The Lehigh men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Lafayette for the eighth consecutive year on Friday evening, as the men were victorious by a final score of 167-124, and the women by a final count of 210.4-85.6. For the men, it was their 25th straight win over the Leopards, as they now sit at 4-3 on the season, while the women improve to 5-1.
Justin Kostelnik (9:45.02) and James Mauk (9:50.25) finished one-two in the 1,000 yard freestyle. Lehigh also swept the top two spots in the 200 yard freestyle with Justin White (1:41.37) edging out teammate Jake Hassel (1:42.74).
The team then earned a sweep in the 100 yard backstroke with Dean Shafritz winning the event in 52.82, followed by Matt Carducci (53.72) and Jimmy Davey (54.55). Jacob Moyar took the top spot in the 200 fly, leading the Mountain Hawks to another sweep as Hassel (1:52.23) and Kostelnik (1:53.52) finished second and third, respectively.
Jamal Willis (20.74), Justin White (21.11) and Zach Tieke (21.63) led another Lehigh sweep in the 50 yard free. White followed that up with a winning performance in the 100 free with a time of 46.21. Willis followed closely behind in second (47.59).
Shafritz garnered his second win of the evening, pacing the crowd in the 200 yard backstroke (1:52.50), with Kostelnik (1:54.64) taking second and Mauk (1:55.97) rounding out the top three.
Moyar tabbed his second win of the meet with a victory in the 500 free (4:42.52). Hassel continued his strong evening with a win in the 100 fly (50.32), while Stritzel and Evan Riddell took the top two places in the mixed 200 free.
The evening concluded with one more Lehigh win - a 1:23.56 performance by the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Willis, Tieke, Moyar and White.
During the meet, the Coach William Lawson Sportsmanship Award, which is presented to a swimmer from both Lafayette and Lehigh, was awarded to Lehigh's Jacob Moyar.
"He's one of the nicest guys and someone who has a lot of integrity and is a tough competitor for us," head coach Rob Herb said of Moyar's award.
The women kicked off the event with the 400 yard medley relay team of Rachel Rider, Melissa Feeney, Kelly Carroll and Kaitlyn Ruffing taking the top spot in 3:52.19.
Cora Summerfield, Kate Bergin and Abby Thomson swept the podium in the 1,000 yard freestyle, with Summerfield earning the top spot in 10:14.97, nearly 13 seconds ahead of Bergin. Next, the Mountain Hawks made it another straight sweep in the 200 free, with Carolyn Koch pacing the field in 1:50.24.Courtney Ferreira came in second, just edging out teammate Julianne Koch by less than a tenth of a second.
Lehigh continued its streak of dominance in the 100 backstroke, with Rider (58.76) and Bergin (59.43) taking the top two places, followed by Julia Perry(1:00.06).
Feeney then took home the top prize in the 100 yard breaststroke, edging out a pair of Leopards with her time of 1:07.16. Sydney Bornstein followed that up with another victory of her own in the 200 fly (2:01.92).
Ruffing dominance of the 50 yard free continued with a winning time of 23.24. Carolyn Koch (24.15) and Carroll (24.40) helped Lehigh earn another sweep in the sprint event. Ruffing later added her fourth win of the night in the 100 free (50.29), with Carolyn Koch (51.46) and Ferreira (52.27) following close behind in second and third, respectively.
Rider (2:05.02), Bergin (2:06.01) and Perry (2:08.62) led the way in the 200 yard backstroke, and Feeney then followed by leading the pack in the 20 breaststroke (2:24.08).
Summerfield added her second win of the night in the 500 freestyle (5:03.35) and Carroll later won the 100 fly (56.48).
The team then swam the 100 yard IM for the first time this season, with Ferreira (59.75), Patterson (1:00.62) and Feeney (1:02.49) sweeping the top three spots. The evening's final event featured another Lehigh sweep in the 200 yard freestyle relay, with the 'A' team of Carolyn Koch, Ferreira, Carroll and Ruffing winning the race with a time of 1:34.56.
Taking to the one meter board for the second time in as many meets, Megan Schappert took home second place out of four divers with a score of 126.07.
"We saw such great work from everybody tonight," said head coach Rob Herb. "The sprinters were on fire, the relays were incredible setting pool records here tonight in the sprint relays. We expected some fast swims and got them tonight."
Lehigh will take to the pool next after the holiday beak on January 8, when the team travels to Army West Point.
