The women’s swimming and diving team continued their impressive campaign, defeating New York University on Saturday and William Paterson University on Sunday.The Lions defeated the Violets and Pioneers in convincing fashion by scores of 189-107 and 177-100. The wins improved the Lions record to 7-0 on the year, and continued one of the best starts in the team’s history.
“As a whole, our meet against the Violets was a great meet,” sophomore Jennifer Zavoda said. “We won a lot of close races, not just fighting for first or second, but for each place, everyone swam hard until the end.”
Junior Laura Pierce dominated the meet against the Violets, as she finished first in all four of her events. Pierce was triumphant in the 50-yard freestyle (23.74), 100-free (52.36), 100-butterfly (58.03) and contributed to the 200-medley relay team.
Senior Margaret Molloy and sophomore Kayleigh Shangle also showed some dominance, as they also won multiple events. Molloy performed well in the 200-free and 500-free, registering times of 1:54.24 and 5:09.12. Shangle raced to top finishes in two breaststroke events, winning the 100 in 1:06.28 and the 200 in 2:26.82.
Sunday’s match against the Pioneers was a true team effort, as the team won 15 out of 16 events.
Pierce ended her amazing weekend by finishing first in the 200-butterfly (2:08.94) and 500-free (5:26.93). Pierce nearly made school history, as her time for the 200-fly challenged the school record time of 2:08.51 swam by Ava Kiss in 2006.
Junior Traci Hofer chipped in by claiming the 1000-yard freestyle event in 11:13.31 and 200-individual medley in 2:18.07. Sophomores Caroline Kelly and Danica Roskos also contributed strong performances. Kelly took down the 200-free in 2:01.64 and also took part in the 400-medley relay team that posted a winning time of 4:18.71. Roskos placed first on the one-meter board diving event with a total score of 282.83.
The men’s swimming and diving team were just as impressive as the women. The Lions dominated the pool by winning in dominant fashion 177-113 against the Violets and by winning 184-104 against the Pioneers. The wins improved the Lions’ overall record to 6-2.
“The biggest positive about the meet was our ability to get excited and swim confident,” senior Tom Medvecky said. “It is very difficult to be excited when our bodies are as broken down as they are and everyone is exhausted.”
In the meet against the Violets, senior Joe Tseng led the Lions by winning three individual events. Tseng finished first in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-back and 200-individual medley with times of 53.59, 1:57.56 and 1:59.72.
Other standout performances belonged to Medvecky and senior Shawn Kircher. Medvecky tapped the wall first in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly with times of 51.74 and 1:54.34. Kircher also finished first in a pair of freestyle events, clocking in at 47.46 and 1.43:22.
“I’m pretty happy with my performance; however, I still have work to do. My races were not perfect, and I need to focus on the things I did wrong in practice,” Kircher said.
Junior T.J. Burns once again showed why he is one of the best divers in the NJAC as he placed first in the one-meter and three-meter diving events, with 333.38 in the one-meter and a score of 349.13 in the three-meter.
The meet against the Pioneers showed much of the same that the Lions demonstrated against the Violets. Sophomore Evan Paulan finished first in two individual events and a relay, claiming first in the 100-yard backstroke (56.24), 100-butterfly (53.75) and 400-meley relay (3:35.38).
Lions’ freshmen also showcased some of their potential during this meet, as Matthew Knoth and Phillip Hawley each notched two first place finishes.
Both squads are back in action on Saturday as they take on Rowan University in Glassboro, where the women will try to stay unbeaten and the men will hope to keep the momentum going.
“This week the team will do the same workouts we normally do and keep the schedule the same. The only real change is to focus on getting excited for our races and our teammates the weekend. The more excited we are, the better we will swim,” Medvecky said.
