Rutgers, Toronto Women Tie in First Cross-Border Clash

RUTGERS VS. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

• October 27, 2023
• Rutgers Aquatic Center, New Brunswick, NJ
• SCY
• Results
• Team Scores (Swimming Only)
  • Women: Rutgers 131, Toronto 131

Rutgers hosted the University of Toronto women this past Friday in an exciting dual meet that ended in a tie. The Toronto Blues are no stranger to the yards pool and typically face off against an American university at least once per season. This is the first time Rutgers has hosted the Canadian team.

The host Scarlet Knights got the swimming portion rolling with a win in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Valeria Egorova, Senior Tina Celik, sophomore Martyna Piesko, and graduate student Jade Smits combined for a 1:41.04 to beat out Toronto’s A squad (1:42.75).

Toronto swung back immediately with wins in the 1000 free (Katie Marovino, 10:09.84) and 200 free (Ainsley McMurray, 1:49.47) to move into the points lead. Overall, Toronto was dominant in the freestyle events, putting up the top time in every single one.

Egorova jumped out to an early lead in the 100 back, but was out-split down the stretch by Toronto’s Katie Schroeder who took the win in a 53.77 to extend the Blue’s lead.

Celik pulled out a dominant win in the 100 breast (1:01.25), finishing 2.9 seconds ahead of teammate Molly Urkiel. Their efforts brought the score close again, only for Toronto to widen the gap with back-to-back wins in the 200 fly and 50 free, where McMurray picked up her second win of the meet with a 23.35.

McMurray was back in the water again after the break, putting up a 50.63 in the 100 free for her third individual win. Rutgers started to build some momentum after that, first with Egorova out-touching Schroder in their second head-to-head matchup of the meet in the 200 back (1:57.71 to 1:57.80), and then Celik leading a 1-2-3 sweep for the Scarlet Knights in the 200 breast 2:14.93).

Toronto’s last individual win of the meet came next in the 500, with Marovino completing her sweep of the distance events (4:59.12). After the 100 fly (Piesko, 53.85) and 200 IM (Elysha Pribadi, 2:02.01) Rutgers held a narrow lead going into the final relay.

Keeping in theme with the rest of the meet, the Toronto were dominant in the 200 free relay. Their A-relay of Teagan Vander Leek, Haley Klenk, Raili Kary, and Lily Chubaty posted a 1:34.01, 0.54 seconds ahead of Rutgers’ A squad. The Toronto B picked up third, drawing the meet to a close and the score to a tie.

Toronto is a swimming-only program, so by default the Rutgers divers swept both boards to open the meet. Junior Giulia Vittorioso won the 1-meter with an NCAA zone qualifying score of 274.43. She was followed closely by classmate Holly Prasanto, also earning a qualifying score with 267.00. The junior duo swapped places for 3-meter, with Prasanto earning her second qualifying score of the meet with a 284.10. Diving was not considered in the overall score.

Rutgers picked up a dominant win against Long Island University the following Saturday (183-76). Next, they travel to Indiana for a tri-meet with Purdue and Oakland on November 3.

The Toronto women will face Florida Atlantic University next on November 4.