Charlotte, N.C.----The Wingate University men’s swimming team remains in first place in the 2011 Bluegrass Mountain Conference (BMC) Championships at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center (MCAC) pool in downtown Charlotte. The Bulldog women’s swimming team is second, only 10.5 points out of first place entering the four-day event’s final day.

The three-time defending BMC champions, the Wingate men have 514 points through 26 events. Johns Hopkins (Md.) University is second with 471.5 points, while Washington & Lee University is third with 288.5 points. The JHU Blue Jays have 516.5 points to top the women’s charts. Wingate is next with 506 points. Converse College is third with 287 points.

Wingate University men’s swimming
Friday BMC recap

The Wingate men won four events Friday night. Sophomore Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa) and freshman Liubomyr Lemeshko (Poltava, Ukraine) participated in two victories each. The duo teamed with seniors Marcelo Machado (Recife, Brazil) and Dwight Richardson (Newport News, Va.) to win the 200 Medley Relay in a school-record time of 1:30.79.

Lemeshko won the 100 Butterfly with a school-record time of 48.90. Julyan won the 100 Breaststroke with a school-record time of 54.98. Bulldog sophomore Spencer Waganaar (Satellite Beach, Fla.) pushed his classmate in the same race. Waganaar achieved a personal-best time of 57.24 for third place in the 100 Breaststroke.

Wingate freshman Marko Blazevski (Skopje, Macedonia) won the 400 Individual Medley, achieving a personal-best with his 3:57.28 clocking. Machado was second with a time of 4:03.53. Bulldog freshman Tim Kniffler (Mulheim, Germany) was second in the 100 Backstroke with a personal-best time of 51.26. Junior Lee Sousa (Cornelius, N.C.) placed third in 100 Backstroke with a 51.65 posting.

Wingate University women’s swimming
Friday BMC recap

Wingate freshman Valerie Dembny (Bremen, Germany) picked up another gold medal, winning the 100 Butterfly with a school-record time of 56.62. The first-year Bulldog finished third in the 100 Backstroke with a 57.41 clocking. Wingate swimmers occupied four of the top eight positions in the 100 Backstroke.

Dembny started the day by helping Wingate’s 200 Medley Relay quartet finish third with a school-record time of 1:46.18. She was joined by senior Nicole Moody (Grovetown, Ga.) and freshmen Amanda Gilbert (Metairie, La.) and Beatrice Svensson (Lomma, Sweden).

Svensson collected two silver medals Friday. She was second in the 100 Breaststroke with a personal-best time of 1:05.16. In addition, Svensson was second in the 200 Freestyle with a school-record time of 1:51.64. Sophomore teammate Elly Speer (Sydney, Australia) won the 200 Freestyle “B” Final with a personal-best time of 1:54.97.

The Bulldogs finished two-three in the tough 400 Individual Medley. Freshman Alexandra Andrechuk (Ajax, Ontario, Canada) achieved a personal-best with a 4:31.80 second-place performance. Senior team captain Sarah Supcoe (Charleston, W.Va.) was third with a 4:33.95 clocking.

The 2011 BMC event concludes Saturday at the MCAC. On Saturday, the preliminaries start at 10 a.m. and the championship finals begin at 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 per session. The Wingate University Sports Network will provide a live PPV video stream for both sessions Saturday.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private comprehensive university with more than 2,300 students on two campuses in Wingate and Matthews, North Carolina. The university offers 32 undergraduate majors, 36 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, physician assistant studies and sports administration and doctorates in pharmacy and education.

Wingate students gain the tools and support they need to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. The campus community offers in-class learning, out-of-class experiences, strong mentors, a competitive yet caring environment and rewarding community service opportunities for a complete educational experience.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past four years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 38 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 47 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.