It was a hard-fought effort by the men’s and women’s swimming teams on Saturday, Nov. 23 as the Lions took on Stevens Institute of Technology. Both teams were defeated, but after the most exciting competitions of the season, the Lions were able to walk away knowing they had given it their all.
The men’s team narrowly lost 133-129 and came close to overtaking its opponents. This was the first loss of the season for the 4-1 men’s team, while the women fell to 3-2 with a 147-109 loss.
The day started off well as the Lions took the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:35.87. The team consisted of junior Aleksander Burzynski, sophomore James Shangle, sophomore Joseph Dunn and junior Brett Pedersen.
The Lions took the 1,000-yard event as freshman Ryan Gajdzisz came in victorious with a time of 9:52.06.
Other victories came from Shangle in the 100 and 200-breaststrokes, while Pedersen was first in the 100-freestyle. Freshman Scott Vitabile outswam his opponents in the 200-butterfly, posting a winning time of 158.04.
The final competition was the deciding one. In the 400-yard freestyle, the College was led by Dunn, Pederson, freshman Andrew Nesbitt and senior Philip Hawley. In what would be one of the closest races of the year, the Lions finished just under a 10th of a second of their opponents to lose the race. They posted a time of 3:08.75 while their opponents posted a time of 4:08.64.
For the women’s team, a similar fate would befall them.
Also taking on Stevens Institute of Technology, the Lions fell 147-109. However, there were some impressive races won by the Lions. Seniors Amy Schurer and Hailey Growney placed first and second in the 200-individual medley, posting times of 2:20.77 and 2:21.97.
Freshman Brenna Strollo outswam the competition as she won three events: the 200-individual medley, the 100-backstroke and the 200-backstroke.
The Lions took the victory in the 100-butterfly as junior Brennah Ross swam for the lead, getting a time of 1:00.86. Junior Summer Thomas added to the Lions’ point total with a third-place finish in this event, coming in at a time of 1:03.48.
The final event of the day was taken by the Lions, as senior Michelle Sanders, sophomore Lauren Rothstein and Ross took the ribbon with a time of 3:44.49.
This week, the College competes in the TCNJ Invitational, a weekend tournament starting Friday, Dec. 6 and wrapping up on Sunday, Dec. 8.
