Pittsburgh Sweeps Big East Meet With West Virginia

Pittsburgh Women Swim Past West Virginia
The Panthers took the early lead in the meet and held on for the win, as the Pittsburgh women’s swimming and diving team garnered a 166.5-131.5 victory, this afternoon at Trees Pool.  Junior Allie Horvath earned Pitt’s Swimmer of the meet honor.

Joining the Panthers as a guest coach was John Petersen, who gave the team its pre-meet speech today. The women responded with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:46.66) to open the event. In a close race, Pitt took the lead and eventual win on the final turn. Swimming on the relay team was junior Ryann Kishbaugh and sophomores Laura Barnes, Caitlin Trant and Kristen McMullan.

Barnes would later win both breaststroke events for Pitt. She finished first in the 100 breast at 1:05.85 and first in the 200 breast at 2:22.58. In those same events, senior captain Ruth Seiffert placed second in the 100 and third in the 200.

Sophomore Cookie McIntyre won the 200 fly at 2:06.05, while freshman Tamara Lelli placed second. Freshman Megan Bender won the 200 IM (2:09.19), while Lelli and junior Sophie Cross completed the sweep, respectively.

In the 1M diving event, Pitt swept the top three as junior Margo Ekstrom won the board. Senior captain Sabrina Jennings placed second and junior Alyssa Ferraro took third. Ekstrom also won the 3M board.

Next, Pitt travels to College Park, Md., for the two-day meet against Maryland, Penn State and Villanova (women). Competition begins on Friday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. and continues on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Pitt Swimming and Diving Wins Rivalry On Pack the Pool Day
With just a two-point lead heading into the final event of the day, Pitt’s men’s swimming and diving team earned a 155.5-144.5 victory over West Virginia, at Trees Pool, this afternoon. John Petersen, namesake of the Petersen Events Center, gave the team its pre-meet speech as Pitt’s guest coach.
 
The Panthers led the whole race, as the 400 free relay team of sophomore Andrzej Dubiel, freshmen Otto Pagel and Jake Lucas and junior Justin Corvin secured the Panther victory with a finish at 3:04.02. Six-hundreths of a second separated Pitt’s B team and West Virginia’s A team, in the same event.
 
Corvin was also victorious in the 50 free and placed third in the 100 free, garnering Pitt’s Performer of the Meet honor. The Panthers were trailing 68-63 at the beginning of the 50 free, before junior Alex Kubicek touched the wall after Corvin to give Pitt the advantage.
 
Another Panther to win an individual event from the earlier mentioned relay was Pagel, who touched first in the 100 free, during his first meet of the season.
 
Pitt garnered a sweep in the 200 free, as sophomore Alex McLaren out-reached a Mountaineer for the third-place time of 1:44.31. Winning that race was Lucas, while freshman Alex Navarro took second.
 
Senior Alex Volovetski won both boards in the meet, including 249.80 points in the 1M event.
 
Next, Pitt travels to College Park, Md., for the two-day meet against Maryland, Penn State and Villanova (women). Competition begins on Friday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. and continues on Saturday at 11 a.m.