UNC Asheville Women, NJIT Men Sweep Quad Meet With VMI, UMBC & Howard

UNCA (W), NJIT (M), UMBC, HOWARD & VMI

• November 11, 2023
• Lexington, Va.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: UNCA Athletics

LEXINGTON, Va. – UNC Asheville Women’s Swimming and Diving swept VMI’s quad meet on Saturday (Nov. 11), beating host VMI 242-52, UMBC 204-95 and Howard 202-95.

Asheville began the day in the three-meter diving event, with Morgan Coughlen winning the event with a score of 236.40. Amelia Ward placed third and set a freshman program record in the event with a score of 222.05, while Jade Canady (217.65), Leigha Travis (213.25) and Haley Fein (210.80) placed fourth through sixth respectively. Kindal Culpepper also placed ninth with a score of 182.65. Asheville went on to place second, third, sixth and eighth in the 200-yard medley relay, paced by Grace Adams, Taylor Smith, Anna Marcotti and Abby Parks in second (1:46.51). Alessia Cunegatti, Beatrice Cocconcelli, Danai Gkogkosi and Olivia Ciancimino placed third in 1:48.38, while Addison Wright, Jane Brierley, Chloe McDonald and Amelia Presley finished sixth in 1:51.36. Julie Lahiff, Anna Kate Halligan, Alexis Walker and Rachel Daly also placed eighth in the event (1:55.65). Caitlin Hefner and Rose Sciaudone finished back-to-back in the 1000-yard freestyle, with Hefner taking second in 10:36.93 and Sciaudone finishing third in 10:56.77. Asheville would finish with the winner, runner-up, fourth place and sixth place in the 200-yard freestyle, paced by Caroline Crouse getting the win in 1:54.57 and Cunegatti finishing second in 1:57.32. Marcotti finished fourth in 1:59.30, while Presley finished sixth in 2:02.67.

Asheville picked up four placers in the 100-yard backstroke, paced by Adams in second (58.02 seconds) and Gkogkosi in fifth (59.35 seconds). Wright finished eighth in 1:01.68, while Daly took 11^th in 1:03.71. Four more Bulldogs would place in the 100-yard breaststroke, led by Smith in second in 1:06.46 and Cocconcelli in third in 1:06.50. Brierley (1:06.87) and Cox (1:06.92) finished fifth and sixth respectively in the event. Asheville had another strong showing in the 200-yard butterfly, with Crouse getting another win in 2:06.17 and McDonald finishing third in 2:11.58. Halligan (2:12.91) and Lahiff (2:13.06) finished fourth and fifth in the event respectively. Asheville notched four placers in the 50-yard freestyle, paced by a win from Parks in 23.54 seconds. Ciancimino finished sixth in 25.07 seconds, while Wright finished 10^th in 25.97 seconds and Daly took 13^th in 26.41 seconds.
Coughlen would pick up her second win of the meet in the one-meter diving event with a score of 231.30, while Ward finished second setting yet another freshman record with a mark of 227.20. Canady finished third with a score of 226.05 to complete the sweep of the top three, while Fein placed seventh (211.80), Travis finished eighth (202.05) and Culpepper took 11^th (186.70). Asheville placed first, second and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle with another win from Parks in 51.21 seconds and a runner-up finish from Crouse in 52.97 seconds. Smith also finished fourth in the event in 54.39 seconds. Cunegatti would place second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:05.92, while Presley (2:13.91) and Wright (2:16.76) finished eighth and ninth respectively. Cocconcelli picked up a win in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:23.92, while Cox also finished fourth in 2:26.06. Lahiff (2:32.18) and Sciaudone (2:32.28) finished eighth and ninth respectively in the event.

