Pitt
Clarion, CMU Cal U, Duquesne
Pitt Swim & Dive Teams Dominate on Senior Day
1/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Results
PITTSBURGH - The Pitt men’s and women’s swim team concluded regular season action on Saturday afternoon at Trees Pool, hosting regional rivals California (Pa.), Carnegie Mellon, Clarion and Duquesne on Senior Day.
Pitt earned a total of 60 top-four marks including 22 first place nods, 21 second place finishes, nine third place marks and eight fourth place scores.
At the conclusion of the meet, the Panthers honored senior swimmers and divers Alexander Cook, Bethany DeWitt, Amanda Ford, Danyel Johnson, Bryce Kampfe, Leticia Lelli, Madeline Marcelle, Andrew McCarthy, Mack Rice, Kaleigh Ritter, Lindsey Rodenkirk, David Sweeney Jr., Matthew Tankle, Martin Vogel, Avery Warrington, Blair Wegescheide and Samantha Winkelmann.
“This group has seen probably some of the biggest changes in the athletic department in the history of Pitt,” said head coach Chuck Knoles. “They’ve seen us go from the Big East Conference to the ACC, we’ve go through two athletic directors, we’ve gone through a lot of changes socially and everything else. I think that, to their credit, they’ve continued to push this team forward and push this team toward acceptance and success in the classroom and in the pool. It’s really great to be around a group of young people like this, it keeps me young and it really shows that the Pitt education is getting the job done.”
In the 200 medley relay, the Pitt men earned the top two spots and three of the top four marks. Mack Rice, Haden Calegan, Sweeney Jr. and Gabriel Larson placed first with a time of 1:31.32, followed by Tankle, Nick Stachel, Vogel and Brian Lovasik in second with a time of 1:33.37. The team of Scott Simmer, McCarthy, Spencer Gray and Aaron Sett earned fourth with a time of 1:39.96.
The men’s 200 free relay dominated, taking three of the top four marks, including the two best times. The team of Calegan, Lovasik, Larson and Sweeney Jr. earned the top spot with a time of 1:23.45. They were followed by the group of Warrington, Kampfe, Tankle and Rice in second with a time of 1:26.38 and Stachel, Mike Pichette, Andrei Mihailescu and Austin Doss in fourth, touching the wall at 1:28.35.
Tankle and Sweeney Jr. each grabbed a pair of first place finishes. Tankle paced the teams in the 100 and 200 back events with times of 50.90 and 1:50.65. Sweeney Jr. earned his top marks in the 50 free and 100 fly, touching the wall with times of 20.79 and 49.37.
Avery Warrington earned three top-two marks, placing first in the 100 free with a time of 45.71 and earning second in both the 200 free (1:43.30) and 50 free (45.72).
Zach Lierley earned first in the 1000 free with a time of 9:35.56, while Gray topped the competition in the 200 free with a finish of 1:41.74. McCarthy continued the Panthers’ success in the freestyle events, placing first in the 500 free with a time of 4:45.40.
In the 200 fly, Rice placed first with a time of 1:49.36.
“Today’s performance was all about the seniors,” said Knoles. “We always let them pick their events first and then everyone picks their events after they do. We’ve made it so they can have their last dual meet competition of their senior year in this facility, this huge, beautiful Trees Pool that they’ve practice in and competed in. We arrange our schedule so that we make this meet always they last one. It’s fun to have the Western Pennsylvania teams here, but it’s all about our seniors at this meet.”
On the women’s side, the team of Wegescheide, Kinga Cichowska, Lelli, Johnson captured the top spot in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:44.82, followed by teammates Samantha Baird, Katie Fernander, Emily Murphy and Melissa Pocasi in second with a time of 1:45.78.
The team of Murphy, Brown, Lelli and Johnson captured first with a team time of 1:35.31 200 free relay while Melissa Pocasi, Jenny Young, DeWitt and Wegescheide placed third with a mark of 1:38.08.
Rachel Brown and Cichowska each earned a pair of first place times. Brown claimed the top spot in both the 200 free and 500 free events, posting times of 1:53.32 and 5:05.73. Cichowska placed first in the 100 breast and 200 breast with times of 1:02.75 and 2:14.84. In addition, she earned third in the 100 fly with a mark of 58.60.
Allison Murslack claimed the title in the 1000 free with a time of 10:44.67, while Murphy placed first in the 50 free with a time of 23.58.
Hannah Wittman clocked a time of 58.43 to capture the 200 back title and Lelli earned first in the 100 fly with a mark of 57.51. In the 400 IM, Amanda Richey placed first with a time of 4:23.56.
“I’m glad the emotion of being a senior and leaving their home facility is going to be behind us,” added Knoles. “Now we can begin to focus on the really important meet, which is the ACC Championships. I think that pressure and the ability to ride through that is going to work itself out because going to the ACCs is a pretty big deal.”
The men’s and women’s diving teams and women’s swim team will return to the pool Feb. 17-21 as they compete in the ACC Championships from Greensboro, N.C. The men’s swim team will wrap up the conference meet the following week, competing Feb. 24-27.
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