Air Force Academy

Nov. 19, 2006

Results

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Air Force swim teams completed its final day of action at the 2006 UCI/Speedo Cup on a strong note, Saturday at the Belmont Plaza. The Falcon women had three swimmers finish in the top five in their events to finish 11th, while the men's team placed third.

The women's team finished with 345 points. The men's team finished with 908 points, trailing to Speedo Cup Champion Stanford (1803.5) and conference rival BYU (911) by just three points.

The Falcon women's team saved its best performances for the last day. Senior Lauren White opened the meet by placing second in the 1650 free with a season-best time of 17:22.44. Two events later, in the 100, free sophomore Jane Hwang swam the 6th-fastest time in school history, placing fourth with a time of 52.56.

Senior Blair Leake had a solid 200 breaststroke, finishing fifth with a time of 2:22.32. Senior Stephanie Hirst followed up in 28th with a time of 2:28.37.

The Falcons also had fast swims from freshmen Katelyn Hunter and Becky Gleason. Hunter was the Falcons' top swimmer in the 200 backstroke, placing 45th with a time of 2:16.90 and Gleason the team's top swimmer in the 200 butterfly, placing 30th with a time of 2:12.78.

The women capped the meet off with a 12th place finish in the 400 free relay. Laken Stogner, White, Kallyn Johnson and Hunter combined to swim a time of 3:41.97.

On the men's side, senior Chris Knaute opened the meet by taking fourth in the 1650 free with a season-best time of 15:38.13. Freshman Sean O'Keefe continued his strong swimming, taking sixth with a time of 15:49.72 which is the 10th fastest mark in Academy history.

Air Force placed five swimmers in the top 25 in the 200 back. Senior Justin Lapin led the way by finishing sixth with a time of 1:50.32. Kai Yamashiro followed in 13th (1:52.54), Alex Yee in 17th (1:53.99), Spencer Liedl in 19th (1:55.47) and Matt Jurcak in 23rd (1:59.14).

Senior Nick Uzelac led the way in the 100 free with a time of 46.17, good for 11th. T.J. Cowling followed up in 12th (46.42) and Ryan Moss placed 24th (46.99).

The Falcons were also strong in the 200 fly, with four Falcons placing in the top 13. Senior Matt Sievers led the way with a seventh place finish with a time of 1:51.16. Bryan Avery followed up in eighth (1:51.26), Nick Dixon in 12th (1:53.79) and Sean O'Keefe in 13th (1:53.75). Knaute also swam the 200 fly and actually swam the fifth-fastest time in school history (1:49.31), but placed 33rd as he did not swim in the finals.

AFA closed out the meet with a fourth place finish in the 400 free relay. Cowling, Uzelac, Paul Parmenter and Knaute swam a time of 3:02.18.

The Falcons take the rest of November and all of December off to refocus on training and complete their Fall schoolwork. Air Force returns to action, Jan. 5 in a scrimmage at the University of Hawai'i in Honolulu, replacing their original plans to swim at the UCSD relays in La Jolla, Calif.