Senior diver Nicole Scott (Toronto, Canada) broke a six-year standing record in the 3-meter diving to help lead the Rutgers swimming and diving team against former BIG EAST rivals Georgetown, Seton Hall and Villanova Friday evening at the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center. Following the first day of the two-day quad meet, RU leads all three teams in dual meet scoring. The Scarlet Knights hold commanding leads over all three opponents; 147-39 against the Hoyas, 144-42 against the Pirates and 129-56 against the Wildcats.
“Congratulations to Nicole Scott and coach Woodruff on a new school record on the 3-meter board,” said head coach Phil Spiniello. “The team is off to a good start in day one with a lot of solid swimming and diving. We are excited to carry this momentum into day two.”
Scott continued her strong start to her final season “On the Banks” by scoring 342.95 in the lone diving event of the day to win decisively. Rookie Rebecca Gross (Manchester, Pa.) came away with second place after posting a mark of 277.00.
The previous 3-meter diving record was set by Erin Saunders (301.05) in 2007.
The Scarlet Knights opened the swimming events by capturing first-place in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The team of Mary Moser (Wyomissing, Pa.), Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.), Sophie Newton (Leesburg, Va.) and Sarah Coyne (Osceola, Ind.) edged a Villanova squad to start the day on top.
RU’s next first-place finish would be in the 100 backstroke, as Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) posted a speedy time of 56.90 to touch the wall nearly two seconds in front of the next finisher.
Rutgers would dominate the next two events, as the Scarlet Knights finished one-two-three in the 100 yard breaststroke and one-two in the 200 yard butterfly. Junior Greta Leberfinger (Chatham, N.J.) led the way in the 100 back, followed by Allyson Perrotti (Branford, Conn.) in second and Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.) in third.
In the 200 fly, Brittany Guinee (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) edged classmate Moser, with times of 2:04.78 and 2:05.39, respectively.
Moser added her second first-place finish of the day in the 50 free, clocking in at 23.84.
The Scarlet Knights proceeded to rack up the top four times in the 200 yard I.M, led by Pfaff’s time of 2:06.60. Stoddard recorded the second-best time, followed by Perrotti and Leberfinger.
Wu rounded out the individual swim events for the hosts, capturing first in the 1000 yard freestyle at 10:16.50.
Rutgers concluded the day by securing the top two spots in the 400 medley relay. The team of Wu, Leberfinger, Guinee and Moser claimed first (3:50.96), while the foursome of Pfaff, Perrotti, Newton and Coyne finished right behind.
The second day of the quad meet begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. with the 200 medley relay. The first diving event will be the 1-meter dive at 10:30 a.m.
