Schiavo, Coonce Tabbed CAA Swimmer and Co-Diver of the Week
January 11, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. - - The University of Delaware men’s swimming and diving team opened the new year in fine form, defeating Towson 218-66 on Saturday, in their first dual meet since November 13. Zach Schiavo and Brian Coonce were named the Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Swimmer and Co-Diver of the Week for their efforts during the latest meet, announced Tuesday.
Schiavo (at right) led the men’s team (7-1, 4-1 CAA) with three first place finishes against the Tigers. The senior helped the 200-yard medley relay team boost the Blue Hens to a torrid start as he anchored the team to a 1:33.35 finish in the opening event on the day. He followed that performance with back-to-back first place finishes in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races. He started by touching the wall first in the 50 freestyle in 21.48 before claiming the top podium position in the 100 freestyle in 47.38.
Coonce (below) padded the lead for the Blue Hens with a first and a second place showing in the 3-meter and 1-meter dive, respectively. His day started by falling less than two points short of teammate Seth Bergman in the 1-meter dive with 291.68 points, a personal best. The sophomore fine-tuned his jumps even more for the 3-meter dive, as he ran away with the first place prize with a final score of 325.20, another personal best. His 3-meter dive was the best performance by a Blue Hen from that platform since the 2006-07 season when Matt Abbruzzese scored a school record 335.20. Coonce shares the weekly honor with Drexel’s Ian Jevnick.
Schiavo and Coonce helped head coach John Hayman win his 300th combined victory at the helm of the Blue Hens. The men’s victory over Towson moved his men’s record to 128-118, while he stands at 172-84 on the women’s side.
The Blue Hens won 14 of 16 events against the Tigers, in which the last team events were swam as exhibitions because the meet had already been decided.The Blue Hens swept the top three finishes in eight events, including six straight to close out the meet with two events to swim.
It is the third time the Blue Hens have earned Men’s Swimmer of the Week, as Grady Carter and Ryan Roberts each won earlier in the season. It is the first time the Blue Hens have had a Men’s Diver of the Week since the 2008-09 season.
Both Blue Hen squads return to the pool on Saturday, January 15 as they travel to Drexel for another battle with a CAA foe. The opening gun will sound at noon.
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