Press Release courtesy of Pitt Athletics
The University of Pittsburgh swimming & diving teams will conclude their regular season at home this weekend as the Panthers host the annual Western Pennsylvania Invitational.
The meet, which begins Friday with diving at 1 p.m. and continues Saturday at 11 a.m. with swimming, will be held at Trees Pool as Pitt welcomes five other regional swimming & diving programs: California (PA), Carnegie Mellon, Clarion, Duquesne and St. Francis (PA).
Pitt will also honor its four seniors—swimmers Boris Kulizhnikov, Lina Rathsack and Amanda Richey and diver Meme Sharp—at the 2018 Western PA Invite with a ceremony before Saturday’s swimming portion of the meet.
Richey and Sharp have been four-year standard-setting members of the Pitt swimming & diving family. Richey has scored at each ACC Championships during her collegiate career and qualified for the last two NCAA Championships, while Sharp was the first Pitt woman to win an individual ACC title when she triumphed on 3-meter in 2016 and more recently won a national title at the USA Diving Winter Nationals on 1-meter.
Kulizhnkov and Rathsack both joined Pitt last season as transfers from UNLV, with each making an immediate impact. Rathsack was an ACC finalist in 2017 and became just the third Pitt women’s swimmer to earn NCAA All-America honors in the breaststroke, while Kulizhnikov scored in his ACC Championships debut and has served as a team captain this season as the only senior on the men’s swimming & diving team.
This marks the fifth consecutive year of Pitt hosting the Western Pennsylvania Invitational, with the Panthers once again finalizing preparations for the postseason at this meet.
For the Pitt women (10-2), this meet marks an opportunity to finish a very successful regular season in dual competition on a high, while the Panthers men’s team (6-3) can also secure a winning season in duals with a strong weekend performance against local foes.
Admission is FREE to all fans at Trees Pool for both days of the meet.
