Air Force Academy

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Air Force men's and women's swim teams were off to solid starts at the 2005 Speedo Cup at the Belmont Plaza. The Falcon men sit in second place after day one action of the three-day event. The Falcon women are in fifth.

Stanford leads both the men's (nine team field) and women's (19 team field) action with 482 points by the men and 487.7 for the women. The Air Force men had 234 points after four events, while the women had 131.

Top performances by the Falcon men came from senior Matt Karmondy and juniors Chris Knaute, Justin Lapin and Paul Parmenter. Knaute had the highest finish of any Falcon, placing fourth in the 500 yard freestyle with a swim of 4:27.89.

Karmondy placed seventh in the 500 free with a prelim swim of 4:34.52. Lapin placed fifth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.42. Parmenter followed up in the 200 IM with the sixth-fastest time in school history, clocking in with a time of 1:51.25 in both the prelims and finals.

Ryan Moss was the top Falcon swimmer in the 50 free, placing 13th with a prelim 21.17. The Air Force 200 free relay team also swam well, taking third with a time of 1:29.90.

On the women's side, several Falcons cracked the AFA top ten lists, highlighted by freshman Jane Hwang's performance in the 200 IM and junior Lauren White's swim in the 500 free. Hwang swam the second-fastest 200 IM time in school history, placing fifth with a finals time of 2:06.49. White placed sixth in the 500 free with the third-fastest mark in school history at 4:57.55.

Senior Colleen Smith also swam the eighth-fastest 200 IM time, placing 12th with a finals time of 2:08.13.

Freshman Laken Stogner was the top Falcon in the 50 free, taking 24th with a finals time of 24.70.

The Falcons resume action tomorrow morning and conclude the meet on Saturday, Nov. 19th.


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