The University of Miami men’s and women’s swimming teams competed in their final dual meet of the season Saturday at the Norman Whitten Pool when they took on Indian River Community College.
The women’s team routed Indian River 158-92, while the men’s side, with only one swimmer competing, fell 86-8.
“On the women’s side we won almost every event,” coach James Sweeney said. “Everyone swam really well for this time of the year.”
The meet also highlighted the end of an era for men’s swimming at UM as Bjorn Boquist competed for the last time in his career. Four years ago, the University of Miami began a process in which men’s swimming and diving would be phased out of the athletics program. Boquist was competing as the last male swimmer for the University of Miami.
“I’m sure it’s on everyone’s mind, having this as the last dual meet ever for the men’s team,” Sweeney said. “But Bjorn did really well, he represented the University and the men’s team proudly.”
“I guess it kind of makes me feel good in a way (to be the last men’s swimmer) because I stuck it out through all of the hard work,” Boquist said.
Although he did not qualify for the Big East Conference Championship with a 100-yard backstroke time of 55.27, Boquist did swim his lifetime best in the event.
“I did everything I could to try and make it so I’m happy my effort even though it didn’t pan out,” Boquist said. “I swam with my fastest time ever and that’s how I’m going to go out and I’m happy about that.”
The team also said goodbye to its senior women’s swimmers including Meghan Clabby , Megan Kinsella, Elaine Schwartz , and Christine Williams.
“It’s a great class that we’re letting go,” Sweeney said. “They’ve done a tremendous job for the team. Not just in the water, but in the classroom as well. They’re great young women and they’ll be very successful in anything they try after they’re finished here.”
Schwartz won the 1000-yard freestyle event with a time of 10:32.09 and also placed first in the 100 butterfly with 58.61. Clabby won the 100 breaststroke with 1:06.73 and the 200 breast with 2:25.08. Manon Van Rooijen took the 50 free with 24.78 and the 500 free with 5:12:30. Tammy Watts won the 200 back in 2:07.33. The Hurricanes also won the 200 medley relay.
Williams placed second in the 500 free. Gema Crespo placed second in the 50 free (25.15) and also in the 100 free (55.03). Kinsella placed third in the 200 breast (2:26.33).

-Compiled by the Sports Information Department

Intramural Reminders
You think you can shoot the rock? Can you drain a shot from downtown? How about hitting the trifecta with pressure? Here is your chance to prove you got game during the 3-point shootout contest at the Wellness Center. On February 18-20, the Intramural Department will conduct the preliminary rounds of the 3-point shootout where the finalists will compete at a UM varsity basketball game at the Convocation Center!
Anyone interested in Volleyball? Officials or to play it is just around the corner. Officials training is February 17 and 18 at 5pm at the Wellness Center and the entry deadline is February 19 by 5pm!