Hefner (5:11.15) would finish second in the 500-yard freestyle with Adams in third behind her (5:14.92), while Tess Peny (5:41.71) also finished 11^th in the event. Asheville would take second, third, fifth and seventh in the 100-yard butterfly, paced by McDonald (57.61 seconds) in second and Gkogkosi (59.53 seconds) in third. Marcotti would take fifth in 1:00.48, while Brierley finished seventh in 1:01.24. Cunegatti would win the 200-yard IM in 2:07.55, while Halligan would finish third in 2:12.10. Lahiff would take seventh in 2:15.17, while Peny finished 11^th in 2:19.50. Asheville won the 200-yard freestyle relay, while also taking fourth, sixth and seventh. Smith, Ciancimino, Crouse and Parks posted a 1:36.84 for the win, while Marcotti, Gkogkosi, Cocconcelli and Adams finished fourth in 1:41.53. The quartet of Hefner, Sciaudone, Peny and Presley finished sixth in 1:43.61, while Brierley, Cox, Daly and Walker finished seventh in 1:43.80.

“It was great to visit VMI’s new natatorium and compete against a few teams we don’t see every season,” said head coach Elizabeth Lykins. “The team stepped up and raced well as they are preparing for our mid-season invite next weekend. Our diving squad also put some finishing touches on their lists as they prepare for an Invite next week. They were phenomenal and consistent on Saturday! The six ladies earned nine individual personal records, Amelia Ward broke two freshmen records (3M & 1M) and Morgan Coughlen won both events.”

The Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Sun) return to the water this week, with the divers competing at the Tennessee Invitational Nov. 15-17 and the swimmers at Queens (N.C.)’s Fall Frenzy Invitational Nov. 17-19.

Courtesy: NJIT Athletics

LEXINGTON, Va. — The NJIT men’s swimming and diving team went a perfect 3-0 in its road quad meet Saturday evening, defeating Virginia Military Institute (177-122), UMBC (208-89) and Howard (203-95) at the VMI Aquatics Center.

The performance was one of the best in NJIT program history, as the Highlanders set records for VMI’s pool – the location of the 2024 America East Championships – in all 11 of its victories while freshman Francois Malherbe added his second and third school records of the year in the 50 Free and 100 Fly. 

“Today was a great experience for a young team to travel and go up against great competition, including the defending America East champions in UMBC. The guys raced hard and fast and were able to earn a well deserved victory,” head coach Ron Farina exclaimed after the winning day.

HIGHLANDER VICTORIES

• Francois Malherbe (3): 50 Free (20.09) #& | 100 Free (44.73) # | 100 Fly (48.21) #&
• Laith Sabbah (2): 200 Free (1:39.31) # | 200 Back (1:47.58) #
• Keegan Wooding: 1000 Free (9:39.85) #
• Aidan Blackmon: 100 Back (50.88) #
• Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar: 200 Fly (1:51.04) #
• Bartosz Bryg: 200 Breast (2:04.64) #
• Sam Deemer: 500 Free (4:39.65) #
• Aidan Blackmon/Matthew Bevan/Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar/Tanish Chhabra: 200 Medley Relay (1:30.99) #

# VMI pool record
& NJIT school record

TOP THREE FINISHES

• Oxford Bayley: 1000 Free (9:49.41; 2nd) | 500 Free (4:44.92; 3rd)
• Tanish Chhabra: 50 Free (21.31; 2nd)
• Sam Deemer: 100 Back (50.95; 2nd)
• Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar: 100 Fly (50.28; 2nd)
• Aiden Ban: 3 Meter Diving (248.60; 2nd)
• Keegan Wooding: 500 Free (4:42.57; 2nd)
• Aiden Ban: 1 Meter Diving (208.65; 3rd)
• Zac Kuzak: 200 Free (1:43.29; 3rd)
• Dylan Ostolaza: 200 Back (1:51.20; 2nd) | 100 Back (51.39; 3rd)
• Bartosz Bryg: 100 Breast (57.25; 3rd)

NEXT UP
NJIT will close out the 2023 calendar year at the three-day ECAC Winter Championships, scheduled for December 1-3 in East Meadow, N.Y.