Coming off a loss to Yale on Jan. 19, the men’s swimming and diving team redeemed themselves on Saturday afternoon with a 154-130 win against Lehigh, while the women fell 175-117 to Columbia for their second loss in a row.
A pre-meet ceremony inside Arthur E. Imperatore Natatorium celebrated the program’s 10 seniors, as they took part in their last home meet.
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Sean Barry/ Staff Photographer[/caption]
Female swimmer Courtney Regan noted how close the group of seniors are, and how their bond made the final home meet together that much sweeter.
Male swimmer Vadim Jacobson built off that, elaborating on how important the moment was.
“It was really, really special,” Jacobson said. … “The group of seniors we have today are some of the best friends I have ever had.”
The quartet of Marianne Molloy, Jordan Decker, Sydney Simpson, and Courtney McCardle started the meet strong for the women’s team, securing a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:57.63.
McCardle impressed throughout the meet, as she took second place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.47 seconds. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Jacobson took first place in the 100-yard freestyle, coming in at 46.55 seconds.
The men built confidence for the team early in their contest with Lehigh, as they took first place in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:24.50.
The women – facing tough competition in Columbia – continued to impress as they secured a second and third place in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Gabrielle Van Tassell and Jillian Calocino finished with times of 10:37.6 and 10:41.7, respectively.
The men continued with their strong performance as Liam Cosgrove and Christopher Tucker finished first and second in the 100-yard backstroke.
Josh Tosoni continued his domination of the 100-yard breaststroke event, touching the wall in 58.21 seconds, which was good enough for first. Twenty seconds behind him was teammate Matthew Zebrowski, who claimed second.
Josh Tosoni picked up his second first-place finish of the meet in the 200-yard breaststroke, once again closely followed by Zebrowski who took second.
The Seton Hall men picked up another first and second place finish in the 200-yard butterfly when Ivan Michalovic seized first, followed by Kyle Nash 3.2 seconds later.
Sara Ouellette, Elizabeth Sargent, and Theresa Hutton finished second, third and fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke. Meanwhile, Tyler Kauth captured first for the men in the same event with a time of 1:52.29.
Lexi Kolodgie secured another first-place finish for the Pirates in the 200-yard breaststroke, while Sydney Simpson followed close behind and took third-place. Simpson later helped the women lock in another first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.
Seton Hall hogged the top of the leaderboard in the men’s 400-yard individual medley, with Pirate swimmers claiming first through third place. Michalovic clocked in first, followed by Jonathan Bar-Eli and Kyle Nash.
The meet ended on a high note as the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay – made up of Noah Yanchulis, Jacobson, Cosgrove, and Kauth – took first with a time of 1:25.02.
The meet was a strong performance for both teams in preparation for the Big East Championships, which begin on Feb. 21.
Regan – who has two more meets left in her collegiate career – says an important aspect for the women to take away from this meet is their times, as some swimmers got their best times of the season in the meet.
Jacobson reiterated similar sentiments, while adding that the team’s speed is something that will help propel them in the tournament.
The Pirates return to Big East action on Feb. 3 in New Providence, N.J., where they will face Providence and Georgetown in the Berkeley Aquatics Tri-Meet.
Brittany Tomore can be reached at brittany.tomroe@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @BrittTomore.
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