Basketball
Griswalds – 36
Elbows – 31

Up In Smoke – 31
Drive By – 12

We Suck – 36
Monster Balls – 30

Big Daddy Abraham – 36
Women Gunners – 22

Wahine – 30
!Robbed! – 4

Pimps and Gigilos – 38
Primetime – 33

Team Cubano – 70
Shooting Stars – 31

Down with Brown – 40
SBA – 25

Alpha Epsilon Pi – 46
Phi Delta Theta – 19

Alpha Sigma Phi – 51
Lambda Chi Alpha – 30
Sigma Chi – 40
Sigma Alpha Mu – 29

Zeta Beta Tau – 56
Sigma Alpha Epsilon – 5

Got It Locked – 40 (OT)
Casador de Pajaro – 34

Surs Flow – 40
Relentless – 24

GBSA – 39
Sons of – 32

Rythym Method – 49
RT9ers – 26

Complete – 55
Fuzzy Furze – 54

Club Med – 47
Macro-orchidism – 23

The Squad – 25
Night Riders – 22

Above the Rim – 35
Donkey – 32

Co-Fuzzy Furze – 42
Below the Rim – 36

And 1 Ballers – 53
Chicks N Sticks – 19

The Boodroskis – 42
No Fear – 31

Delta Phi Epsilon – 39
Delta Delta Delta – 6

Diaper Dandies – 44
Chokers – 31

Cleveland Steam – 40
Knights – 36

All-Stars – 66
Mongooses – 15

Get Money – 45
Midwest Connex – 42

Benevento All-Stars – 47
Party House Ponce – 43

Booty Jackers – 35
Penthouse All-Stars -30

Women’s tennis
Sophomore Megan Bradley clinched the 4-3 win for the No. 21-ranked Miami women’s tennis team over No. 45 Baylor Saturday afternoon in Waco, Texas. The Hurricanes remain undefeated on the season improving to 3-0 overall, while Baylor falls to 1-3 on the season. Bradley won the first set 6-2 over No. 43 Vida Mulec before losing the second set 7-5. She clinched the win for Miami winning the third set 6-4. The Hurricanes were down 1-0 in the match losing the doubles point with losses at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Melissa Applebaum tied the match one-all as she defeated Barbora Blahutiakova in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 4 singles spot. Baylor took the 2-1 lead as Izabella Mijic defeated Sihem Bennacer 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Mari Toro tied the match for the second time at two-all with a straight set 6-3, 6-3 victory over Anna Moncolova at No. 2 singles. The Bears took their final lead on the day as Daria Potapova earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ewelina Skaza at the No. 5 spot. Staci Stevens tied the match three-all with a three set victory over Stephanie Balzert 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. The Hurricanes face No. 12 Texas at 2 p.m. EST Sunday afternoon in Austin, Texas.

Women’s track and field
University of Miami sophomore Amber Williams won the pentathlon with a school-record total of 3,529 points at the State Farms Games in Morgantown, WV. Williams, who broke her own school-mark of 3,511 points set at last season’s Big East Indoor Championships, crushed the field defeating second-place finisher Nancy Regalbulto by 360 points. Williams won two of the five events finishing first in the 55-meter hurdles (8.40) and long jump (5.39 meters/17-08.25), and took second in the high jump (1.56 meters/5-01.25). In addition, Williams recorded a personal-best mark of 10.08 meters (33-01.00) in the shot put. The remainder of the Hurricanes women’s track and field team will compete Sunday, February 9 at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, FL.

Football
The University of Miami football program has received a National Letter of Intent from defensive lineman Teraz McCray of Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely High School to attend UM on a football scholarship, head football coach Larry Coker announced. McCray’s signing moves the Hurricanes’ total of 2003 football signees to 24 as McCray joins the group of 23 student-athletes who signed letters of intent to play football for the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Traditionally a program that recruits heavily in South Florida while also scanning the nation for top talent, Miami stayed true to that tradition this year. The Hurricanes signed 18 players from the state of Florida including 17 from the Greater Miami area. Miami maintained its status as a national recruiter as the class was geographically diverse with signees from five different states. Two players from Texas, two players from New Jersey and one player each from California and Louisiana had signed on to the Hurricanes football squad. The group includes three Parade All-Americans and 11 SuperPrep All-Americans.

Miami women’s basketball head coach Ferne Labati becomes the 39th NCAA Division I coach to earn her 400th career victory as the Hurricanes beat visiting St. John’s, 69-54, Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Miami wins its sixth straight game over SJU improving to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in Big East action. The Red Storm fall to 8-14 overall and 2-9 in conference play.
Despite the victory, Labati found several areas that her team needed to improve in.
“We still turned the ball over too much,” Labati said. “In order for us to beat great teams, we have to do a better job boxing out and keeping up our intensity.”
Labati in her 24th season has compiled an overall record of 400-288. She is in her 15th season at Miami with a record of 264-166.
Freshman Tamara James led Miami with 18 points, while Chanivia Broussard added 16 points in 18 minutes of action.
The Hurricanes dominated the first 20 minutes of play opening the game on a 23-6 run.
The Hurricanes continued to build on the lead taking a 43-19 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
“We played really well in the first half,” Labati said. “Our bench was able to come in and score a lot of points.”
Meghan Saake scored all 11 of her points in the first half. She finished the game with seven assists and four steals.
Miami had its largest lead of 31 points (62-31) with 8:14 remaining in the game. St. John’s made a 12-0 run over the last four minutes of the game but could not overcome its first-half deficit. Still, James thought the ‘Canes could have done a better job in the second half.
“We were a little less focused in the second half,” James said. “We set a certian amount that we were going to hold them to, and they went over that amount.”
Miami leads the all-time series 16-6. The Hurricanes shot 43 percent from the field compared to 36 percent for the Red Storm. Shemika Stevens led SJU with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Miami travels to face West Virginia Saturday at 2 p.m. in Morgantown, W.Va before returning to the Convocation Center next Wednesday to face No. 1 Uconn. Although the Huskies game looms large, James is quick to point out that the focus is on Miami’s next scheduled opponent.
“We definitely take things one game at a time,” James said. “We have to play every game like it’s our last.”

-Compiled by the Sports Information Department. Jon Sanford contributed to this article.

