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Spiders Win 10th Atlantic 10

LOCATION: Buffalo, N.Y. | Erie Community College's Flickinger Athletic Center
MEET INFORMATION: Schedule of Events | Tickets
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BUFFALO, N.Y. - Following a decade of dominance during which the program won nine titles in 10 years, the pressure was squarely on the backs of the members of Spider Swim & Dive this week as they vied for that illustrious tenth title. Richmond can now rest easy, however, as the team took a commanding day three lead and further extended it to finish with a 196-point final advantage over runner-up Fordham and send the squad's six seniors off with a second-straight conference championship captured in convincing fashion on Saturday.

After earning the second seed in the 200 back coming out of Saturday morning's prelims, junior Lauren Hines (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) shifted into another gear in the nightcap. She trimmed more than 1.50 seconds off her prelims time to secure her second individual gold in as many days with a new school-record finish of 1:56.81.

Saturday also marked another golden day for senior Charlotte Brackett (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park), who closed her collegiate career in winning fashion with a top time of 50.64 in the event. Junior Mina Vucic (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) finished seventh in 51.86, while senior Liz Cohan (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) clocked a 51.69 to end her final season as a Spider with a win in consols.

The Spiders would the break out the brooms for an up-and-down sweep in the 200 breast. Sophomore Mali Kobelja (Fort Wayne, Ind./R. Nelson Snider) continued her A-10s tear, trimming an impressive 3.40 seconds off her prelims mark for her third wire-to-wire win of the week with a time of 2:13.85. Sophomore Erin Brady (Tynsboro, Mass./Kenyon College) followed suit by well more than one second in 2:16.77 to record a runner-up finish.

Newcomers Meredith Gouger and Anne Marie Bilott would join forces with senior Mary Anne Lerro to complete the Spider sweep in the 200 breast consols. Gouger (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney) came from behind to capture the heat in 2:13.85, while Lerro (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) lit it up in the outside lane to turn in her best time in three years (2:21.61). Bilott (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) touched the wall in 2:21.92 to round out the Richmond 1-2-3 finish.

Following Thursday's win in the 500 free and a runner-up showing in the 100 free on Friday, freshman Allison Titley (Richmond, Va./Saint Gertrude) just missed a third top-three finish with her time of 2:01.56 in the 200 fly. Sophomore Mariel Kush (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) finished four spots behind in 2:07.01.

The Spiders closed out this year's meet in the same way they opened it -- with a relay win. Hines and Titley kept pace with top-seeded Fordham through the first two legs before Cohan took control and seized the lead on the third. Kobelja would never look back from there, turning in a 49.60 anchor split to solidify the win and cap what was an altogether dominant display by the Spiders in snowy Buffalo.

Behind wins in all seven races in which she was entered, Kobelja was named the Meet's Most Outstanding Performer. She becomes the sixth Spider to receive the award, joining Hines who earned the distinction a year ago.

Like Hines and Kobelja in the two years before her, Titley was tabbed Most Outstanding Rookie on the heels of her three top-four finishes at this week's championship. Nine Spiders have now garnered the honor in the program's 11 years in the Atlantic 10.

For a look back at results, recaps, photos and videos from this week's conference championship run, please visit the Spiders' A-10 Championship Central page. Video highlights of Saturday's final day of action and the team's post-meet awards and celebration will soon be made available on RichmondSpiders.com.

Noteworthy Spider A-10 Championship Story Lines

• Brackett touched in 1:49.75 to win the 200 free for the third-consecutive year. She also prevailed in the 100 portion of the event (50.64) and finished second in the 50 free (23.20 -- just .02 seconds off the titlist's top time).
• Hines broke her own school record in the 200 back with a 1:56.81 on Saturday while also finishing with a strong NCAA "B" qualifying time of 52.81 to win the 100 portion of the event by better than a second. Her finish was just .05 seconds off her conference record established a year ago. Somewhat coincidentally, her third-place finish of 23.23 in the 50 free was also only .05 seconds off the event's winning mark.
• Kobelja reset her own 200 IM meet record established in Thursday's prelims with a time of 1:59.43 in finals. She would complete the feat once again in the 400 portion of the event with a top time of 4:16.02 on Friday to pass former Spider standout Mary Adams for third place in the program record books. Kobelja would add a third individual win to her week's collection with a career-best 2:13.85 in the 200 breast.
• Hines, Kobelja, Smaniotto and Brackett set the A-10, facility and school 200 medley relay record with a time of 1:39.48, bettering their record-mark of 1:40.11 from a year ago. The quartet would then combine to complete the feat in the 400 medley relay (3:40.20) as well. The Spiders came away with four relay wins at this year's championship meet (the fifth being the 800 free relay in which they finished second).
  
• Titley clocked a 4:53.82 to win the 500 free as a freshman, keeping that gold in the family following Krebs' win in the event last season. Titley would medal once again with a silver in the 200 free (1:49.79 -- just .04 seconds off Brackett's winning time) and establish a new Spider freshman record of 2:01.56 in the 200 fly (previously held by Kush).
• Cook captured bronze in 1-meter diving with a score of 239.70 as the only freshman diver to medal and just one of two to qualify for finals. She would also qualify for 3-meter finals.
• The Spiders set four meet marks (200/400 medley relays, 200/400 IM), four school records (200 back, 200 IM, 200/400 medley relays), three all-time conference records (200/400 medley relays, 200 IM) and one Richmond freshman record (200 fly) this week.
  
• Four newcomers earned a place on the podium this week -- Titley (first/500 free, first/400 free relay, second/200 free); Brady (second/200 breast); Gouger (third/400 IM); Cook (third/1-meter diving).
• With Kobelja's Most Outstanding Performer selection, six Spiders have earned the honor since the Spiders' inaugural Atlantic 10 season in 2001-02. She joins Hines who received the award a year ago.
• Following Titley's Most Outstanding Rookie selection, Richmond has also now fielded nine such honorees during this span. This distinguished list includes current Spiders Hines and Kobelja.
• The Spiders fielded four swimmers in the championship finals of both the 200 free and 400 IM on Friday.
• The Spiders' four-day meet point progression/lead over second place was as follows: Day 1 (76 points/T-1st); Day 2 (272/55); Day 3 (516 points/157.5) Day 4 (751 points/194). The Spiders nearly tripled their lead over Fordham at the close of the third day.