Women's Swimming and Diving Dominates St. Bonaventure

Oct. 27, 2006

PITTSBURGH-- The Pitt women's swimming and diving team garnered a commanding 178-65 win over St. Bonaventure in its `Swim for the Cure' meet held at Trees Pool this afternoon. The Panthers open the season 1-0, while sweeping the top-three finishes in six events.

The meet opened with freshman Hanna Bratton (Lincoln, R.I./Moses Brown School) placing second with 199.35 points in the 1M boards, while classmate Margo Ekstrom (Erie, Pa./McDowell) took third with 179.47 points. This duo later traded places in the 3M diving event, as Ekstrom turned in a second-place performance (220.05) and Bratton claimed third (174.90).

Pitt first swimming event of the day was the 200 medley relay, where the Panthers touched the wall at 1:46.11 for a first-place finish. Earning the win for Pitt was freshman Lisa McDonnell (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield), sophomore Ruth Seiffert (Boothwyn, Pa/Garnet Valley), junior Brittany Stevens (Peachtree City, Ga./Starr Mill's/Florida State) and senior Andrea Shoust (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont./White Pines C & VS).

The Panthers, then, swept the next three events, claiming the top-three finishes in each. Senior Kathy Siuda (Waterloo, Ontario/Bluevale Collegiate Institute) got the squad started in the 1000 free, touching the wall at 10:33.43 for the win. Junior Caitlyn Harrington (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock North) finished second at 10:41.26, while sophomore Laura Rosenberg (Newtown, Pa./Newtown) rounded out the top three at 10:54.01.

In the 200 free, senior Kristin Brown (East Berlin, Pa./Bermundian Springs) claimed a first-place finish when she turned in a 1:50.80 effort. Sophomore Agnes Mago (Kecskemet, Hungary/Bolyai Janos/Radford) trailed for second (1:54.55), while freshman Sophie Cross (Thornton, Pa./Glen Mills) took third at 1:55.83.

Adding more points, Pitt actually swept the first four finishes in the 50 free. Touching the wall first at 24.73 was junior Kelly O'Hara (Voorhees, N.J./Timber Creek), while freshman Sarah Sullivan (Longmont, Colo./Longmont), junior Colleen Sullivan (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton) and freshman Ryann Kishbaugh (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) followed, respectively.

A multi-event winner, Stevens won the 100 fly with a time of 57.90, while Seiffert took second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:07.20.

The Panthers continued to dominate the meet by claiming the first four finishes in another sprint, the 100 free. McDonnell led the way with a 52.52 first-place finish. Colleen Sullivan, freshman Tiffany Malatesta (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) and O'Hara followed to round out the top four, respectively.

In the 100 free, McDonnell led the way with a 52.52 first-place finish. Colleen Sullivan, Malatesta and O'Hara followed to round out the top four, respectively.

Shoust was the first of three Panthers to touch the wall in the 100 back, clocking in at 57.63. Kishbaugh and freshman Allie Horvath (Oxford, Ohio/Badin) trailed at 1:00.44 and 1:01.36, respectively.

Moving back to distance events, Brown was victorious in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.56. Mago, Harrington and Rosenberg followed shortly thereafter for the Panthers sixth and final sweep of the day.

Seiffert picked up the final individual win in the 400 IM with a time of 4:34.18, while Siuda took third at 4:38.44.

Pitt 200 free relay team of Brown, O'Hara, Shoust and McDonnell edged out its B team of Stevens, Sara Sullivan, Colleen Sullivan and Malatesta in the final event of the day. The A team clocked in at 1:37.10 and team B finished at 1:39.50.

The Panthers face Big East foe Syracuse tomorrow at Trees Pool. Action begins in the divers at 11 a.m.

Women's Swimming and Diving Dominates St. Bonaventure

Players Mentioned

Hanna Bratton

Kristin Brown

Sophie Cross

Margo Ekstrom

Caitlyn Harrington

Allie Horvath

Ryann Kishbaugh

Agnes Mago

Tiffany Malatesta

Lisa McDonnell

Kelly O'Hara

Laura Rosenberg

Ruth Seiffert

Andrea Shoust

Kathy Siuda

Brittany Stevens

Colleen Sullivan

Sara Sullivan

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