Tennis fans treated to pleasant Sunday surprise
Sunday turned out to be a historic day for the UM tennis team as the Hurricanes beat national powerhouse Texas A&M for the first time ever, 4-3 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
Sophomore Todd Widom, ranked ninth in the country, led the way for the ‘Canes, as he beat Ante Matijevic 6-3, 7-6 (5) in No. 1 singles. Widom moved Matijevic all over the court using a serve that Matijevic had lots of trouble handling. Matijevic shifted the momentum in the second set with a few big rallies that forced the match into a tiebreaker that Widom would eventually pull out.
“I served really well in this match,” Widom said. “I went down 4-1 with two breaks, but tennis is tennis and you just have to keep fighting.”
Earlier in the day, Miami’s Andrew Golub and Colin Purcell defeated Cameron Fenner and John Nallon 8-4 in doubles play. The win, complemented by an Aggie, forfeit sealed the doubles point for the Hurricanes. Texas A&M also forfeited the sixth singles match, something Aggies’ head coach Tim Cass said came as a result of players “breaking team rules.”
With Widom’s victory and the two forfeits, Miami only needed one more point for the win. The Hurricanes received that point when freshman Eric Hechtman defeated Fenner 7-6 (7), 6-3 in No. 5 singles.
“This feels great because I heard last year there was a lot of rivalry between our team and their team,” Hechtman said. “I just wanted to take it to them.”
Texas A&M’s Khaled El Dorry topped Golub 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in an intense second singles match. The visiting Aggies also tallied wins when Luis Manrique defeated freshman Matt Loucks 6-3, 6-1, and John Nallon beat Purcell 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3).
Despite these losses for the ‘Canes, head coach Bryan Getz was pleased with the final result.
“This was big, especially with all of our young kids able to get an experience like this in the third match of their college careers,” Getz said. “It’s just huge.”
The team chemistry among the Hurricane squad also fueled some positive energy through the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex.
“I saw Todd winning and it just fired me up and at the end I was just real aggressive,” Hechtman said.
Miami remains perfect on the season at 3-0 and will likely move up in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings. The undefeated record will be tested Friday, as the ‘Canes head to Gainesville to face No. 5 Florida.
“Florida is actually on another level than [Texas A&M] so we are going to have to fight even harder,” Getz said.
Miami’s players, like Widom, realize the talent that UF’s players offer, but thinks that the ‘Canes can match up just as well.
“I know what they are going to bring to the table and I know what we are going to bring to the table,” Widom said. “It’s going to be a great battle.”

-Ben Wolf can be reached at DerBepo2@aol.com.

Opportunity lost against ‘Nova
Miami unable to score late, fall 72-67 to Wildcats
Youth and inexperience has continued to haunt the Hurricanes during close games all
season. In contests decided by five points or less, the ‘Canes have won only
three while coming up short on eight different occasions.
That troubling pattern continued Saturday night as the ‘Canes (9-10, 2-6 Big
East) lost in overtime, 72-67 to the Big East leading Villanova Wildcats
(13-8, 6-2).
“This one just hurts,” head coach Perry Clark said. “It would have been a tremendous victory for us, but instead it’s a devastating loss.”
Miami fought back from a 38-26 half-time deficit to take a one-point lead with just over a
minute remaining. However, the ‘Canes let the game slip away by missing clutch free throws and getting the shaft on some controversial calls.
Darius Rice led the second half comeback with 19 of his 26 points there, including five three pointers. Rice scored 16 points during two separate 8-0 runs, the second of which tied the game at 50 points. But even with Rice providing some heroics, the ‘Canes still managed to make enough mistakes to let the Wildcats run back to Philadelphia with a win.
The Hurricanes had control of the ball with 18 seconds left when Allan Ray
fouled Miami’s freshman point guard Armondo Surratt. The freshman point guard, who came into the game shooting 52.4 percent from the foul line, missed both foul shots that would have put the ‘Canes up by three points.
The Wildcats proceeded to take the ball down court where James Jones got called
for his fifth foul. The foul allowed Derrick Snowden to tie the game with a free throw, and send the game to overtime
“If we made our foul shots, then it takes us out of harms way,” Clark said. “That was in our control, the other stuff was not and we didn’t do what we had control to do.”
The ‘Canes badly missed Jones’ presence in the paint in overtime as Villanova repeatedly made several lay-ups to take the lead. Ricky Wright sealed the victory for the Wildcats with four free throws in the last 18 seconds.
“It was just another one of those nights,” Rice said. “We had the game won and we didn’t pull it off. We had ourselves in a position to win the game and we shot ourselves in the foot again.”
The loss drops the ‘Canes below the .500 mark for the first time since the 1993-94
season. That year was also the last time the ‘Canes had two freshman starting for
them. Miami now sits in the cellar of the conference’s East Division and its record in overtime games this season stands at 1-4.
“It’s just very disappointing,” Clark said. “We have to find a way to bounce back and right the ship.”

