The University of Delaware women's swimming and diving team pulled a sweep by winning all but two races and the Blue Hen men earned a split as UD hosted Rider and La Salle in a non-league three-way meet Saturday afternoon at Rawstrom Natatorium.
The Delaware women (6-2) downed Rider 244-53 and La Salle 206-93 while the Blue Hen men (2-4) posted a 151-146 victory over Rider but fell to La Salle by a 188-110 score.
The Delaware women put forth a dominant effort as the Blue Hens won every race with the exception of the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Alyssa Sanders led the Blue Hens with victories in the 100 backstroke (57.55) and 100 butterfly (58.95), and was a part of the victorious 200 medley relay (1:48.30) and 200 freestyle relay (3:33.11) teams.
Dominique Montoya recorded three wins for UD as the junior touched first in 200 freestyle (1:53.29) and 100 freestyle (52.42), and, like Sanders, was on the winning 200 freestyle relay (3:33.11) team.
The Blue Hen women also stood out on the diving board as Caitlin Stockwell had the highest score in the 1 meter diving competition with 307.50 points and Kristina Congdon won the 3 meter diving competition with a score of 287.05.
“This was a really big meet for us because we had a rough meet last weekend down at UNCW,” said University of Delaware head coach John Hayman. “Rider and La Salle are old rivals of ours and we wanted to show them what we have. I felt we had an advantage with our women, but the men really came down to the wire against Rider. The men did not have enough for La Salle today and the guys are learning that we really need everyone swimming fast to beat teams like that.”
Nicholas Badsky led the Delaware men with two wins in Saturday’s meet as the freshman touched first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.32 and won the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.80.
Tim Ware registered second place finishes in 100 and 200 backstroke events, while Everett Albert finished in second in the 200 freestyle and as a part of the 400 freestyle relay.
On Saturday, the UD swimming and diving team honored the B+ Foundation, which is a charity devoted to fighting pediatric cancer. Many of the Blue Hen swimmers wore swimming caps with the “B+” logo on them.
“Today we did our meet for the kids,” said Delaware senior Brittany Lazear. “Today is an effort to raise awareness for pediatric cancer. It was an honor to wear the ‘B+’ swim caps. It is such a great thing to do for the kids.”
The Delaware men and women will return to action Nov. 21 when the Blue Hens compete at the Bucknell Invitational.
