Rutgers swimming & diving overtook Wagner on Friday, 195-102. Morgan Pfaff, Rachel Stoddard, and Joanna Wu all claimed double event wins to help lead the Scarlet Knights to victory. Wu put on one of the most impressive performances, with a 55.54 in the 100 back.
Rutgers:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 23, 2015) – Competing in its first dual meet of the season, the Rutgers swimming and diving team delivered a 195-102 victory over Wagner Friday night at the RU Aquatics Center. The Scarlet Knight swimmers collected 10 wins against the Seahawks, while junior diver Alyssa Black (Middletown, N.Y.) captured both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive events off the boards.
“It was a good day in the pool and we did a good job of attacking no matter what event it was,” said head coach Petra Martin. “Overall, we did a great job and we’ve really been after it. We’re punching the wall first a lot, and the drive and focus demonstrated tonight was something I was looking for.”
Senior Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) secured first-place times in the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, with her 2:07.39 finish in the IM marking a personal-best time this season. Pfaff also produced a season-low time of 2:05.72 in the 200 butterfly, where she finished second.
Junior Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.) added two individual victories for RU, which included wins in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Stoddard hit the wall at 1:05.08 in the 100 breast and her time of 2:22.07 in the 200 breast was a season-low result.
Senior Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.) also added two wins for Rutgers, finishing first in the 100 backstroke (55.54) and 200 backstroke (2:02.22), the second time she has produced top times in both events in as many weekends.
Participating in the 1650 freestyle, sophomore Thomasin Lee (Lindstrom, Minn.) added a season-low 17:45.26 to her resume, securing first in the event.
In relay action, Pfaff, Stoddard, junior Meghan Kielly (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and Wu touched the wall first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:45.40.
Black enjoyed successful diving for the Scarlet Knights, with top performances in both 1 and 3-meter dive events. Black scored a 319.35 in the 3-meter dive and added a 295.34 total in the 1-meter dive.
Rutgers returns to the pool when it hosts Georgetown, Seton Hall and Villanova for a two-day quad meet from Friday, Nov. 6 to Saturday, Nov. 7.
Swimming news courtesy of Rutgers Swimming & Diving.
Wagner:
Piscataway, NJ – The Wagner women’s swimming & diving team dropped a 195-102 decision to Rutgers on Friday afternoon, falling to 1-2 on the 2015-16 season.
Junior Anu Nihipali (Honolulu, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) collected a pair of wins and a second place finish in her individual events. She took first place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.78 and in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall at 57.05. Nihipali finished second in the 100 backstroke, being touched-out of first place by .40 of a second, with a time of 55.94.
Other stellar performances came from senior Amanda Lucia (Easthampton, MA/Easthampton), who led the second Seahawk sweep of the year, this time in the 500 free event. The senior touched the wall in a time of 5:11.24 to earn first place. Right behind her to take second-place honors was teammate Maddie McNichol (Downingtown, PA/Henderson) with a 5:14.10 and Kirsty Hessing(Bloomington, IL/Normal Community), who took third with a 5:14.13.
Lucia finished second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:06.39 and then claimed third in 200 IM with a 2:13.31.
Senior Katja Claesson (Fullerton, CA/Troy) garnered second place in both of her individual events. Claesson swam the 100 and 200 breaststroke events, recording times of 1:06.14 and 2:23.95, respectively.
Freshman Dorian McMenemy (Northborough, MA/Algonquin Regional) collected a pair of third place finishes in her individual events, tallying six points for the Green & White, in the 50 free with a time of 25.05 and in the 100 free, touching the wall at 54.45.
Wagner will have a quick turnaround as the Seahawks are right back at it tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., traveling to New Rochelle, NY when they will face Iona, St. Francis Brooklyn and Sacred Heart for a quad-meet.
Swimming news courtesy of Wagner Swimming & Diving.
