The College of Staten Island men's swimming and diving unit scored an emphatic victory on Wednesday evening, storming past Brooklyn College, 153.5-87.5, in the Brooklyn natatorium as part of conference play. CSI leveled to 3-3 overall this season and 1-1 in the CUNYAC.
CSI was convincing in victory, winning 11 out of the total of 13 races. It started with a 1:49.85 run by Chris Pinto, Brandon Lei, Tim Sweeney, and Derek Villa in the 200-yard Medley Relay, setting the course for a great night. One event later, Villa struck gold with a great 11:06.15 showing in the 1000-yard Freestyle, winning the event by over two full minutes.
Stephen O'Driscoll added a first place finish in the 200-yard Freestyle, an event where teammate Chris Sorenson placed third. Later, in the 200-yard Individual Medley, Andrey Tarasov took his first of three individual first-place finishes. He would later add wins in the 100-yard Freestyle and the 100-yard Breaststroke.
Sorenson added a big victory in the 100-yar Butterfly, beating his own teammate O'Driscoll by less than half a second. Pinto added a winner in the 100-yard Backstroke, while Sweeney added a healthy 4:57.73 race time in the 500-yard Freestyle, winning the event by over a minute and a half.
In diving, John Pignatelli kept his torrid pace alive, winning on both the one and three-meter boards by a combined 100 points. Ayman El Haddad placed second on each board as well.
The meet against Brooklyn is CSI's final in 2014. They will pick up action again on January 8, 2015, when they travel to face York College at 6pm.
The College of Staten Island women's swimming and diving team moved their win streak to two meets on Wednesday night, scoring a 116-85 win over Brooklyn College in the pool. The win was sparked by another record-breaking performance from Dakota Dawkins as CSI improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in CUNYAC play.
CSI won the first six events in the meet, and went on to win 11 events overall. CSI took both relay events to bookend the meet as well. Naomi Gaggi was a part of both relay teams, anchoring the units, and in individual play, she would add a win in the 200-yard Freestyle event. Before that, Kelly Walsh was aces in a 13:08.72 run in the 1000-yard Freestyle event, winning by over half a minute.
Freshman Ewa Wojciechowska was next to strike gold in the 50-yard Free, racing in at a great time of 27.10. Then, in the next event, Dawkins would add the first of two gold-medal finishes, with a 2:32.44 showing in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Towards the end of the meet, Dawkins would save the best for last, knocking in a time of 1:10.77 in the 100-yard Breaststroke, breaking her own school record.
Wojciechowska added a victory in the 100-yard Freestyle and in distance, Walsh doubled with a win in the 500-yard Freestyle. Diving uncontested, CSI's Tina Chen took gold in both one-meter and three-meter events.
CSI will be back in action for their final meet of 2014 on December 12, when they host Hunter College at 6pm at the Sports & Recreation Center.
