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UT women seek top 5 finish in swimming

By DAVID NORRIE
Published March 9, 2005

Tampa's Chelsea Hastings is one of 19 athletes (nine men, 10 women) from the University of Tampa swim team in Orlando today to compete in the NCAA Division II National Championships.

The Spartan women finished second in last month's South Intercollegiate Swimming Conference Championships, led by Hastings' first-place performances in the 100 backstroke (57.28) and 200 backstroke (2:02.41), each setting school and meet records. She qualified for nationals with the No. 1 time in the backstroke.

Coach Ed Brennan said he expects Hastings, who transferred from California Berkeley this season, and the rest of the women to be among the elite Division II teams in the nation.

"Chelsea is a bona fide Division I swimmer," he said. "She has swum in big-time contests before. Our women have a reasonable chance at a top five finish and our men hope to make it in the top 10."

Both the men and women's teams took first at the Sunshine State Conference Championships on Feb. 26, with the women claiming four team titles and eight individual titles. Hastings took the 200 backstroke (2:09.18) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.63). The men, who had six individual winners at the SSC meet and took fourth at the SISCC, are led by Ben Oshri, who will compete in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle.

ASSISTS RECORD: Point guard Mark Borders has one year of eligibility left, but already owns the school's all-time assists mark, setting the single-season record at Nova Southeastern on Feb. 19, surpassing the mark of 190 held by Kevin Starnes (1989-90). Entering last week's conference tournament, Borders led the nation in assists with 202.

Tampa, the sixth seed, was eliminated by No. 2 Eckerd 60-57, in the semifinals of the tournament Saturday. Borders, who added eight assists to bring his season tally to 210, was named to the all-tournament team with Eckerd's Greg Plummer and Saint Leo's Marquis McCullough.

Borders also was named to the SSC's all-conference first team. He led the league in assists per game (7.25), was fourth in steals (2.06) and fourth in scoring (14.2). He returns for his senior season next year alongside forward Christopher Evans (Middleton) who made the SSC's all-freshman team.

Center Shaneisha Walton took the women's SSC freshman of the year honors, ranking among the top five in rebounds (second, 9.7), field-goal percentage (third, .504) and blocked shots (first, 2.87). While the Spartans were not represented on the SSC first team, point guard Shawtavia Mathis and center Jamie Skinner were named to the second team. Mathis led the league in assists with 4.69 per game and Skinner tied for sixth in rebounds with 7.8 per game.

BASEBALL STREAK AT EIGHT: Michael Harley (Alonso) went five innings, striking out five and allowing two earned runs in notching his first collegiate win Tuesday against Dowling College. The 15-5 victory increased the Spartans' win streak to eight and marked the fifth time this season UT has scored more than 10 runs.

Currently ranked No. 4 in the nation among Division II teams, UT (15-3) seemingly has answered its biggest question mark heading into the season. The Spartans, who replaced three starting pitchers, were unsure if talented but somewhat unproven hurlers would be able to step up immediately. After 18 games, UT leads the SSC in team ERA (2.23) and has allowed a league-low 42 runs and 33 bases on balls. The group has stuck with pitching coach Sam Militelo's formula for success - pitch smart and work behind the defense. Despite having the league's lowest ERA, UT does not have a starter among the SSC's top five in strikeouts.

Last week the Spartans completed a three-game sweep of No. 8 Rollins, putting them first in the SSC. But their overall record is second to that of Florida Southern (18-1), which has yet to play a conference game. The rivals don't meet until April 1 in Tampa.

[Last modified March 9, 2005, 00:55:19]