Metropolitan Conference Swimming Teams Prepare for Midseason Invitationals

Joyce Kwok LIU Post

Photo Courtesy: Kyle Staggs

By Seren Jones, Swimming World College Intern

BROOKVILLE – Another week has passed, which means more meets have taken place for the teams of the Metropolitan Conference swimming. With the midseason invitationals just around the corner, the time for fine-tuning has commenced for the teams, thus they are almost ready to start resting. It’s only a matter of time before the super fast swimming gets underway.

A Blast From The Past.

On the women’s side of the Metropolitan Conference, TCNJ Lions and the LIU Post Pioneers have maintained their high standard of fast swimming throughout the first month of the season. On Friday Nov. 14, the LIU Post Pioneers (3-2) travelled to the Bronx, N.Y., to take on Fordham University where their 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay grabbed gold. In the medley relay Johanna Pettersson, Erika Hultman, Joyce Kwok, and Meghan Brazier clocked a time of 1:47.40. The foursome of Laura Bendfeldt, Courtney Delehanty, Kwok, and Brazier completed the freestyle relay in a time of 3:33.87. Despite the two wins the Pioneers fell short to the Fordham Rams as they swam to victory in eight events resulting in a final score of 122-169.

The TCNJ Lions (2-2) also swam the 400 freestyle relay last weekend as they hosted a dual meet against New York University on Saturday Nov. 15. The party of Summer Thomas, Allison Huber, Emily Rothstein, and Lauren Rothstein snatched first place in a time of 3:43.99, only a second outside of their best time thus far. Thomas also won the 200 freestyle event in a time of 1:57.62.

On the men’s side, TCNJ Lions (3-1) also fell to the NYU Violets with a final score of 115-179. However the men commenced the meet with a victory in the 200 IM relay. Aleksander Burzinski, James Shangle, Joseph Dunn, and Brett Pedersen posted a winning time of 1:33.86. The time places them at the top of the conference table ahead of the University of Bridgeport and Rowan University. Sophomores Andrew Nesbitt and Scott Vitabile finished first and second in the 200 freestyle in times of 1:43.90 and 1:45.10. Jin Roh took the 100 backstroke in a time of 52.85, while Shangle captured the 100 breaststroke in a time of 57.74. Representing Pace University (1-4) at Fairfield University was Brian Sosa. Sosa claimed the 200 IM in a time of 2:15.18 becoming the lone male Setter to win an individual event. Both the men’s and women’s teams of Pace University were upended by the Fairfield Stags, concluding with 54.5-156.5 defeat for the men and 94-144 loss for the women.

LIU Post

The LIU Post Pioneers have a big weekend ahead. After weeks of hard work and preparation the Pioneers will travel to Rutgers University on Thursday to attend a three-day invitational in Piscataway Township, N.J. The Frank Elm Invitational (Nov. 21-23) provides the perfect opportunity for the team to not only swim fast but to also earn some NCAA Cut Times. This is the first time that the Pioneers will attend the invitational. The division two team of 14 will be facing division one institutions such as Columbia University, Northeastern University, The U.S. Naval Academy, and many more. The Pioneers will use the meet as a marker to see how fast they can swim rested and suited in the middle of the season.

Although the LIU Post sprinters are a strong asset to the team, the Pioneers most certainly have a fresh generation of distance swimmers who are ready to rumble this weekend. Among them are Poppy Hill, Katherine Kazaba and Jacqueline Tonn. The threesome plan on making their mark in the conference as well as the invitational. All three will swim the 500 freestyle, while Hill and Jacqueline will also swim the 1000 and the mile (1650.) The A relay of the 200 freestyle is ranked seventh in the invite in a time of 1:37.04, while the A relay of the 400 IM is ranked 11th with 3:55.17. The A relay of the 200 IM also sits in tenth position in a time of 1:46.38. Swimmers of all relays are yet to be confirmed.

The Pioneers also have some top 20 seeds in the individual events. Kwok is seeded seventh in the 100 butterfly with 56.16 and ninth in the 200 butterfly with her NCAA B Cut of 2:05.21. Pettersson is going into the 200 IM in 13th place with a time of 2:08.78 and is also ranked ninth in the 100 backstroke with her NCAA B Cut of 57.20. Brazier also snuck into the top 20 in her events. The junior is seeded 13th in the 100 backstroke clocking a 57.95 and 17th in the 100 freestyle in 52.26.

