The Pitt men’s and women’s swimming and diving team’s officially kicked off homecoming weekend with a sweep of St. Bonaventure on Friday, Oct. 24 at Trees Pool.
Pitt has a quick turnaround, hosting Bucknell on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. After that, however, the Panthers take a week off to prepare for a crucial Atlantic Coast Conference dual meet with Virginia Tech and Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The two-day affair begins Friday, Nov. 7 and ends on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Against St. Bonaventure, Pitt changed up most of its regular lineup, allowing swimmers to compete in some events and distances they don’t usually. It didn’t make a difference on either side as both the men and women had little trouble defeating the Bonnies with the men winning 157-80 and the women, 166-70. The women (3-1) have won their last three duals while the men improved to 2-1 in duals this year.
After the second men’s diving competition with four races left, the Panthers had already sealed the win and just raced exhibition’s making the score closer in the end than it really was.
Pitt swimmers and divers took first in all but two races, the women’s 200-yd freestyle and men’s 100 free, but showcased its depth over St. Bonaventure throughout the rest of the program. In 19 of the 26 events, the Panthers grabbed the top two spots, including the top-three places in a whopping 15 events. Additionally, eight more races saw Pitt swimmers finish one through four.
Freshman Amanda Richey continued her dominance in her debut season, winning her only two races of the day, the 400 IM in a time of 4:25.49 to lead a pack of Panthers that took the top four spots in the race, and in the 500 free in 4:57.18. This season, Richey is undefeated in three 500 free races and has placed first in seven of the eight events she’s participated in.
With Richey sitting out the 1,000-yd free, junior Kaleigh Ritter took over, winning the race in 10:16.23, less than a second off her season-best time.
Junior Blair Wegescheide and sophomores Kinga Cichowska and Athena Summa aided Pitt’s 400-yd medley relay winning efforts with freshman Emily Murphy in a time of 3:52.84, and all won an individual race of their own. Cichowska’s time of 1:02.48 was her top time of the season and less than a second off her school record. She’s won all five fly races she’s competed in this year. Wegescheide beat the field in the 100-yd backstroke in 58.30 and Summa grabbed first in the 100-yd butterfly in 58.58.
In the 50-yd free, sophomore Melissa Pocasi not only had her season-best swim in 23.53, but also posted Pitt’s top time of the young season. She was followed by junior Danyel Johnson (23.57) and Murphy (23.86), who both had their best times of 2014-15.
Senior Dani des Tombe won the 100 free for the second time in three tries this year, missing her top 2014-15 time by two-tenths of a second in 51.97 seconds.
Pitt’s three leaders in the 50 free and des Tombe teamed up for a winning time of 1:34.79 in the 200-yd free relay to end the meet.
In diving, freshman Meme Sharp swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with scores of 246.15 and 286.05, respectively.
On the men’s side, senior Joey Notarianni won the 1,000 free (9:39.33) and junior Sean Heiden took first in the 50 free (20.86). The two also paired with juniors Connor O’Prey and Martin Vogel on the winning 400-yd medley relay (3:24.37) team.
Heiden also helped guide the 200 free relay, along with senior Kourosh Ahani and juniors David Sweeney and Avery Warrington, to a winning time of 1:23.11.
Ahani, senior Luke Nosbisch and junior Mack Rice gave the Panthers three more wins at the 100-yd distance. Ahani stayed unbeaten in the 100 fly this year, swimming to a season-best performance of 48.89 seconds and Nosbisch topped the rest of the competitors in the 100 breast in 57.10. Rice won the 100 back in 51.17 seconds.
Pitt closed out the freestyle swims with wins in the 200 and 500. The men’s 200 free was won by Jon Lierley in 1:41.96 while sophomore Spencer Gray had a season-best time of 4:39.67 in the 500.
With Pitt competing in the 400IM for the first time this year, Lierley’s younger brother, Zach Lierley, was the winner in 3:57.58, after a sensational freshman campaign that saw him take down the school record.
Once again, senior Harris Bergman and sophomore Tony Galante duked it out on the diving board. Bergman got the win in the 3-meter dive to open the meet with a score of 370.88 and Galante was second (339.68). Thanks to scoring a 7½ and 8 on one dive, Bergman was also able to secure the win in 1-meter dive. His score of 343.28 was the top Panthers score this year. Galante was close behind with 319.50 points for second.