-Nate Johnson can be reached at NPJ44@aol.com.

Miami takes two out of three in first series of season
After a pair of blowout wins to start off its three game series with the Campbell Camels this weekend, the Hurricane baseball team seemed to be on its way to an easy sweep. The Camels had other plans for Saturday’s series finale, however, as they matched the ‘Canes blow for blow — pulling out a 12-9 victory in 10 innings at Mark Light Field on Saturday. The Camels torched the six Hurricanes pitchers for 12 runs on 17 hits, blowing a 4-0 lead, but coming back to tie the contest in the ninth, and pulled away with five runs in the tenth.
Head coach Jim Morris was impressed with the Camels effort on Saturday after they lost 13-2 and 10-3 in the first two games, respectively.
“Campbell did very well and you have to give them credit for coming back,” Morris said. “It takes a good team to come back from two tough losses.”
Shortstop Tom Rispoli, who had the game’s only home run and went 3-6 with three RBI, paced Campbell’s offense. Rispoli was aided by catcher Jason Brown, who went 3-4 with three runs batted in, and third baseman Derek Barrows, who chipped in with three hits and a pair of RBI.
The Hurricanes were led by centerfielder Danny Figueroa, who had one of his best games, going 4-4, while scoring twice, and catcher Erick San Pedro, who broke out of a minor slump with two hits and three RBI.
“Figueroa did a good job of getting on base today,” Morris said. “We needed him to make things happen at the top of the order.”
With the exception of Figueroa, Miami had trouble hitting Campbell’s starting pitcher Matt Kleweno, who stifled the Hurricane batters for the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth.
“Their starter did a good job of changing speeds and using breaking pitches,” Morris said. “He kept us off balance.”
It was in the sixth inning when UM’s bats came alive. The Figueroa brothers, Paco and Danny, both were able to get on base to start the rally. San Pedro capped it off with a bases-clearing double, giving the ‘Canes a 6-4 lead at the end of the sixth.
“I was frustrated after my first two at-bats,” San Pedro said. “I wanted a chance to make up for it and I was able to.”
Miami pitcher Ryan Dixon struggled in his first career start – lasting just 2.2 innings while giving up four runs on six hits in the process. The ‘Canes received mileage from their bullpen, as Marcelo Albir, Shawn Valdes-Fauli, and J.D. Cockroft combined to surrender just a run over the next five innings. The relievers, particularly Cockroft, started to wilt in the ninth inning as the Camels were able to score twice to make the score 7-7 and force extra innings.
“We’re missing our closer right now and that is forcing us to use many different guys,” Morris said. “Cockroft gave us some good innings but he got tired towards the end.”
The Camels exploded in the tenth inning, scoring five runs off reliever Tom King. The ‘Canes managed to score twice in the bottom half but their rally came up short in the end as a Brian Barton fly out sealed a 12-9 win for the Camels.
“We just have to pitch better late,” Morris said. “Our offense was productive, but our bullpen needs to keep us in the game.”
The first two games of the series were dominated by the ‘Canes who outscored the Camels 23-5 in the victories.
Thursday night’s victory featured homeruns by freshman Gaby Sanchez, junior Jim Burt, and sophomore Paco Figueroa. Barton contributed a pair of hits and three RBI, while designated hitter Adam Ricks added a pair of hits and two RBI.
The ‘Canes received six scoreless innings from sophomore starter Vince Bongiovanni, who only allowed one hit and struck out 10, earning his first win of the season.
Friday’s game featured another strong outing for a Hurricane starter, as Brandon Camardese threw five solid innings, surrendering only two hits and a run, while striking out eight Camel batters. The offense was provided by Sanchez (3-4, two runs, three RBI), Ricks (2-3, two runs), and Burt (3-5, two RBI.).
The Hurricanes will now travel to Gainesville for a long-awaited rematch with the Florida Gators who the Hurricanes shocked in last year’s regionals. The team hopes to get a couple of confidence-building wins in Gainesville.
“When you have a series at home, you want to sweep it,” Morris said. “When you go on the road, especially to a place like Gainesville, you will be happy just to win the series.”

-Eric Kalis can be reached at elk777bc@hotmail.com