Panthers Impress in Day Two Versus Virginia, LSU

Saturday, October 21

Pittsburgh, Pa.

10 a.m.

Pitt

Virginia & LSU

Panthers Impress in Day Two Versus Virginia, LSU

10/21/2017 2:11:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Complete Results

Pitt Captures Seven Individual Titles

RESULTS

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh swim and dive teams concluded action in a double dual meet with Virginia and LSU Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers won seven individual titles at Trees Pool.

"This team just keeps getting better," said head coach John Hargis. "We continue to work hard, continue to race and compete in practice, and we're seeing them race and compete like they're supposed to during meets. We've got a lot of opportunities coming up, we've still got a lot to clean up and get better to be where we need to be, and we're going to continue to do that."

With the conclusion of the meet, the men defeated LSU 203.00-150.00 and fell to Virginia 196.50-155.50. The women also defeated LSU 212.00-141.00 but fell to Virginia 218.00-130.00.

The divers again got the day started as Meme Sharp posted the best finish of the afternoon, taking second on the 1M with a six-dive score of 272.40. Joe Ference paced the men with a third place finish on the 3M, tallying a score of 301.20.

"Meme came back today and showed real maturity," said head diving coach Katie Hazelton. "She was confident and didn't let yesterday affect her. She worked hard on all of the technique stuff that we have been working on in training and that showed in her performance today.

"Joe is really exciting. He is so new to the sport, he's young, but he's also been diving for such a short amount of time, his potential is fantastic. I think we're going to start seeing his consistency getting better, but his scope of what he is going to achieve in the next few years is huge. It's exciting to see him start to put everything together."

Individually, the men continued to have stellar performances, tallying four individual titles and 10 top three finishes, including capturing first and second place in both the 200 IM and 200 free. Brian Lovasik took first in both the 500 free (4:26.56) and the 200 free (1:37.92), marking his third individual titles on the weekend. Also in the 500 free, Aaron Sett captured third with a time of 4:26.95, while Armin Remenyi placed second in the 200 free with a mark of 1:38.35.

"That 500 free is what you need for a meet like this, fast swimming creates fast swimmers and that just gets the ball rolling," added Hargis. "We knew we had to come in and attack early, we had a shot in that event and the guys stepped up and took care of business."

Luke Smutny would stand atop the leaderboard with a time of 1:47.83 in the 200 fly, also putting together a solid performance in the 500 free to take fourth with a time of 4:31.60. Samy Helmbacher would record his second first place finish of the weekend, touching with a time of 1:47.52 in the 200 IM. He was followed by Eben Vorster, who took second with a mark of 1:50.42 and Boris Kulizhnikov, who placed fourth with a time of 1:51.26.

Kulizhnikov would also place third in the 200 breast (2:02.13), while Remenyi would take second in the 50 free (20.91) and Vorster would place third in the 200 fly (1:49.13).

The relay team of Lovasik, Remenyi, Blaise Vera and Vorster would place second in the 400 free with a time of 2:59.30. The 200 medley relay group of Bence Szucsik, Jason Young, Vera and Lovasik touched third with a time of 1:30.82.

On the women's side, the Panthers captured three individual titles, totaling seven top three finishes on the day. Valerie Daignealut would take the top spot in the 100 back (55.38), followed by teammate Shannon Hochkeppel in second with a time of 55.56. Daigneault would also place second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.22.

Amanda Richey would take her second individual title of the weekend, placing first in the 500 free with a time of 4:52.68. Shahar Menahem would also garner an individual title, earning first in the 200 free with a mark of 1:51.27, joined on the podium by Lea Gwennap, who placed third with a time of 1:52.36. Lina Rathsack earned a silver in the 200 breast, touching with a time of 2:15.63.

The women took third in both relays, touching with a time of 1:43.25 in the 200 medley, composed of Hochkeppel, Rathsack, Sam Howe and Rachel Brown. The group of Daigneault, Brown, Rathsack, Howe would touch with a time of 3:25.43 in the 400 free relay.

Pitt returns to action Friday, taking on Miami, Michigan State and James Madison in the Pink Meet at 4 p.m. in Trees Pool.

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