 |  Sean Peters was named Coach of the Meet for both the men and women at nationals |
March 16, 2009
In the fastest meet in NCAA Division II history, both the Wayne State men's and women's swimming and diving teams achieved their best national finishes in school history this past week in Houston.
According to the NCAA, student-athletes set a total of 24 meet records during the four-day event. Wayne State notched two of those records among its seven championships, including three for the women's team, its first in program history.
The Warrior men, who led the 28-team field Thursday and Friday, finished second to Drury University, 543.504.5, to place in the top eight for the fifth straight year. The Panthers won their fifth consecutive title title, but did so by the slimmest margin since 2002 when Cal State Bakersfield edged North Dakota, 529-507.
Despite seeing its 36.5-point lead slip away on Saturday, the men's squad wrapped up the meet with four championships and 16 school records.
Duarte Mourao (Loures, Portugal) collected three titles, winning the 100 and 200 butterfly events and swimming in the record-setting 400 medley relay with Sean Smith (Auburn, Mich./Bay City Western), Jesper Akesson (Malmo, Sweden), and Sebastian Rzepa (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley). He also finished third in the 400 individual medley and fourth in the 200 IM, while contributing to WSU's second-place 200 medley relay and third-place 800 freestyle relay.
On Saturday, Smith broke the 2005 record in the 200 backstroke set by Henderson State's Emre Celik.
Fernando Costa (Porto, Portugal) was among the top distance swimmers at nationals, placing second, third, and fourth in the 500, 1650, and 1000 freestyles, respectively.
The Wayne State women's team, which set 14 school records in Houston, led after the first day but settled into second place for the remainder of the meet. The Warriors trailed only Drury, 618.5-453.5, as the Panthers earned their second team championship on the women's side in the last three years.
The women have improved upon their national performances significantly since 2006, when WSU finished 24th at the NCAA meet. Wayne State placed 10th in 2007 and sixth last year.
Ashley St. Andrew (Grand Rapids, Mich./Jenison) won both the 500 and 1000 freestyles while finishing second in the 1650 and fourth in the 200. She led a bevy of distance swimmers who accumulated 187 points, more than a third of the team's total score, in the three long freestyle events.
Courtney Roberts (Milan, Mich.) gave WSU another championship in her first year with the team, winning the 100 breaststroke and edging out UC San Diego's Kendall Bohn by .05 seconds and Clarion's Denise Simens by .08 seconds.
A combined total of 28 student-athletes (15 women, 13 men) earned All-America status, either First Team (first-eighth) or Honorable Mention (ninth-16th).
Head coach Sean Peters was chosen as the College Swim Coaches Association Coach of the Meet for both the men and women.
| SWIMMER/DIVER | ALL-AMERICA (PLACE) | HONORABLE MENTION A.A. (PLACE) |
| Jesper Akesson | 400 Medley Relay (1) | 100 Breaststroke (12) 50 Freestyle (14) 100 Freestyle (14) |
| Cauli Bedran | 200 Medley Relay (2) 200 Free Relay (4) 400 Free Relay (4) | 100 Backstroke (9) 50 Freestyle (10) 100 Freestyle (16) |
| Per Bergstrom | 100 Breaststroke (14) | |
| Cayce Bolt | 1-Meter Diving (3) 3-Meter Diving (6) | |
| Natalia Buso | 1000 Freestyle (6) 1650 Freestyle (7) | 500 Freestyle (14) |
| Cassie Chetosky | 3-Meter Diving (3) 1-Meter Diving (7) | |
| Fernando Costa | 500 Freestyle (2) 1650 Freestyle (3) 1000 Freestyle (4) 800 Free Relay (3) | |
| Julie Danaher | 200 Medley Relay (2) | |
| Ben Dueweke | 200 Butterfly (15) | |
| Melissa Duff | 1650 Freestyle (4) 1000 Freestyle (5) | 500 Freestyle (12) |
| Stephanie Ekleberry | 1000 Freestyle (10) 500 Freestyle (11) 1650 Freestyle (12) | |
| Mike Elliott | 3-Meter Diving (8) | 1-Meter Diving (10) |
| Sara Franklin | 200 Medley Relay (2) 400 Medley Relay (4) | 100 Backstroke (9) |
| Abbey Green | 400 Medley Relay (4) 800 Free Relay (5) 400 Free Relay (8) | 500 Freestyle (9) 200 Freestyle (14) |
| Elaina Hogle | 200 Butterfly (3) 400 IM (4) 200 Freestyle (6) 200 IM (8) 400 Medley Relay (4) 800 Free Relay (5) 400 Free Relay (8) | |
| Meghan Jaworski | 3-Meter Diving (11) | |
| Matthew Laschuk | 200 Butterfly (4) 200 Breaststroke (6) | 100 Breaststroke (16) |
| Jimmy Lee | 200 Backstroke (7) 200 Butterfly (7) | 100 Backstroke (13) 200 IM (16) |
| Catherine Leix | 500 Freestyle (4) 1000 Freestyle (4) 1650 Freestyle (8) 800 Free Relay (5) | |
| Laura Leix | 200 Butterfly (11) | |
| Duarte Mourao | 100 Butterfly (1) 200 Butterfly (1) 400 IM (3) 200 IM (4) 400 Medley Relay (1) 200 Medley Relay (2) 800 Free Relay (3) | |
| Haintso Rakouth | 400 Free Relay (8) | |
| Courtney Roberts | 100 Breaststroke (1) 200 Medley Relay (2) 400 Medley Relay (4) | 200 Breaststroke (10) |
| Sebastian Rzepa | 200 Freestyle (4) 400 Medley Relay (1) 800 Free Relay (3) 200 Free Relay (4) 400 Free Relay (4) | 100 Freestyle (12) |
| Justin Shields | 800 Free Relay (3) 200 Free Relay (4) 400 Free Relay (4) | |
| Sean Smith | 200 Backstroke (1) 100 Backstroke (T-3) 200 Butterfly (5) 100 Butterfly (6) 400 Medley Relay (1) 200 Medley Relay (2) | |
| Ashley St. Andrew | 500 Freestyle (1) 1000 Freestyle (1) 1650 Freestyle (2) 200 Freestyle (4) 800 Free Relay (5) 400 Free Relay (8) | |
| Agata Zalewska | 200 Medley Relay (2) | 100 Butterfly (13) |
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