The Columbia men and the Iona men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams descended upon the Black Knights on Friday afternoon for a double-dual meet. On the men’s side, the Lions beat Army 157-143 and Iona, 248-46, and Army downed Iona 253-45. The women’s meet ended with a final score of 199-88.
One of the highlights of the women’s meet was a triple from Army’s Sabrina Mortell. She won the 1000 (10:29.27), the 500 free (5:07.02), and the 200 free (1:55.98). Her teammate Jessica Burkett won both the 100 breast (1:07.63) and the 200 breast (2:24.03), and produced the meet’s fastest 200 IM (2:08.25) swimming exhibition. Army’s Collin Kessinger won the 200 back with 2:10.96, then came in just .18 behind Burkett in the IM. Molly Mucciarone of the Black Knights doubled, too: her 53.22 was the top time in the 100 free, and she went 57.27 to win the 100 fly.
Iona’s Laura Mongillo had a nice meet. She led a trio of Gaels to a 3-4-5 finish in the 100 back. Mongillo went 1:03.27, while teammates Maria Lopez (1:03.34) and Natalie Bowman (1:03.36) were right behind. Mongillo then went a best time in the 200 back (2:15.06) and took fourth. Iona’s MaryEllen Mangione scored the winning points in the 200 IM with 2:16.75; she also finished a close third in the 200 breast (2:28.63), only .29 behind Army’s Kristin Barta, and was fourth in the 100 breast.
The men’s meet was a nailbiter from start to finish. Columbia won more events (8 individual swimming events to Army’s 4) but Army had more depth, and the winner wasn’t decided until the final relay.
Columbia freshman Jae Park scored three first places, winning the 200 IM (1:51.18), the 200 breast (2:04.24), and the 100 breast (57.27). In the 100 breast, he touched out Army’s Kanzari by 1/100 with a strong second 50. Columbia’s Kevin Quinn doubled with 48.91 in the 100 fly and 1:49.06 in the 200.
Senior David Jakl, the King of the Back Half, came up with two wins for the Lions. In the 100 back, he moved up from third at the 50 to first overall with 50.27, outsplitting the competition by over a second on his second half. Jakl later went on to even-split the 100 free (22.11-22.79) to rob Army’s Christopher Szekely of the win, 44.90 to 45.58. Szekely was on the winning end of a close one, though, when he edged Columbia’s Alex Ngan to win the 50 free, 20.87 to 20.89.
Army dominated the distance freestyles. Casey Woudenberg (9:36.56) and Clay Harmon (9:39.27) were the top finishers in the 1000, while Evan Rude held off Columbia’s Nikita Bondarenko to win the 500, 4:35.75 to 4:35.95.
Army and Columbia each got diving wins, but the final relay went the Lions’ way and Columbia went home with a tally in the W column.
