The College's men's swimming team can credit its success this season to more intense practices and not "shaving down" in December.
"For the METs (Metropolitan Conference Championships) we literally shave our bodies and rest so we can do our fastest times of the year," junior captain Liam Gallagher said. "But this year for the ECACs (Eastern College Athletic Conference) in December, we did not do this so we could keep our intense training for our ultimate goal of winning the METs and finishing top 10 at the NCAAs."
By not "shaving down," swimmers have more resistance in the water and are forced to exert more energy. By keeping their hair, the men's team improved to 6-3 with a 111-78 win over William Paterson University on Saturday.
"Some of the guys were on the bubble and did a great job today and showed all their hard work that they put in this year," Gallagher said.
Sophomores Mike Molloy and Mike Heaney led the way for the Lions by winning six total events. Molloy won the 200-meter freestyle in 1:48.34, the 100-meter freestyle in 49.23 and the 500-meter freestyle in 4:55.74. Heaney won the 100-meter backstroke in 55.47, the 1,000-meter freestyle in 10:43.62 and the 200-meter backstroke in 2:17.32.
Freshman Herman Chu took first in the 100-meter butterfly in 55.29 and the 200-meter butterfly in 2:04.74.
Gallagher won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:02.03 and also placed second in the 50-meter freestyle in 22.66.
Sophomore Donato Santengelo took first in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:21.22, while junior Ryan Tighe won the 200-meter individual medley in 2:06.81.
After a 4-0 performance last week, sophomore diver Greg Lloyd took this week's ECAC Division III Diver of the Week. Lloyd won the one- and three-meter competitions with scores of 250.10 and 213.0.
The women's team snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 159-78 victory over William Paterson, dominating the Pioneers by winning every event except for the 400-meter freestyle relay.
"We chose to have a tough schedule," women's head coach Jennifer Harnett said. "It gets a little disheartening that we lose so much but it prepares us for the conference championships."
Senior diver Lee Swanson won both the one- and three-meter diving events with scores of 231.60 and 232.20.
Junior Ava Kiss won the 500-meter freestyle in 5:18.61, the 50-meter freestyle in 25.50 and was part of the College's first place 200-meter medley relay team that recorded a time of 1:56.95.
The 200-meter medley relay team had a rotation of Kiss along with juniors Christine Marino, who also won the 100-meter backstroke in 1:04.59, Lauren Pfeifer and Kristin Udicious.
Sophomore Sara Casciano took first in the 1,000-meter freestyle in 11:45.37 and the 200-meter individual medley in 2:24.06.
Sophomore Brittany Collyer captured the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:13.23 and the 100-meter freestyle in 57.6 while senior Kerry Genese won the 200-meter freestyle in 2:04.83.
Sophomore Stacy Delehany won the 200-meter backstroke in 2:22.31, while freshman Christina Falcone took the 100-meter butterfly in 1:02.74. Freshman Julianne Clapp won the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:38.07 and finished second in the 200-meter individual medley in 2:28.18, while junior Caitlin Elmendorf captured the 200-meter butterfly in 2:19.97.
Lions' swimming and diving continues on Saturday at the Rutgers Diving Invitational and Feb. 16-18 at the METs at Rutgers University.
