PHILADELPHIA, PA - The La Salle University men's swimming and diving team closed out the 2005-06 regular season with a 153-89 victory over host Drexel on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Explorers kicked off the meet with a victory by the 200-medley relay team of Billy Watkins, David Ellerson, Grant Chin and Chris Cefalo.  The foursome crossed the finish line in a time of 1:39.36 to get the win.

 

La Salle fared well in the freestyle events, earning first place finishes in the 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 events.  In the 50-yard, Kevin Whelan cruised to the finish line in a time of 22.27, just .10 seconds ahead of Cefalo who took second place, and David Ellerson tied for fourth with a time of 22.52.  In the 100-yard event, John Welsh posted the victory for the Explorers with a time of 48.04. 

 

In the 200-yard freestyle, Sean Connors-McBride claimed the victory with a time of 1:42.16, followed by Welsh in second with a time of 1:45.34.  Connors-McBride earned his second first place finish of the meet in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:56.47.  Reed Inglee placed second with a time of 1:59.50.

 

Matt Ainsworth added first place points in the 500-yard event with a time of 4:52.93 and Emir Hubijar captured the 1000-yard event with a time of 10:04.05.

 

In the 200-breaststroke, Chin posted La Salle's final first place finish with a time of 2:11.08.  Jack McCaffery earned a second place finish in the 200-backstroke with a time of 1:59.79 and Mike Ellerson finished in third with a time of 2:00.06.  McCaffery finished just .50 seconds behind Drexel's Ian McKinnon.

 

On the diving side of the meet, Karo Isajan split the top spot with Drexel's Brett Molash.  Isajan earned the win in the 1-meter with a score of 335.00, while Molash finished with 300.35.  In the 3-meter, Molash earned with win with 331.50 and Isajan falling just short with 325.43.

 

The Explorers will be back in action on February 15th when they compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships in Buffalo, NY.