Photo Courtesy: Matthew DeMaria\/Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH – After a two month break from competition, the Pittsburgh swimming and diving teams got back into racing action Saturday against West Virginia, with the Panther men registering a 176-124 win and the women coming out ahead 224-75. Freshman Amanda Richey swept the 200, 500 and 1000 freestyle events to lead the Panthers.<\/p>\n
The Pitt men’s and women’s swimming and diving team returned to dual action for the first time in more than two months on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Trees Pool and swept West Virginia on both sides.<\/p>\n
Extending their winning streak to four against the Mountaineers was the men, who recorded a 176-124 victory. The women have now topped their rival three straight times after a resounding 224-75 win.<\/p>\n
Pitt swimmers and divers took first in 26 of the 32 events and had a handful of competitions where the Panthers swept the top two and even first three places. The women went 15-for-16 in taking first, being shutout of the top spot in just the 200 fly.<\/p>\n
Leading the way for the women was freshman Amanda Richey, who tied for a team-best three individual wins on the day. She took first in the 1,000-yd freestyle (9:56.39), 500 free (4:54.65) and 200 free (1:52.20).<\/p>\n
With the addition of junior Kaleigh Ritter, who was runner-up to Richey in both the 1,000 and 500 free, the Panthers finished one-two in both events.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t just the distance races that Pitt dominated the freestyle competition. The Panthers had the top three finishers in the shorter 50 free, 100 free and 200 free.<\/p>\n
Junior Dani des Tombe was either first or second in all three races, winning the 100 free in 51.90 and placing second in both the 50 free (23.86) and 200 free (1:53.51). Freshman Emily Murphy was the winner in the 50 free (23.73) and finished second to des Tombe in the 100 free (52.92). Senior Tatyanna Sarjeant, who was third in the 200 free, won the 200 back (2:03.81) later in the day.<\/p>\n
In the breaststroke and individual medley competition, sophomore Kinga Cichowska and senior Cam Dixon went 1-2 in all three. Cichowska won the 100-yd breast (1:04.60), 200 breast (2:16.77) and 200 IM (2:07.17), while senior Cam Dixon was runner-up in all three with times of 1:04.93 in the 100 breast, 2:21.40 in the 200 breast and 2:08.84 in the 200 IM. Freshman Katherine Fernander tied Dixon for second in the 200 breast and freshman Charlene Yuan rounded out the top three for Pitt in the IM.<\/p>\n
Pitt also had individual wins in the 100-yd fly and 200-yd backstroke. In her second individual event with the team, junior Leticia Lelli won the 100 fly with a time of 56.70. Junior Blair Wegescheide nabbed first in the 100 back in 57.02.<\/p>\n
Cichowska and Wegescheide teamed up with juniors Mackenzie Meixner and Danyel Johnson in the 200-yd medley relay (1:44.48) to win that event to open up the day. des Tombe, Murphy, Lelli and senior Jessica Nederlanden added a relay win at the end of the meet as members of the winning 400 free relay (3:29.81).<\/p>\n
Freshman Meme Sharp nearly swept the women’s diving, taking first in 3-meter with a score of 291.45, and finishing second by 0.15 points to sophomore Rachel Saunders in the 1-meter dive with 265.50 points. Saunders had a score of 265.65.<\/p>\n
For the men, senior Luke Nosbisch and junior Martin Vogel were the only two swimmers to win multiple events. Nosbisch swept the breaststroke winning the 100 in 56.34 and the 200 in 2:02.54. Vogel was first in the 200 fly (1:48.65) and 500 free (4:33.45).<\/p>\n
Three more Pitt men posted wins on the day as sophomore Scott Simmer triumphed in the 1,000 free in a Panthers season-best time of 9:27.61, junior David Sweeney won the 100 free (45.69) and sophomore Zach Lierley was first in the<\/p>\n
The Panthers’ second place 200 medley relay team (1:30.88) consisted of Nosbisch, senior Kourosh Ahani and juniors Mack Rice and Sean Heiden. The later three also notched at least one individual second place finish. Ahani’s came in the 200 fly (50.14), while Heiden’s was in the 50 free (20.91). Rice had a pair of second place results in the 100 back (51.15) and 200 IM (1:52.66), and was third in the 100 fly (50.34), showcasing his extreme versatility on the day.<\/p>\n
