The men's and women's swimming and diving teams suffered their first losses of the season this weekend during the two-day tri-meet at Rutgers University.
The men's team, who now has a record of 6-1, split the weekend by defeating Saint Peter's College, 268-79, and losing to Texas Christian University, 191-156.
The women's team lost to TCU, 295-58, and Rutgers, 278-74, to give them a record of 5-2 on the year.
"They swam well on back-to-back nights, and it was good preparation for this weekend," head coach Ron Farina said. "It was a good indicator for them to know where we are at on the season."
For the men, sophomore Richard Dunham and junior Ryan O'Shaughnessy each finished the weekend as the team's only repeat winners.
Dunham placed first in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, while O'Shaughnessy topped the 200 backstroke and individual medley.
Junior Austin Acheson also finished the weekend with a first-place victory in the 500 freestyle.
The Pirates' final victory came in the 400 freestyle relay from the combined efforts of O'Shaughnessy, Dunham, sophomore Joey Lacus and senior Matt Holland.
"It was great to race some competition from out of our conference," O'Shaughnessy said. "We had a lot of guys that stepped up and a lot of guys that had a lot of good races."
For the women, sophomores Kerrie Kolackovsky and Jane Ehret led the way for the Pirates.
Kolackovsky finished the weekend with a second-place finish in the 1000 freestyle and a fourth-place finish in the 200 backstroke. She also added the sixth-place time in the100 backstroke.
Ehret finished third in the 200 butterfly and seventh in the 100 butterfly as well as the 200 and 400 individual medley.
Kolackovsky and Ehret teamed with junior Andrea Shuba and senior Rose Virgilio in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing in third.
The team of Kolackovsky, Shuba, Virgilio, and sophomore Kelly Markwell finished fifth in the 200 medley relay.
Throughout the weekend, the Pirates were able to punch nine more tickets into the Big East Championship meet, led by O'Shaughnessy, Dunham, Ehret and Kolackovsky.
"The more kids that we can have at that meet, the better," Farina said. "We have been very successful, both men and women, in getting people qualified this season."
Both teams return to action Friday through Sunday, Nov. 18 – 20 at the Patriot Invitational, hosted by George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
Joe Sorensen can be reached at joseph.sorensen@student.shu.edu.
