The University of Connecticut men’s swimming and diving team defeated Colgate 176-90 Sunday at the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium to end the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record in dual meets.
The impressive season continued for the Huskies Sunday, who defeated three teams (Army, Pennsylvania and Dartmouth) this season that had beaten them last year.
UConn was led once again by freshman swimmer Chris Girg (Burbach, Germany), who won multiple races throughout the meet. He captured first place in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:33.38 and finished first in the 200-yard medley relay along with fellow freshmen James Donlevy (Lake Grove, N.Y.) and Keon Songui-Samuel (Dorchester, Mass.) and junior Felix Samuels (London, England.) The 4-swimmer team completed the event in 1:37.20 to just edge out the UConn team of Keith Piper (Naperville, Ill.), Asher Garcia (Pinecrest, Fla.), Zach Coleman (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and Sean Battle (Allison Park, Pa.), which finished with a time of 1:37.39.
Sophomore Jeff Magin (Brookfield, Conn.) also had a strong day for the Huskies, winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.95) and finishing second in the 50-yard freestyle after swimming it in 21.61. Magin’s third solid result of the day came in the 100-yard butterfly, which he completed in 51.52.
“It was big to have an undefeated season for the men and to have them beat three teams that had defeated us last season,” UConn swimming coach Bob Goldberg said. “Girg was very good once again and Magin also had a good day of swimming for us.”
Other notable results from Sunday came from Samuels, who earned first place honors in the 50-yard freestyle (21.45) and seniors Piper and Battle. Piper won the 100-yard backstroke, swimming it in 53.26, while Battle topped everyone in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.28.
On the diving side, senior Anthony Cortright (Wallingford, Conn.) had a solid day, taking home first place in the 3-meter after scoring 325.80 points. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the 1-meter, as he accumulated 285.30 points to finish behind UConn sophomore John Brice (Bala Cynwood, Pa.), who won the event with a score of 326.62.
Eight UConn seniors were recognized before the meet Sunday as part of Senior Weekend for the Huskies, including men’s swimmers Piper, Battle, Coleman, Cortight, Garcia and Ben Yacano (Glen Allen, Va.). In addition to being acknowledged, each senior was awarded a commemorative blanket that was presented by Goldberg before the competition.
The University of Connecticut women’s swimming and diving team downed Colgate 167-118 Sunday at the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium to finish the regular season with a 4-2 record in dual meets.
UConn’s victory over Colgate avenged a Husky loss last season when Connecticut fell to the Raiders 177-120. Freshman standout Christine Pedersen (Vinterbro, Norway) paced the Huskies once again, winning the 100-yard backstroke in 58.17 and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:06.04. In the 200-yard medley relay, Pedersen teamed up with freshmen Tara O’Prey (Ridley Park, Pa.) and Madeleine Hoopes (Greensburg, Pa.) and junior Chinyere Pigot (Miami, Fla.) to win the race with a time of 1:47.93.
Pigot’s strong day continued Sunday, as she went on to win the 50-yard freestyle (23.78) and the 100-yard freestyle, which she completed in a time of 52.24.
Sophomore Laura Hyland (Southport, England) performed well in both breaststroke events, winning the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:25.04 and in the 100-yard breaststroke she finished second after swimming it in 1:08.32.
“Pedersen was great, winning the two backstroke events and Pigot also had a very good day of swimming,” UConn swimming coach Bob Goldberg said.
Other Huskies that performed well Sunday were freshman Sophie Nothnagle (Victor, N.Y.), who won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.63 and junior Hannah Perna (Hillsborough, N.J.), who earned first place honors in the 1000-yard freestyle, completing the race in 10:35.06.
Freshman diver Alexandra Butera (Havertown, Pa.) paced UConn on the boards, winning the 1-meter with a score of 290.25 and finishing second in the 3-meter after accumulating 280.35 points. Sophomore diver Taryn Urbanus (Quincy, Mass.) finished first in the 3-meter (317.41) and she was second in the 1-meter with a score of 273.22.
Eight UConn seniors were recognized before the meet Sunday as part of Senior Weekend for the Huskies, including women’s swimmers Catherine Chang (Savage, Minn.) and Kati Kyle (Lithia, Fla.). In addition to being acknowledged, each senior was awarded a commemorative blanket that was presented by Goldberg before the competition.
