CMS Swimming and Diving
Set New Records at
NCAA Championships

Talk about a great season for the CMS swimming and diving teams. Seven Athenas and four Stags represented CMS at the 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III National Championships at the University of Minnesota, March 17-20. On the way to a fifth-place finish, Athenas set some new records, while the Stags placed 41st and enjoyed some honorable mentions for their performances.
The Stags placed in several events. Freshman Blake Weber '13 placed 11th in the 200-yard freestyle, 18th in the 200 individual medley, and 40th in the 200 backstroke. The accomplishments earned Weber honorable mention All-American honors for finishing between ninth and 16th. The same honors also went to the the 800 free relay team of Austin Hallett '12, Jeff McNerney '12, Andrew Cosentino '11, and Weber. McNerney also placed 44th in the 200-yard freestyle, while Cosentino earned a 49th finish in the 200-yard freestyle and placed 51st in the 100 freestyle.
"It has been 10 years since the Stags have had a relay score at NCAA's, so the guys were excited to take that step," said head coach Charlie Griffiths. "With the experience we gained at the meet, the Stags will be looking to move up at Nationals next year."
Meanwhile, Athenas achieved exceptional results at the NCAA Championships, earning two exceptional individual honors as well as All American honors for five of its athletes. Annie Perizzolo '11 won national titles in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, becoming the first Athena to win multiple NCAA titles. Her times in both events set new SCIAC records and were among the fastest in Division III history.
"Annie set herself up for a great NCAA experience this year and she performed her best when it mattered the most," Griffiths says. "She had clutch performances in her individual events and also put down blistering swims on our relays."
Katie Bilotti '12 also set new SCIAC records with her second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and her third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. (She also placed 13th in the 50-yard freestyle, while setting a new CMS record with that performance.) Teammate Tessa Dover '11 finished sixth in the 200-yard backstroke and ninth in the 100-yard backstroke racesthe former race setting new CMS and SCIAC records.
The impressive results continued with the 200-yard medley relay team of Elsa Cheng '13, Perizzolo, Bilotti and Emma Jones '12 who finished second in that category. Dover joined Perizzolo, Bilotti, and Jones to also finish second in the 400-yard medley relays.
More noticeable performances were turned in by Athenas Jenni Rinker (HMC '11), Elica Sharifnia '12, and Bilotti and Jones, who placed 12th in the 200-yard freestyle relay. All told, Perizzolo, Bilotti, and Dover earned individual event All-Americans. Perizzolo, Bilotti, Dover, Jones, and Cheng scored relay All-American honors, while Rinker and Sharifnia added relay Honorable Mention All-American status to their resumes.
"The Athena relay performances were a big key to our best-ever team finish, Griffiths says. "We have a competitive group and they excelled in the finals.
For her part, Dover received a NCAA Elite 88 Awardan inaugural award for a CMS athletefor the top GPA for any female competitor in the national championship. She has a perfect 12.0/4.0 GPA.
In addition, CMS' women's and men's swimming and diving teams were notified in mid-March that they received College Swimming Coaches Association Scholar All-American Team honors. To be eligible, a swimming team must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA for the semester. Tiffany Williams '05