Dahlen Becomes UAA Champion

Feb. 22 – (ROCHESTER, N.Y.) – Sophomore Jeff Dahlen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Capistrano) became a UAA Champion and five others earned All-UAA distinction during Friday's finals of the University Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships hosted by the University of Rochester. TheTartans are currently third but sit just 5.5 points behind New York University with a day left to compete.

The 200 medley relay team of Dahlen, junior Brad Henderson (Solon, Ohio), freshman Travis Piper (Ft. Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) and senior Patrick Snyder (Marlton, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep) finished fourth to start Friday's finals for the Tartans with an NCAA provisional mark of 1:34.64.

The big event on the day for the Tartans was the 100-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Jason Huber (Cherry Hill, N.J.), Henderson, and junior Ryan Hofler (Glen Gardner, N.J./North Hunterdon) each competed in the finals with Huber finishing third to lead the trio and earn All-UAA.

Dahlen recorded an NCAA provisional mark in the preliminaries of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.66 and then became a UAA Champion in the finals with a time of 52.47. Sophomore John Johnson (Allentown, Pa.) joined Dahlen in the finals finishing fifth with a time of 53.38. Junior Ron Papa (Malabon City, Philippines/Cranbrook Kingswood) finished fifth in the consolation finals after recording a season-best time of 53.61.

Freshman Alex Hanson (Burnsville, Minn.) dropped 2.20 seconds off his previous top time during the preliminaries in the 400-yard IM and finished sixth overall in the finals. His time of 2:07.39 in the preliminaries was an NCAA provisional mark.

Seniors Patrick Snyder (Marlton, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep) and Michael Bailey (New Kent, Va.) swam in the finals and consolation finals of the 200-yard freestyle, respectively. Snyder finished the event in sixth place overall with a career-best mark of 1:43.76. Bailey finished third in the consolation finals with a time of 1:44.40.

The 800-yard freestyle relay finished Friday's finals with an All-UAA performance finishing third with an NCAA provisional mark of 6:56.37. The group consisted of Snyder, Bailey, freshman Josh Mathews (Upper Falls, Md./Perry Hall), and junior Tom McConnell (Baltimore, Md./Friends School of Baltimore).