Pennsylvania vs West Chester
- February 1, 2020
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Results
Courtesy: Penn Athletics
PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania swimming and diving programs wrapped up the regular season with a dominating sweep against West Chester. The men’s team dominated, winning 12 of 16 events for a 183-106 victory. The women similarly reigned, with 11 first-place finishes in 16 events for a 177-116 victory.
The meet closed out the regular season for Penn. The Quakers now shift their preparations solely to the Ivy League Championships later this month.
Recapping the Penn Women
Penn closed out its regular season with loads of momentum heading into the Ivy League Championships. Seven swimmers won an event while three individuals—Tara Larusso, Bridget O’Leary, and Serena Xue—won two.
The meet started with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay before Grace Giddings led the charge in the 1,000 free with a 10:12.34 finish. Next, O’Leary won her first of two events with a 1:51.91 finish in the 200 free. She would later win the 500 free with a 4:59.88 finish.
Larusso made her case for another bid to the Ivy League Championships by winning the 100 and 200 back. She and Lindsay pierce both sprinted to a season-best time of 56.51 to tie for first in the 100 back. Larusso won the 200 back, touching the wall in 2:00.71 for her second victory of the day.
Xue has been instrumental to the Quakers’ success throughout the season. In her final meet at Sheerr Pool, she shined with a sweep of the breaststroke events. In the 100 breast, she built a significant lead in the first 50 to clock a 1:06.09 finish. In the 200 breast, she led a 1-2-3 finish, taking the gold with a time of 2:19.72. Rachel Maizes (2:24.28) and Anna Feng (2:25.46) finished second and third.
In what had been a sentimental meet for many, the Quakers closed things out in historic fashion. A relay team consisting of three seniors—Mollie Westrick, Meredith Newman, and Emily Layne—and one freshman—Margot Kaczorowski—set a pool record in the 200 free relay. Until their record is beaten, they will be immortalized on the eastern wall of Sheerr Pool with their time of 1:33.13.
Recapping the Penn Men
The Quakers wrapped up the regular season in style, as ten swimmers tallied 12 event victories. The depth across classes showed, with each class representing two or more of Penn’s individual victories.
CJ Hinckley started the individual events with a season-best and first-place finish in the 1,000 free (9:13.31). Noah Pereles—who won two events today—followed up with a career-best 1:39.80 finish to win the 200 free. Senior Eric Dietrich-Peterson marked his final meet at Sheerr Pool with a second-place finish and career-best time of 1:40.57 in the 200 free.
Pereles won his second event of the day, leading a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 free. He paced the pack with a 46.52 finish, followed by freshman Mark McCrary (46.96) and sophomore Jacob Furlong (47.07).
Boris Yang, who will vie for an Ivy League Championship in the breaststroke events later this month, closed out his regular season with a statement win in the 100 breast, setting a Sheerr Pool record after clocking in at 54.52.
A team captain and leader for the Quakers throughout the season, Sean Lee closed out his regular season in a big way ahead of the Ivy League Championships. Lee sprinted to a career-best time of 20.09 in the 50 free. Lee also posted the fastest time in the 100 fly in today’s meet (48.23), but he was scratched prior to the race.
Penn’s small senior class of four made sure to show out in its final meet at Sheerr Pool. John-Michael Diveris, who has perhaps been Penn’s best diver over the last four years, closed out a dominating regular season with the top score in both the 1-meter dive and 3-meter dive. His score in the 1-meter (303.75) was the second-best in his career while his victory in the 3-meter (325.06) was the fifth time he’s won the event this year.
Courtesy: West Chester Athletics
PHILADELPHIA – West Chester University’s men’s swimming & diving teams lost to the University of Pennsylvania in a non-league dual meet at Sheerr Pool on Saturday afternoon, 183-106.
Junior Keir Uhlin (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 47.39 seconds.
The Golden Rams claimed the top three spots in the 100 butterfly. Junior Leo Chaves (Brazil) took top honors while Olivier Nguyen (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) was second and Matt Zwilgmeyer (Elkton, Md./Saint Marks) was third.
The 400 individual medley was also a win for the Goldens Rams with Dylan North (Airville, Pa./Red Lion) won the event in a time of 4:11.28 while Logan Brockway (York, Pa./Dallastown) was second in 4:18.93 and Jarod Anderson (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) third in 4:21.36.
The 200 free relay consisted of Chaves, Joao Barreto (Niteroi, Brazil), Sean Bell (Colombia, S.C./Blythewood), and Tyler Hall (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn). They took first place with a winning time of 1:26.05.
Carter Smith (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) placed third off the 3-meter diving board (241.66)and third off the 1m board (260.77).
The Golden Rams are back in the pool on February 14 at Daskalakis Athletic Center to take part in the Drexel Winter Invitational.
PHILADELPHIA – West Chester University’s women’s swimming & diving team fell short Saturday against host University of Pennsylvania at Sheerr Pool, 178.5-116.5.
Senior Mikaela Lantz (Reading, Pa./Reading) hit an NCAA ‘B’ cut time in winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.93 seconds.
Off the diving boards, Nadia Mulder (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey) came in first in the 3-meter competition (270.82) and second in the 1-meter event for the Golden Rams (256.95).
Senior Ann Carozza (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) took first place in both the 100 free and 100 butterfly against the Quakers. Carozza obtained NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 100 free (51.18) and both butterflies (100 fly – 55.46; 200 fly – 2:03.05) on Saturday.
The 200 free relay team of Carozza, Lantz, Madi Grenoble (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy), and Morgan Haines (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) claimed first place for West Chester with a time of 1 minute, 37.41 seconds.
To round out the day, Georgia Wright (Doncaster, England) took first in the 400 individual medley with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:31.46.
The Golden Rams are back in the pool on February 14 at Daskalakis Athletic Center to take part in the Drexel Winter Invitational.
