Morris, Tomasula, Apostolakis, and Burke Win Weekly Awards
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ – Brennan Morris of Loyola University was named the MAAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week, while Rider University’s Kellyanne Tomasula won the women’s award. Rider swept the Diver of the Week awards, with Paul Apostolakis winning on the men’s side and Amanda Burke taking the women’s honors.
Morris, a freshman from Lutherville, Maryland, became the first Loyola swimmer in program history to record an NCAA Championships qualifying time as he won the 400-yard individual medley at the H2ounds Invitational on Saturday. Morris swam a time of 3:55.14 against swimmers from Marist, Iona and Delaware. His time broke the school record he set earlier this season of 3:56.96 and, based on standings from CollegeSwimming.com, it ranks ninth in NCAA Division I this season. Morris also set a school record in the 200-yard backstroke, swimming a time of 1:50.29 for the victory. He won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:31.67, the second-fastest time in school history, and helped Loyola win several relays as the Greyhounds defeated Marist and Iona.
Tomasula, a senior from Sussex, New Jersey, won the 200-yard backstroke (2:01.29) and swam on the winning 400-yard freestyle relay (3:30.27) at the Bucknell Invitational. She was also second in the 100-yard backstroke (56.12) after swimming a Rider record of 55.54 in the preliminaries. Her preliminary time is an NCAA 'B' cut. It is only the fourth time in Rider swimming history that a 'B' cut time has been achieved.
Apostolakis, a senior from Brooklyn, New York, won the one-meter dive with a personal best of 324.35 at the Bucknell Invitational. He finished second in the three-meter dive with a score of 329.80.
Burke, a senior from Southampton, Pennsylvania, won the one-meter dive (300.45) and three-meter dive (309.25) at the seven-team Bucknell Invitational. It is the fifth MAAC Diver of the Week award Burke has won this season and the 12th over the last two years.
The 2010 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be held February 11-13 at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md.