By Christine Houghton
Sports Editor
The men and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted Southern Connecticut State University on Nov. 22. The meet resulted in both teams coming out on top, with the men and women winning 200-93 and 175-116, respectively.
From the start, the men refused to slow down, as they earned a win in the 200-meter medley relay. The team of senior Derek Kneisel and juniors Griffin Morgan, Andrew Thompson and Andrew Duff took the race with a time of 1:35.34. In the 1,650-meter freestyle, Morgan took home the gold with a time of 16:18.60.
The Lions took the top four spots in the 200-meter freestyle, as senior Harrison Yi touched the wall at 1:45.90 to take home first place. Following suit, the 100-meter backstroke gave its top two spots to Kneisel and freshman Sean Rave, who finished at 53.08 and 53.55, respectively.
In the 100-meter breaststroke, the College swept the podium, as Duff took the top spot with the only time under one minute, finishing at 59.522. The team also placed a swimmer in the top four in the 200-meter butterfly, with Morgan taking the victory at a time of 1:54.54.
In the 50-meter freestyle, the Lions took the top three spots, with first place going to Thompson at 21.90. Yi would also win the 100-meter freestyle at 47.35 and the 500-meter freestyle at 4:50.05.
Kneisel and Rave took first and second place in the 200-meter backstroke, respectively. Kneisel won at 1:57.06, followed by Thompson winning the 100-meter butterfly at 51.67. Morgan followed with a win in the 400-meter individual medley at 4:13.17.
The 400-meter freestyle relay team of Thompson, Yi, junior Nolan Kuscan and freshman Matt Watts finished out the day coming in at 3:11.75 for the win.
The women also started off their day with a victory, as the 200-meter medley relay team of freshmen Rachel Hannah and Cameron Carrazza, junior Chiara Mennonna and sophomore Zoe Chan took home the win with a time of 1:51.79.
Sophomore Meagan Healey won the 100-meter backstroke, clocking in at 1:02.26. The team took the first, second and fourth spot in the 100-meter breaststroke, with Mennonna placing first at 1:09.34.
Chan went on to win the 200-meter butterfly, as she touched the wall at 2:09.08. She also won the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 55.32. The Lions then swept the podium in the 50-meter freestyle, as freshman Shannon Hesse touched the wall at 25.26.
Freshman Gabi Valladares dove well on the 1-meter board, as she finished the day with the first-place score of 225.25, followed sophomore Hailey Stack, who took second place with a score of 194.70. The pair also went one-two in the 3-meter dive with scores of 256.10 by Valladares and 199.95 from Stack.
Senior Annie Menninger won the 200-meter breaststroke with a final time of 2:31.89 and was followed by the day-ending 400-meter freestyle relay win from the team of Carrazza, Menninger, Hannah and senior Kazia Moore. The Lions touched the wall at an impressive 3:46.01 to finish out a successful day.
The teams returned to the pool on Nov. 23, as they traveled to Kingspoint, N.Y., for the United States Merchant Marine Academy Invite.
The men started competition off with a win from sophomore Mathias Altman-Kurosaki in the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 4:52.13. Kneisel claimed a victory in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:58.25.
The group closed out the day with a second place finish in the 400-meter freestyle relay with the team of Kuscan, junior Kai Michaud, senior David Madigan and freshman Dixon Kahler, who touched the wall at 3:14.67.
The women had a successful day, as the group started off with a second-place finish from its 200-meter medley relay team of Chan, Hesse, Menninger and junior Elise Fraser, who stopped the clock at 1:54.35. Chan then went on to take second place in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:12.59 and won the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 59.13.
Hesse followed with a win in the 50-meter freestyle at 25.48, while Mennonna took the gold in the 200-meter breaststroke, posting a time of 2:37.54. Valladares took second out of 13 in the 1-meter dive with a score of 252.65.
The team closed out the day with the 400-meter freestyle relay team of Menninger, Hannah, Chan and Carrazza taking second place at 3:44.15
Both teams dive back into their season this weekend, as they will host the TCNJ Invite from Friday, Dec. 6, to Sunday, Dec. 8.
