Pittsburgh
In a field of 27 total schools, the University of Pittsburgh women’s swimming and diving team finished the weekend as ECAC Champions by a 153.5 point margin with a final tally of 590.5. The men’s team placed sixth overall with a score of 295.
Pitt’s divers swept their individual meet awards, as freshman Meme Sharp (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville HS) and sophomore Tony Galante (Cary, N.C./Athens Drive) were named female and male Divers of the Meet. Panther coaches Jeff Berghoff, Marian Clark, Julian Krug, and Stacy Busack were honored as co-Coaches of the Meet.
Pitt’s women saw two individuals and three relay teams crowned ECAC Champions in their respective events throughout the weekend. Galante captured today’s 1-meter and Friday’s 3-meter diving titles for the men’s team. The Panthers recorded three new ECAC Championship records in the process.
In today’s action, junior Matthew Tankle (West Chester, Pa./Salesianum) scored a second place finish for the Panthers in the 200 backstroke with a new personal best time of 1:47.05. Freshman Tia Vanlandeghem (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) crushed her previous career mark of 2:10.24 in the 200 backstroke with a 2:06.37 in prelims followed by a 2:03.76 to take a fifth place finish overall. Sophomore Kinga Cichowska (Wroclaw, Poland/Zespol Szkol Sportowych) narrowly missed her career best in the 200 breaststroke (2:11.25) after posting a 2:11.87 en route to a third place finish.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are standing by to be informed which individuals qualify for the NCAA Championships, if any. The Pitt divers will compete in the Zone A Meet from March 9-11 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Marist Men
The Marist men’s swimming and diving team finished with 346 points, ranking in fifth place to end the 2015 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. A trio of second place finishes helped the Red Foxes maintain their ranking from the previous day.
Sophomore Ryan Murphy (New Fairfield, Conn.) continued to dominate the freestyle circuit, finishing the 1,650-yard event in 15:31.25 for second place. Senior Sean Sullivan (Huntington, N.Y.) finished in 11thplace (16:08.72).
The Marist 400-yard medley relay team of Murphy and seniors Spencer Kelley (Weston, Conn.), Bill Drennen (Collegeville, Pa.), and John Spitzer (Fairport, N.Y.) clocked in a second place time of 3:01.21.
Individually, Spitzer and Drennen finished ninth and 11thin the 100-yard freestyle with times 0.23 seconds apart. Senior Jason Ruddy (Lake Katrine, N.Y.) swam the 200-yard butterfly in 1:50.98 to take fourth place, while sophomore Alexander Cassel (East Greenville, Pa.) finished 10th in the event (1:52.59).
On the 1-meter board, junior Josh Dodway (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored 295.85 points to finish second. Senior Jacob Baker (Shavertown, Pa.) came in fourth with 269.50 points, while freshman Peter Gallino (Watertown, Conn.) ended up in sixth (243.75 points).
The Red Foxes’ divers will compete at the NCAA Zone Qualifier Championships to conclude the 2014-15 season, while the swimmers’ NCAA meet is scheduled for March 26-28 in Iowa City, Iowa.
Marist Women
The Marist women’s swimming and diving team placed fifth at the 2015 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships after posting 386.5 points. The Red Foxes had 10 top-10 finishes that helped them maintain their ranking from the first two days of the meet.
Freshman Shannon Gordon (Wantagh, N.Y.) led a 3-4-5 finish for Marist in the 1,650-yard freestyle final, which took place in the afternoon session. Her time of 17:30.28 was ahead of classmates Melanie Newton (Northport, N.Y.) (17:32.77) and Deirdre Connor (Nesconset, N.Y.) (17:33.93). Junior Alexandria Koukos (Cheshire, Conn.) rounded out the top 10, clocking in at 18:18.83.
In the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Karly Haraden (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finished fourth with a time of 2:02.87. Junior Bethany Powhida (Delmar, N.Y.) and sophomore Colleen Lampe (East Setauket, N.Y.) finished 0.60 seconds apart, taking sixth and ninth, respectively. Powhida was also a member of the Red Foxes’ fourth place 400-yard freestyle relay team.
Marist’s divers conclude their 2014-15 season at the NCAA Zone Qualifier Championships from March 9-11 in Buffalo, N.Y., while the swimmers will compete at their NCAA meet from March 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C.
New Hampshire
Freshman Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) of the University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team was named the ECAC Swimmer of the Meet as the squad concluded the three-day league championship, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh at Trees Pool on Sunday.
Baykova earned the honor after notching first place finishes in the 50- 100- and 200-yard freestyle events. The rookie was the only swimmer to post three individual first place finishes at the meet. In day one action, she started the meet with a seventh place preliminary time of 23.58 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. She trumped her mark in finals and skimmed ahead for a personal best mark of 23.23. In the 200-yard freestyle event on day two, Baykova set the pace by engineering a 1:49.20 time in the preliminaries. The rookie eclipsed her time in the finals, clocking in for a new ECAC record performance of 1:47.54. The time breaks the record that former UNH standout Jenni Roberts held when she compiled a 1:48.50 mark last season. The freshman punctuated her trio of first place finishes with the top time in the 100-yard freestyle. In the preliminary heat, Baykova recorded a career-best and lead-time of 50.47. She remained in front of the pack in the finals, reaching the wall for a winning mark of 50.63.
Freshman Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) started the final day competing in the 200-yard backstroke. The rookie tapped the panel fourth in the preliminary heat, recording a time of 2:03.36. Harper trimmed off 2.75 seconds off her initial time in the finals, clocking in third with a mark 2:00.61.
Sophomore Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.) joined Baykova on the podium in the 100-yard freestyle. She followed Baykova in the preliminary heat, cutting through the water to match her personal best in the event with a 50.74 mark. She placed third in the finals race, constructing a time of 51.08.
Senior Katie Mann (Prince George, British Columbia) competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, turning in a third-place time of 2:14.95 in the preliminaries. She bested her previous mark by 3.96 seconds in the finals, earning a runner-up finish 2:10.99. Mann's time currently ranks 32nd among Division I swimmers.
Vermont
Shannon Cowley set new UVM freshmen and varsity records in the 200 breaststroke to lead Vermont on the final day of the ECAC Swimming and Diving Championships on Sunday at University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
Cowley clocked in at 2:19.01 in the 200 breast to break the program record that she previously set at the Bucknell Invitational earlier this season. The rookie earned a fifth-place showing in the event to collect Vermont's top individual finish of the day.
Vermont's top relay squad closed out the night with a third-place showing in the 400 free relay in 3:29.37 to claim bronze.
Freshman Maddie Blumenfeld posted Vermont's best finish in the 1650 free, clocking in at 17:38.10 to take seventh place. Sophomore Carleigh Abromovitz earned an 11th-place showing with a time of 18:33.36.
Rookie Alexy Novelli was UVM's top finisher in the 200 fly, as she touched the wall in 2:06.55.
In the 100 free event, Andie Blaser scored points for the Catamounts with a time of 52.73.
Vermont finished in seventh place out of 22 teams in the standings with 256 points. Pittsburgh (590.5 pts.) was crowned ECAC Champions, while Navy (483) and Pennsylvania (437) rounded out the top three.