With the addition of sophomore Dominic Giordano to the diving squad, Pitt’s efforts on the boards were ramped up with the men taking the top three spots in both the 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 300-plus and 350-plus, respectively.<\/p>\n
After placing second in his opening 1-meter dive set (325.20), Giordano posted the second-highest score of the season for Pitt diving from 3-meters with 373.50. Senior Harris Bergman took first from 1-meter (331.05) and swapped places with Giordano to take second in 3-meter (355.43). Sophomore Tony Galante had high marks in both events as well scoring 300.60 from 1-meter and 351.30 from 3-meters.<\/p>\n
Pitt continues its dual meet slate next weekend when it travels west to Denison on Saturday, Jan. 17.<\/p>\n
Behind eight first-place results, the West Virginia University men\u2019s and women\u2019s swimming and diving teams came up just short in a dual meet today against Pitt at Trees Pool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Despite seven first-place finishes on the men\u2019s side, the Mountaineer men fell to the Panthers by a score of 176-124, while the women fell 224-75.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really pleased with our men\u2019s meet. They won both relays and we had very strong performances from several individuals,\u201d said coach Vic Riggs. \u201cAndrew Marsh continues to lead this team with his swims. Tim Squires, Ross Glegg, Nate Carr and Chase Williams also had strong days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marsh, who was named the Big 12 Swimmer of the Week earlier in the season, continued his strong junior campaign. In total, the Bemus Point, New York, native contributed to four first-place results.<\/p>\n
Marsh placed first in the men\u2019s 100-yard backstroke in 49.14 and hit the wall first in the men\u2019s 100-yard butterfly in 49.61.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s 200-yard medley relay team of Marsh, Max Spencer, Chase Williams and Squires finished first in 1:30.81, while the men\u2019s 400-yard freestyle relay squad of Marsh, Glegg, Nathan Cobbe and Squires touched the pad first in 3:01.03.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur women\u2019s meet had some highlights from Julie Ogden, Loren Williams, Natalie Johnsen and Amelie Currat,\u201d Riggs said. \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of room to improve however. We need to be more confident in our race plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s 200-yard butterfly, Ogden took first in 2:05.42. She followed that up with a second-place finish in the women\u2019s 100-yard butterfly in 56.89.<\/p>\n
Williams finished fifth in the women\u2019s 200-yard breaststroke (2:27.58), Johnsen placed second in the women\u2019s 200-yard butterfly (2:06.24) while Currat took second in the women\u2019s 100-yard backstroke (57.67) and second in the women\u2019s 200-yard backstroke (2:06.58).<\/p>\n
Other notable performances included a first-place finish by Ross Glegg in the men\u2019s 200-yard freestyle (1:39.97), a first-place result by Nate Carr in the men\u2019s 200-yard IM (1:50.38) and a second-place finish by Chase Williams in the men\u2019s 200-yard butterfly (1:52.81)<\/p>\n
Tim Squires just missed out on a 50\/100-yard freestyle sweep. Squires took first in the men\u2019s 50 free in 20.62 and placed second in the 100 free in 45.76.<\/p>\n
In the diving events, Haily VandePoel took second place in the women\u2019s 3-meter diving with a mark of 269.63. Lindsay Schmidt took fourth in the event (234.15) and Jennifer Rey finished fifth (227.48).<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s 3-meter diving, Alex Obendorf placed fourth with a score of 273.30. Obendorf also placed fourth in the men\u2019s 1-meter diving with a season-best mark of 294.23. Michael Proietto took fifth in the 1-meter (278.85) and Marcus Perry took eighth (201.23).<\/p>\n
The Mountaineers will have a short week as they return to action on Friday, Jan. 16, for Senior Night at the WVU Natatorium against TCU.<\/p>\n