PHILADELPHIA – Both the University of Pennsylvania men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs took down Big 5 rival La Salle Tuesday evening on a quick turnaround before the holiday break. The men defeated the Explorers 161-132, while the women won 163-122.
The men notched 10-first place finishes, exhibitioning the final three events. The foursome of CJ Schaffer, Colin McHugh, Michael Wen and Zach Fisher began the meet with a win in the 200-yd medley relay, edging another Quaker team by .03 with a time of 1:33.51.
Penn again swept, this time in the 200-yd butterfly, as Hunter Brakovec, Alex Peterson and Schaffer took the top-three times. Brakovec led the way at 1:51.88.
The final counted events for the Quakers were all first-place finishes for the Red and Blue, as Su won the 100-yd free at 46.56, Uselis captured first in the 200-yd backstroke at 1:58.46, McHugh won the 200-yd breaststroke at 2:07.24, Peterson finished first in the 500-yd free at 4:39.15 and Wen wrapped things up by winning the 100-yd fly at 50.13.
John-Michael Diveris finished second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 271.50.
The women totaled a thoroughly dominating performance at Kirk Pool, notching a first-place finish in every event that was not exhibitioned. The Red and Blue got out to the quick start, taking first and second in the 200-yd medley relay. Libby Jardeleza, Haley Wickham, Laine Higgins and Kim Phan won the event with a time of 1:47.80.
Freshman Grace Ferry continued to impress, again winning the 1000-yd freestyle with a time of 10:23.40. The rookie also took home first place in the 200-yd backstroke, touching the wall at 2:10.30.
Meredith Newman won both the 100 and 200-yd freestyle events, taking the top time in the shorter distance race at 53.34, while winning the 200-yd at 1:56.16. The 100-yd backstroke and breaststroke featured Quaker sweeps in the top-three times, led by Wickham in the breast and Wendy Yang in the back.
In the final events not exhibitioned, Annie Tran won the 200-yd butterfly with a time of 2:06.44, Phan took top marks in the 50-yd freestyle at 24.51, and Sydney Tan won the 200-yd breaststroke at 2:21.73.
Maggie Heller won the 1-meter dive with a score of 212.70.
The Quakers will resume competition at the Total Performance Invitational hosted by Kenyon College started Thursday, Dec. 1.
Press Release
Courtesy of La Salle Athletics
PHILADELPHIA – The Women’s Swimming and Diving team turned an impressive effort against the Penn Quakers in a dual meet at Kirk Pool on Tuesday night. In all, the Explorers took home five first place finishes.
Hannah Elliott, Madeline Koelsch, and Rory Kearns finished one, two, and three in the 500 free. Elliott’s time of 5:16.07 topped the leader board.
La Salle also rounded out the top three in the 100 fly as Emily Wolbert, Peyton Griffin, and Julia Mann placed respectively. Wolbert, a freshman, had the top time of 1:00.28.
In the diving events, Sydney Szopo led the 1-meter dive 221.40 for another first place finish on the year.
Head Coach Jamie Platt and his team have some time to enjoy their Thanksgiving Break and will return to the pool on December 2 in the Bucknell Invitational.
