Murphy places 15th in the mile

Murphy places 15th in the mile
Posted: Feb 14, 2015

ATLANTA, Ga. – Senior Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) broke a school record and recorded an NCAA B Qualifying standard in the 1,650 freestyle on the final day of competition at the 2015 University Athletic Association championships this weekend.

Fabian finished in seventh place, winning the afternoon heat of the mile swim with a time of 16:06.06. It was his second-highest career finish and marked the third straight year that Fabian lowered the school record, knocking another four seconds off his mark. Fabian was 10 seconds faster than the 2015 NCAA 'B' cut. He also lowered his school record in the 1,000 during his swim, covering it in 9:43. The seventh-place finish was the best by and Brandeis performer at the 2015 UAA championships.

The Judges had a two more scoring performances in the mile for the men. Rookie Zach Diamond (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Acad.) was 17th overall with 16:41.37, while Joey Barr (Deerfield, lll./Deerfield) placed 22nd with a time of 17:15.68, 22 seconds better than his lifetime best.

On the women's side, Brandeis also had two scorers in the 1,650. Sophomore Joanna Murphy (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview) placed sixth in her heat and 15th overall with a time of 18:28.05. Rookie Yi Sul Richter (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vista Ridge) was third in her race and 20th overall with a time of 18:51.76, more than 30 seconds faster than her career-best time in the event.

Also scoring on the day for the Judges was junior Fay Laborio (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West), who reached the finals in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:17.54 and placed 24th with a time of 2:17.82 in the finals.  

The final relays of the meet were the 400-yard freestyles. Both Brandeis teams finished in eighth place. The women's quartet of rookie Sherry Tu (Guangdong, China / Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women), Murphy, Richter and rookie Maya Saar (Columbus, Ohio / Columbus School for Girls) turned in a time of 3:51.06, while the men's team of Abu Batjargal (Waltham, Mass./Waltham), Diamond, Fabian and rookie Danny Smyda (Acworth, Ga. / North Cobb) finished in 3:18.57.

For the meet, the Brandeis men scored 391 points to place eight overall, 60 more points than they tallied in 2014. The women had 293 points, a 24-point improvement, also finishing eighth.