kings Point, NY -  Refreshed and tanned from their training trip to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the Mariner Swimming and Diving Team started the new year off right with victories over Adelphi and John Jay.

          On the men's side, sophomore Jay Carpenter carried away two first place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle.

            Other event winners were freshman David Scarberry, freshman Scott Pearson, senior Jesse Bowser and junior Bryan Vagts.

            Scarberry started the men off right with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:19.94.

            Vagts won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:27.06, beating Panther Arnold Brulhardt by almost 11 seconds. He dropped 32 seconds off his time in his performance in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:05.48, swimming in second behind Scarberry. 

            Junior Benjamin Christian also improved his time in the 1000-yard freestyle event, dropping 42 seconds off his season's best time. Christian came in fifth behind Scarberry, Vagts and Panthers Brulhardt and Timmy Mueller.

            Pearson beat out Adelphi's Benjamin Dellagiovanna with a time of 55.25 in the 100-yard backstroke, giving the Mariners their fifth individual win of the evening.

            Bowser, swimming in his first 200-yard event in three years due to an injury, outswam his opponents for a win in the 200-yard IM, with a time of 2:07.09.

            Mariner Freshman Chris Funke finished .25 second after Bowser, dropping one second off his season's best time in the 200-yard IM.

            The Mariner men added some new faces off the diving platform for tonight's meet, juniors Justin Adams and Justin Backus.

"Justin Adams and Justin Backus showed tremendous courage diving in their first competition, especially against a Division II opponent like Adelphi," said Tedesco.

            Adams won the 1M diving for the Mariners with a score of 234.15. Backus sealed a victory off the 3M board with a score of 139.43.

            The Mariners were delighted with their success overall. This was our first swim meet in four weeks," said Tedesco. "It was very successful and a good tune-up for our dual meet against our rival Rowan University on Saturday."

            Next up, the Mariners are back at O'Hara Pool for a home meet against Rowan on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 pm.