Virginia Tech Women Pass Pittsburgh, 155-145

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, January 27. ALTHOUGH Pitt's women's swimming and diving team captured nine first-place finishes, Virginia Tech proved to be deeper in their events as the Panthers dropped a 155-145 meet this afternoon in Trees Pool. Pitt suffers just its second loss of the season and is now 8-2.

In diving action, freshman Margo Ekstrom (Erie, Pa./McDowell) won the 1M diving event with 236.77 points, while classmate Hanna Bratton (Lincoln, R.I./Moses Brown School) finished third with 225.75 points.

Pitt then won eight swimming events and were led by senior co-captain Andrea Shoust (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont./White Pines C & VS), who finished with two individual first-place finishes and another as a member of a relay.

Shoust was victorious in both backstroke events, winning the 100 and 200 back. She finished with a time of 55.98 and 2:01.24, respectively. Freshman Lisa McDonnell (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield) trailed Shoust in the 100 back and placed second at 57.26.

Shoust was later a member of the winning 400 free relay team that touched the wall at 3:28.34.
Joining Shoust on the relay were: sophomore Stacie Safritt (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), McDonnell, and Colleen Sullivan (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton).

Co-captain Kristin Brown (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) also won two individual events and placed second in another. Brown's first win was in the 200 free where she ended with a time of 1:50.56. Later, she carried less than a one-second lead during the 1000 free race and squeezed in for a season-best time of 10:14.19. Then in the 100 free she placed second at the 51.24 mark.

Junior Brittany Stevens (Peachtree City, Ga./Starr's Mill) captured a first place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 56.84, while sophomore Agnes Mago (Kecskemet, Hungary/Radford) won the 200 fly with the team's best time of the season at 2:02.17. Mago's time was five seconds faster than any other swimmer in the race.

Rounding out the first-place finishes was senior Kathy Siuda (Waterloo, Ont./Bluevale Collegiate Institute), who recorded a time of 4:59.12 en route to a first place finish in the 500 free. Siuda also recorded her best time of the season in the 1000 free with a third-place finish at 10:25.29.

Mago promptly followed Siuda in the 500 free and placed second at 5:01.31, while Safritt finished second in the 50 free with a time of 23.89.

Touching second for the Panthers' 200 medley relay team was Shoust, Ruth Seiffert (Boothwyn, Pa./Garnet Valley), Stevens, and Safritt with a time of 1:44.94.

Recording third-place finishes for the Panthers were: freshman Ryann Kishbaugh (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) in the 200 back (2:06.76), junior Kelly O'Hara (Voorhees, N.J./Timber Creek) in the 50 free (24.03), Safritt in the 100 free (51.83), Seiffert in the 100 breast (1:06.22) and 200 breast (2:20.70), and Siuda in the 200 IM (2:07.02).

The Panthers host Virginia tomorrow, Jan. 28, at Trees Pool. Diving begins at 11 a.m., while swimming events start at noon.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use