Penn Men & Women Win Final Dual Meet

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, February 3. IN their last dual meet of the season, the men's and women's swim teams had big wins over West Chester University tonight.

The men won in a close meet, which came down to the last relay of the night. The Quakers pulled out a close win, and took home the meet, 156-144. The women had an easier time, as they beat West Chester 182-113.

For the women, success was in the card right from the first relay, as Sara Coenen, Megan Carlin, Tara Gillies and Lauren Brandes took first in the 200 medley relay, with a time of 1:47.78, a full second ahead of West Chester's first relay team. Senior Margot Newcomer took first in the 1000 free, with a time of 10:22.10, while three of her teammates helped sweep the 200-yard freestyle. Freshman Stephanie Nerby took first place, in 1:54.52, while teammates Andrea Balint and Lauren Bergstrom place second and third. Nerby also finished first in the 200 butterfly, with a final time of 2:06.50, and in the 100 fly, in 58.71. Another freshman, Coenen, placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 57.74, while Brandes came in first in the 50 free, in 24.47. Senior Stephanie Colson took second in the 50, with a time of 24.56.

The Quakers also swept the top three spots in the 100 free. Senior Hayley Wolfgruber took first (53.31), Coenen took second (53.78), and Colson placed third in 53.86. They also took the top two spots in the 200 backstroke, as freshman Ainsley Cookingham placed first (2:10.14) and Wolfgruber took a close second (2:10.29).

The three women's divers also did well, as they took the top three spots in both the one-meter and the three-meter. In the one-meter, senior Janis Scanlon placed first, with 290.25 total points, while Melissa Gardel took second (274.87), and Kate McArdle placed third (266.02). In the three-meter, it was McArdle in first, with 294.90 points, while Scanlon took second (292.95), and Gardel finished third (270.30).

For the men, it was a closer meet, coming down to the last relay of the night. The meet was a close one, right from the start, as the 200 medley relay team of Chris Weitekamp, Ricky Walters, Brian Gartner and Chris Buck came in second, with a time of 1:35.94, just tenth's of a second behind West Chester's first place time of 1:35.59. In the 100 backstroke, Larkin MacDonald and Weitekamp had a key one-to finish, getting the Quakers some crucial points. In the 50 free, Devon Carr placed first, in 21.47, while John Gillette had a battle for second. He came out on top, as he finished in 21.63, just hundredths of a second ahead of West Chester's Bill Marcum time of 21.69. Penn had another close battle in the 200 backstroke as well. MacDonald finished first, with a time of 1:55.47, but Ted Rainaud had to fight for second. He came out on top in 1:57.38, just three-tenths of a second ahead of West Chester's Chris Salomone. Diver Aaron Levy also had a key first place finished, as he won the three-meter dive with a score of 311.17.

But the main attraction for the night was the last event, the 400 free relay. Going into the event, the two team's scores were so close, it was anyone's meet. But the Quaker relay team of Carr, Pat Gallagher, Weitekamp and Kyle Loughran pulled through with a final time of 3:06.66, just .15 seconds ahead of West Chester's time of 3:06.81, to give Penn the event, and enough points to win the meet.

Up next, both swim teams will start preparations for their Ivy and ECAC championship meets in February.

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