Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia, January 7. THE University of Pittsburgh men's swimming and diving team earned a 175.5-125.5 victory over West Virginia on Saturday at WVU Natatorium. The Panthers improved to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big East with freshman Luke Nosbisch collecting Pitt Performer of the Meet honors.
Today's victory marked the first win over the Mountaineers since 2008-09.

"I was impressed with how the team performed today," head coach Chuck Knoles said. "It was great to get back into the pool after the winter break and compete against another team. We were pleased with all of the swims and diving scores."

Nosbisch won two individual events this afternoon. First, he led a sweep in the 1000 free, touching the wall at 9:41.06. Trailing for second and third were senior Morne Boshoff and junior Jared Kolwyck. Nosbich also won the 500 free after he out-reached his West Virginia counterpart at 4:39.70 by four hundredths of a second.

The Panthers would later sweep the 100 breast with seniorPierre-Antoine Meunier outreaching Nosbisch at the wall. Placing third in the same event was sophomore Robert Power and Solari touched for fourth.

Later, Power, Meunier and Solari swept the 200 breast. Power won the event with a time of 2:08.36. He also captured first in the 200 IM (1:56.50), while freshman Jon Lierley and senior Rousseau Kluever claimed second and third, respectively.

Pitt also swept the 200 free. Junior Hussein Medhat captured first at 1:41.56, while sophomore Otto Pagel competed in his first meet of the season and placed second. Sophomore Alex Rodenkirk and freshman Austin Caldwell followed.

Medhat was also the lead leg of the first-place 400 free relay team that touched the wall at 3:03.75. Medhat was joined by senior Jake Van Roekel, Pagel and Rodenkirk on the squad. Rodenkirk earned honorable mention after swimming the second fastest split of the race at 45.27 in his anchor leg of that relay.

In individual events, Pagel tied for second in the 50 free (21.38) and Kluever finished second in the 200 fly (1:52.60). Additionally, Van Roekel placed second in the 100 free (46.72) and Rodenkirk was third.

Van Roekel anchored the 200 medley relay team to a second-place effort (1:32.76). The team included juniorAdam Maczewski, senior Ben Solari and freshman Kourosh Ahani.

Maczewski set a WVU Natatorium record after winning the 100 back at 49.32. He was also second in the 200 back.

Claiming a first-place finish on the diving board, sophomoreAaron Snyder won the 1M event and was second on the 3M board. Additionally, junior Erik Moore finished second in the 1M diving event.

The Panthers are back in action on Friday, Jan. 13, hosting Maryland and Villanova at Trees Pool (4 p.m.).

Freshman Dani des Tombe was named the Pitt Performer of the Meet, but it was not enough as the University of Pittsburgh women's swimming and diving team slipped in a 161.5-138.5 loss to West Virginia at WVU Natatorium Saturday afternoon. The Panthers dropped to 2-4 on the year and 1-3 in the Big East.

"All three of the swimming groups and divers performed well today," head coachChuck Knoles said. "We haven't raced as a team since the Pitt Invitational in November. It was hard to get up this morning, but the team dusted off their racing suits and looked good."

des Tombe led the Panthers with a victory in the 50 free (24.38) and tied for first in the 100 free (53.46). She also swam the fasted anchor leg of 23.68 on the 200 medley relay, assisting the squad to a second-place finish. des Tombe was joined by sophomore Renee Deschenes, freshman Cam Dixon and sophomore Veronica Lee for a combined time of 1:46.61.

Lee later turned in first-place performances in the 100 breast (1:06.41) and 200 breast (2:20.51) events. She was also second in the 200 IM. Additionally, Dixon finished second in the 100 breast and was third in the 200 race.

Deschenes also placed among the top-three in two individual events. She was second in the 200 free (57.24) and third in the 200 back.

Winning two events for the Panthers, junior Joanna Budzis captured first in the 200 back (2:02.81) and 200 IM (2:06.85).

Junior Kelsey Herbst placed second in the 200 free (1:53.72), 500 free (4:59.19) and 1000 free (10:11.24).

Similarly, freshman Emily Bolek finished second in the 100 fly (2:06.16), while junior Brittany DiSanti and sophomore Tori Brungo finished second and third, respectively, on the 1M board.

In the final event of the day, the team of Herbst, des Tombe, senior Tamara Lelli and Budzis combined for a second-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:32.05).

Freshman Lauren Mills earned Performer of the Meet honorable mention after finished third in both the 50 free and 100 free.

The Panthers return to action on Friday, Jan. 13, hosting Maryland, Richmond and Villanova at Trees Pool (4 p.m.).

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

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

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x