St. Mary's Swimming to Host 2012 CAC Championships
St. Mary's City, Md. – The Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center will serve as the host pool for the 2012 Capital Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Swimming Championships on February 17-19. The 2012 championships mark the seventh time that St. Mary's College of Maryland has served as the host institution after successfully hosting the 2006 CACs.
University of Mary Washington comes into this year's championship meet as the defending champion on both the men's and women's side as the Eagle women have captured all 21 CAC titles and the UMW men have won 11 straight.
However, St. Mary's is looking to end Mary Washington's dominance this weekend. Both Seahawk squads enter the 2012 CAC Championships having finished the regular-season atop the conference standings. The women notched an undefeated mark of 6-0 after handing Mary Washington its first-ever league loss on January 13 by a 122-83 margin. On the men's side, St. Mary's shares regular-season honors with Mary Washington and York College of Pennsylvania as all three programs tallied a 5-1 CAC mark.
The three-day championship meet will consist of two sessions each day, beginning with trials at 10:00 am and finals starting at 6:00 pm every day. Recognition of all seniors from all seven competing institutions will be on Sunday at 5:30 pm.
Tickets can be purchased at the door. Prices are $20 for a weekend pass, $10 for a day pass and $6 for a single session. College students from the seven competing CAC institutions can get in for free with a college ID card while children under 10 years old are free as well.
Seahawk Men's Preview
The Seahawk men are hoping to finish in the top two this year after finishing third for the last three seasons. Juniors Billy DeBoissiere (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and Cameron Hedquist (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) look to aide St. Mary's in achieving those goals as both returning CAC champions. Hedquist is the reigning CAC Rookie of the Year and captured the 200 freestyle event while earning All-CAC honors in the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle. DeBoissiere is the defending champion in the 200 breaststroke and a second team All-CAC honoree in the 100 breaststroke.
Seahawk Women's Preview
St. Mary's has finished second at the CAC Championships the past four seasons but former CAC Rookie of the Year, junior captain Kelly Heyde (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), returns to help the Seahawks dethrone Mary Washington. Heyde is the two-time defending champion in the 200 butterfly, the 200 individual medley and the 400 individual medley. Junior Chelsea Gulliver (Frederick, Md./Urbana) looks to capture the 100 breaststroke event after finishing third a year ago.
