March 12, 2007

The Wayne State swimming and diving teams will travel to Buffalo, N.Y., this week for the NCAA Division II Championships, with 22 Warriors between the two squads preparing to compete.

The men's team has finished in the top 10 each of the last two years, including a sixth-place finish last season, its best D-II finish, with a school record 207 points.

Senior Jared Troyer (Portage, Mich./Central) leads the team with six qualifiers, including an "A" cut in the 400 individual medley. He has the 10th-best national seed time in the 1000 free (9:38.40), eighth-best in the 200 butterfly (1:52.81), and ninth in the 1650 free (16:05.60).

A.J. Erard (Troy, Mich./Royal Oak Shrine) is seeded fifth in the 400 IM (4:03.06) and has "B" qualifying times in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke.

Freshman Christer Tour (Farsta, Sweden) is seeded fourth in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, while Bruno Blanco (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) and Guilherme Veiga (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) have "A" cuts in the 100 butterfly and 1650 freestyle, respectively, along with five "B" cuts between them. Veiga is seeded second (9:27.34) in the 1000 free and fourth (15:49.99) in the 1650 free, and Blanco has the seventh-best seed time in the 100 fly (49.65).

Divers Chris Totten (Garden City, Mich.), Dan Fleming (Portage, Mich./Northern), and Cayce Bolt (Royal Oak, Mich./Warren Mott) will participate in both the three-meter and one-meter competitions, and Wayne State has four relays qualified for nationals - the 400 free, 800 free, 200 medley, and 400 medley relays.

With those relays, six Warriors are eligible to swim their "B" qualifiers - Cauli Bedran (Rio de Janiero, Brazil), Per Bergstrom (Fagersta, Sweden), Matt Leix (Flint, Mich./Southwestern), Tiago Oliveira (Raul Soares, Brazil), Luiz Pacheco (Curitiba, Brazil), and Sebastian Rzepa (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley).

On the women's side, eight Warriors will represent Wayne State in Buffalo, including diver Erika Barczak (Williamston, Mich.), last year's lone competitor from the WSU women's squad. Barczak will participate in the three-meter and one-meter events, while teammate Venessa Torres (Wyandotte, Mich./Roosevelt) is also qualified for the latter. They are seeded 10th and 11th, respectively, in the three-meter event.

GLIAC Co-Freshman of the Year Ashley St. Andrew (Grand Rapids, Mich./Jenison) is the top seed in the 1650 free (17:15.63) and 1000 free (10:19.51) with a second-seed time of 5:00.14 in the 500 free. Melissa Duff (Howell, Mich./Brighton) is right behind St. Andrew in the 1650 free (17:15.90) and has a seventh-best national time in the 1000 free (10:29.17).

Freshman Elaina Hogle (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) will contend for the 200 butterfly, 200 IM, and 400 IM titles, and Laura Leix (Flint, Mich./Southwestern) has an "A" cut in the 200 fly.

With Wayne State's recent qualifier in the 200 medley relay, Julie Danaher (Allen Park, Mich.) and Katie Harrigan (Portage, Mich./Northern) gained eligibility to swim their "B" events.

The NCAA Championships will begin Wednesday and continue through Saturday.

Click HERE to view the NCAA Championships psyche sheet.

For complete listings of WSU's national qualifiers, click here: MEN | WOMEN