CAA Championship Central

Fairfax, Va. - As the final day of the CAA Swimming and Diving Championships came to an end both Mason teams found themselves in the same positions they had been for the entire Championships. The men's team finished second of seven scoring 617 points as UNC-W won with 702 points. The women would end up in sixth of out nine teams. They finished with 304 points while Towson won with a score of 700.

Dennis Ceppa was awarded the Men's Diving Coach of the Year honor after the meet.

For the men, Preston Wolter and Austin Witherow tied with Arni Arnason of ODU as the top point receivers, scoring 60 each. Fernando Rubio finished as the fifth highest point scorer and David Kiss was tied for seventh.

Wolter finished first in the 1650-yard freestyle for the third consecutive year with a time of 15:25.84. For the entire Championship he posted first place finishes in every individual event he took place in. Those included today's event as well as first in the 500-yard freestyle when he recorded a time of 4:22.44 and first in the 400-yard IM with a time of 3:50.92.

Austin Witherow put up a first place finish on the day in the 200-yard butterfly finishing the event in a time of 1:48.54. He also finished first in every individual event he competed in. He was the leader in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke with time of 48.44 and 49.25, respectively.  All three of his times were team records.

Bryan Bahr recorded a score of 393.30 in the 3-meter dive which was good for his third consecutive first place finish in the event. That score was also a new personal and team record in the 3-meter dive. Derrick Butts came in third with a score of 323.50 in the 3-meter dive as well.

Other top finishers for the men on the day included CA Castagna, who finished third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.06 and David Kiss who was fourth in the 200-yard butterfly finishing in a time of 1:49.34.

On the women's side, Ashley Danner tied Towson swimmer Meredith Budner for the top overall point scorer with 60 points. She placed first on the day in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:10.68. She has now claimed three first place finishes in each of her three CAA Championships as she also finished first in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard breaststroke this year.

Paige Impink also broke a team record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.05.

The NCAA Championships start March 11 and 12 with diving. March 17 and 19 are the women's NCAA Championships and March 25 and 26 are the men's Championships.