Nov. 16, 2001

Friday Final Results
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PITTSBURGH- The new NSCAA poll came out right before the start of the Pittsburgh Invitational and the Panthers slipped two spots to No. 20, but showed no signs of letting the slip continue with a commanding lead after the first day of competition.

The Panthers won four of five swimming events to build up 490 points, 166 more than second-place Missouri after six events. Ohio State is in third place with 130 points and Miami has 111.

Pittsburgh scored a victory in both relay events, starting with the 200 freestyle in which Michael Demos (McKeesport, Pa./Elizabeth Forward), Max Von Bodungen (Malmo, Sweden/Borgarskolan), Adam Webber (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) and Miah Heath (Estes Park, Colo./Estes Park) won in 1:21.15. That time was over two seconds faster than Ohio State's 'A' team and Pittsburgh also finished in thrid and fifth place.

The top two finishers in the 500 freestyle were both Panther swimmers as Eric Limkemann (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) and Von Bodungen battled until the end before Limkemann won it with a time of 4:28.71, just 1.47 seconds faster than the Swedish native.

Matt Ferrarelli got the only Missouri victory on the men's side with a win in the 200 yard individual medley. Ferrarelli swam it in a B-cut time of 1:49.31, beating the Panthers' Randy Gertenbach (El Centro, Calif./Paradise Valley) by almost three seconds.

In the closest race of the evening, two Panthers again dueled before Heath slipped past Demos in the 50 freestyle. Heath won with a time of 20.66, just three-hundredths of a second better than Demos, who even slowed considerably in the second 25 yards.

Miami swept the top three places in the 3-meter diving competition as Imre Lengyel, Kyle Prandi and Miguel Velazquez picked up a total of 53 points for the 'Canes. Blair Beal (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) was the Panthers' top finisher in fourth place.

In an exciting 400 medley relay final to close the evening, Siler, Raymond Brush (Katy, Texas/Katy/Nebraska), Von Bodungen and Heath topped Ohio State's team of Ivan Petrovic, Carlos Oliva, Nick Rees and Travis Carver by just 1.17 seconds to win the race. Pittsburgh again finished in third and fifth place as well to earn a total of 100 points in the event.

Day two begins at 10 a.m. at Trees Pool with 16 finals slated for Saturday evening.