Because this is a big meet for the Pioneers, expect to see the women step up and post their fastest times of the season thus far. With the top 40 swimmers in each event returning for five heats worth of finals, the Pioneers will be swimming for the opportunity to race at night and also improve on their national ranking. The team currently occupies sixth position in the nation according to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Poll.

University of Bridgeport

The men’s and women’s teams of the University of Bridgeport will also be racing this weekend. The Purple Knights intend on ruling the Memorial Invite hosted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Great Neck, N.Y. on Saturday Nov. 22. Unlike the Pioneers, this is not the major mid-season meet for the Purple Knights. After this weekend, the teams will prepare to swim fast at the annual TCNJ invitational hosted in Ewing Township, N.J., on Dec. 5-7.

Thus far both teams have had a promising start to the season. The men (1-0) defeated the College of St. Rose with a final score of 116-102, and performed some speedy swims at the Sonny Werblin Invitational held at Rutgers University back on Oct. 17-18. The women (1-1) also swam in a similar fashion, posting fast swims at the invitational and against St. Rose and LIU Post, despite their loss against the Pioneers.

Although this isn’t their most important meet of the semester, expect to see the Purple Knights maintain their standard of elite swimming. The Purple Knights may not swim their best events, but times will posted and places will be threatened within the conference standings. In the freestyle races expect to see Tatiana Shepel dominate the dash events and Alja Tavcar, Polina Melnikova, and Claudia Esteban dominate the middle distance and distance events.

Mona Hagelstein and Jaimy Taskin are also expected to post solid times, Hagelstein in the 100 butterfly (59.75) and Taskin in the 100 backstroke (59.62.) On the men’s side predictions are made for Ivan Sangines and Albert Alemany to sweep the 500 freestyle event, and for Ruben Gimenez and Vladislav Paskas to battle it out in the 100 freestyle. The relays of both the men’s and women’s teams should be looking sharpish as they reach the end of their hard practices, thus expect to see fast times and first place finishes.

After the invitational, the Purple Knights will begin to wind down as they prepare to earn some NCAA Cut Times at the TCNJ Invitational the following weekend.

Southern Connecticut State University

Having lost against Yale University last weekend, the men’s and women’s teams of SCSU move ahead and will join the University of Bridgeport at the USMMA Memorial Invite on Saturday. Like the Purple Knights, this will not be the significant midseason meet for the Owls, as they assemble to race at the Pace Invitational on Dec. 5 and the ECAC Championships Invitational on Dec. 6. The meet is a great time for the Owls to climb the ranks of the Metropolitan Conference as well as better their performances. Expect the freestyle and medley relays of both the men’s and women’s teams to chase down the Purple Knights until the very finish.

On the women’s side, Sydney Fromkin and Kayla Laydon are expected to swim the distance freestyle events, while Katherine Crochet is presumed to challenge Bridgeport’s Shepel in the dash events. Katherine Krajcik’s versatility is expected to be used from the 100 freestyle to the 500 freestyle. Courtney Silva is also predicted to swim diverse events, such as the 200 IM, 100 breast and 200 butterfly.

On the men’s side, expect a repeat in performance from distance freestylers Louis Geist and Daniel Gallup who swam to victory against Yale in the 1000. Also expect head-to-head racing between Christian Berg and Bridgeport’s Didac Matsuyama in the backstroke events. Berg (52.05, 1:51.12) currently sits at the top of the conference in both the 100 and 200 with Matsuyama occupying second place in both events.

The next couple of weeks are the most important for the teams of the Metropolitan Conference this semester. The midseason meets will inform the athletes and coaches of where they are at that time during the season and where they aim to be in time for the conference championship in February. All meets will provide opportunities for the teams to qualify for both the conference and the NCAA.

Metropolitan Conference Teams

Adelphi University, Baruch College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Lehman College, LIU Post, *Montclair State University, Mount St. Mary College, Pace University, Queens College, *Ramapo College, *Rowan University, Southern Connecticut State University, St. Francis College, SUNY Maritime College, *The College of New Jersey, The College of St. Rose, University of Bridgeport, US Merchant Marine Academy, *William Paterson University.

*Indicates member of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)

Seren Jones is a junior butterfly/backstroker from Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. The Metropolitan Conference individual champion grew up swimming for The City of Cardiff Swimming Club, and qualified for the Great Britain Olympic Trials in 2012.

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morgan
morgan
9 years ago

HELLO ur articles are the best!! they are so informational, i live in the south (seems like forever way LOL) and i feel so connected to you **northeners** through your writting!

PROPS TO U AND YOUR SUPERSTAR WRITTING SEREN! so quiche
cant wait to read next issue, and good look to LIU POST!!!

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