Pitt
Denison
Pitt Swimming and Diving Sweeps Denison
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
PITTSBURGH - Coming off a split at West Virginia the week prior, Pitt swimming and diving returned to the pool with a vengeance in their meet versus Denison on Saturday. The men's side came away with a commanding victory by a margin of 216-84. Not to be outdone, the women handily defeated the Big Red 219-81.
Saturday's sweep propelled the men's side to 13-6 (0-4 ACC) on the year, and boosted the women's record to 17-3 (2-2 ACC). It was also the first time this season that both sides eclipsed 200 points.
"I think it was lackluster last week, and the men determined they were going to change that around this week," said head coach Chuck Knoles. "It was nice to see them do that. It was a decisive victory on both sides."
The men's side had a dominant meet that saw them take 14 first-place finishes throughout the day. The Panthers also took runner-up status a total of 12 times, and finished third on eight occasions.
In the pool, senior Matthew Tankle won both the 100 and 200 yard backstrokes. Senior David Sweeney Jr. turned in a strong showing, winning both the 50 and 100 free.
Pittsburgh won the 1000 free thanks to freshman Aaron Sett, and the 200 free due to freshman Brian Lovasik.
Senior Mark Rice won the 200 fly and senior Alex Cook took home the 200 breaststroke. More first place finishes were provided by senior Bryce Kampfe (100 fly), junior Zach Lierley (200 IM) and junior Spencer Gray (500 free).
On the boards, junior Dominic Giordano continued his strong season, winning the 1M (395.40) and the 3M (396.15). The Panthers finished 1-2 in both events, as junior Troy Galante followed him.
However, the biggest noise on the boards went to sophomore diver Meme Sharp, whose final score in the Women 1M (327.08) sent shockwaves through the pool, as it shattered both the team and Trees pool record.
"Well, she did that earlier in the season as well, and to see her come back and dive so well at home again, it's really exciting knowing that we're ready to go into the ACC Championships, and she's going to be right there in scoring position for the ACC," said Knoles on Sharp's performance.
Sharp's memorable performance on the boards wasn't the lone bright spot for the women's side.
"The women were again, stellar," said Knoles. "That's become the status quo for our season now, the women have a tendency to take over a meet, and when they take it over, they don't back off."
The women's side was paced by sophomore Amanda Richey, who won both the 200 yard freestyle and the backstroke. Richey also finished first in the Women 200 IM. Her three first place finishes were the most out of any swimmer on the day.
Three Pitt swimmers on the women's squad finished with two first place finishes as part of the rout of Denison.
Senior Kaleigh Ritter controlled the distance swimming, with times of (10:08.98) and (4:57.22) in the 1000 and 500 yard freestyles. Her 1000 yard time eclipsed her previous top time for this year by four seconds.
The short distance freestyles of 50 and 100 yards both went to sophomore Emily Murphy, whose times of (23.76) and (51.53) pushed her to the top of the field.
Junior Kinga Cichowska showed her prominence in the breaststroke, as she won both the 100 and 200 yard heats.
Senior Samantha Winkelmann won the 3M on the boards, while senior Blair Wegescheide won the 100 yard backstroke (58.00) and junior Athena Summathe 100 fly (57.42).
All told, the women produced 15 first place finishes, along with seven runner-up performances, and saw 11 Panthers take third.
Pittsburgh took home three first place finishes in relay events, toppling Denison in the men and women 200 medley relay as well as the women 200 free relay.
In total, the Panthers were able to finish 1-2-3 on a total of eight occasions during the meet, helping propel them to their most effective performance yet this season.
After the meet, the Panthers conducted a clinic for youth swim club areas from the Pittsburgh area. The clinic, led by current members of the Pitt swim teams, featured three stations focusing on starts, open turns and flip turns.
"Our giving back to the community, it serves two purposes; One it creates fans and it's part of being the University of Pittsburgh," added Knoles. "We're a part of the city of Pittsburgh and want to be a part of the community as well."
Up Next
Pittsburgh will welcome Clarion, Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne, and Cal U to Trees Pool for a meet scheduled for Friday, Jan. 29 (1:00 p.m.) and Saturday, Jan. 30 (11:00 a.m.). It's the last home meet before swimming and diving takes part in the ACC Championships in February.
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