Pittsburgh
Highlighted by a pair of school records from sophomore Amanda Richey and junior Zach Lierley, the Panthers stayed near the top of the field following the second day of action at the Big Al Invite on Saturday at DeNunzio Pool.
“We had a nice evening tonight,” said head coach Chuck Knoles. “The highlight of the evening had to be watching Amanda and Zach race in the 400 IM and set school records in back-to-back events. That was thrilling. You don’t get to see that often in the world of swimming. The kids look great for tomorrow, and we always have a strong last day of competition.”
Both of Pitt’s records came in the 400 IM. Richey posted a winning time of 4:14.93, while Lierley finished second in 3:46.91. Mack Rice (3:55.33) finished behind him in third.
The Panthers swept the evening on the boards. Junior diver Dom Giordano won the men’s 3-meter with a score of 413.05. Tony Galante placed third with 329.95. Giordano is now 5-for-5 winning 3M events he’s entered this season.
Sophomore Meme Sharp posted a winning score of 272.35 in the 1-meter competition, followed by Rachel Saunders with 257.50, rounding out Pitt’s major impact in the day’s diving events as the Panthers claimed four of the top six spots in the two events combined.
Other big individual scorers on the day included junior Kinga Cichowska, senior David Sweeney, and senior Blair Wegescheide – all notching NCAA B cuts. Cichowska won the 100 breast in 1:01.48, while Sweeney (200 free, 1:37.69) and Wegescheide (100 back, 54.75) were runner-up finishers.
The women continued to make hay in the relay events this weekend. The women’s 200 medley team of Wegescheide, Cichowska, Leticia Lelli, and Danyel Johnson posted a top time of 1:41.82, while the 800 free relay quartet of Richey, Rachel Brown, Lelli, and Kaleigh Ritter won in 7:17.09.
The men’s 800 free relay team of Brian Lovasik, Sweeney, Lierley, and Rice finished second in 6:35.57.
The final day of the Big Al Invite is set to begin with prelims at 10 a.m. at DeNunzio Pool. Finals are scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Men
1. Princeton (774.5)
2. Pitt (560)
3. Brown (454.5)
4. Dartmouth (332)
5. Rider (243)
6. Columbia (180)
7. Penn State (115)
8. Villanova (96)
Women
1. Princeton (618)
2. Pitt (610)
3. Villanova (509)
4. Brown (419)
5. Dartmouth (244)
6. Rider (65)
7. Penn State (19)
8. Columbia (5)
