Saturday, March 20, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The final day of the 2010 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships was the most successful for Westminster College. All three Titans competing in the meet raced in the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The men's and women's school records for the event were set, two All-Americans were crowned and one received an honorable mention for the All-America team.

There were 61 women's teams across the country represented during the four-day meet and 70 men's teams. The Westminster women's team, made up of two swimmers at nationals, placed 21st with 57 points and the Titan men, with one swimmer, placed 35th with 16.5 points.

Sophomore Caitlin Lehberger (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington) placed fifth in the women's 200 breaststroke with a school-record time of 2:18.50 to become an All-American for the third time this meet. Lehberger was the second seed entering the finals after posting a school-record time of 2:18.85 in Saturday afternoon's preliminary.

Lehberger, who also posted fourth-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.79) Friday and the 200 individual medley (2:04.15) Wednesday, is the Westminster women's team's first-ever NCAA All-American and the first overall since 1994 when Westminster was an NAIA school.

Senior Ben Gutmann (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) placed sixth in the men's 200 breaststroke with a school-record time of 2:02.31 to earn All-America status for the first time in his career. Gutmann was the fourth seed going into the finals after his school-record time of 2:02.61 in Saturday afternoon's preliminary.

Gutmann is the fifth Westminster men's swimmer, second as a non-relay individual, to earn NCAA Division III All-America status since the Titans joined the division in 2003.

Junior Courtney Herdt (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls) of the Titan women's team also earned an honorable mention for the All-America team in the 200 breaststroke as she placed 13th overall with a time of 2:21.06 in the consolation finals. Herdt advanced the consolation final with a 12th-place time of 2:21.73 in the preliminary on Saturday afternoon.


About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is a top tier liberal arts college and a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges. Westminster ranked third among liberal arts colleges in social mobility, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 371 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.

Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus. Visit www.westminster.edu/advantage to view "Advantage: Westminster" A Strategic Plan 2010-2020.