Swimcloud

Army Sweeps Lehigh

Army Men

The Army West Point men’s swimming and diving team downed Patriot League foe Lehigh, 191-91, in Friday night’s dual-meet at Crandall Pool. The Black Knights placed first in 12 swimming events and both diving events, and swept in three competitions.  

“Tonight was a good starting place for second semester,” said head coach Mickey Wender. “There is still room for improvement across the board. There were definitely some highlights, but it was mostly learning experience. This is something to build off of for Bucknell tomorrow and the final weeks of the season leading into the conference meet. We are looking forward to sending our seniors off in style tomorrow.”

The Black Knights began the meet with a first-through-third finish in the 400 medley relay. Josh Sembrano, Joe Daniels, Austin Kong and Brandon McCredie placed first after finishing in 3:27.15. Matt McPheters, Colin Kanzari, Sean Regan and Adam Sjholm were second (3:29.57), while Pierre Archambeau, Neon Stern, Sam Mo and Kyle McElwee were third (3:30.62). 
Tom Ottman out-touched the competition in the 1000 free to place first with a time of 9:29.10. Clay Harmon placed third (9:47.18) and was followed by Jason Hunt who was fourth (10:38.60).
Evin Rude was first in the 200 free after clocking a 1:40.84, and was followed by Devin McCall who placed third with a time of 1:42.67. 

Sembrano and Michael Stanchi went one-two in the 100 back with times of 49.60 and 53.57. Alex Dempsey trailed closely behind after touching the wall in 54.36. 

In the 100 breast, Army went first-fourth. Daniels finished in 58.57 to place first and was followed by Kanzari (59.66), Nick Treiberg (59.94) and Pat Wall (1:00.56).

Jay Yang had a time of 1:50.45 in the 200 fly to place first. Regan and Zach Blankenbeker were third and fourth with times of 1:54.23 and 1:54.29. 

Chris Szekely recorded first-place times in the 50 free (20.85) and 100 free (45.44) for the Black Knights. Yang earned another win on the night when he clocked a 1:51.60 in the 200 back. McPheters was second with a time of 1:53.36, and Dempsey was fourth in 1:56.27. 

Army swept the 200 breast with Mo (2:07.03), Colin Kanzari (2:13.60), Ander Thompson (2:14.19) and Daniels (2:18.19) placing first through fourth.
In the 500 free, Rude earned another first-place finish after recording a time of 4:38.73, and was followed by Ottman who touched the wall in 4:39.42 to place second. 
Austin Kong touched the wall in 50.51 in the 100 fly to place first. Regan (51.10) and Sembrano (51.22) trailed to place third and fourth. 

In the final event of the night, the Army 200 free relay teams were separated by stroke groups. The freestylers handily defeated the other Army groups, but the breaststrokers (Mo, Stern, Wall and Kanzari) topped the backstrokers (Sembrano, Stanchi, Dempsey and McPheters) by half a second. 

Army also saw success in the diving events. Joe Frullaney placed first off the 1-meter. He tallied a score of 248.84 and was followed by Eddie Emery who earned a mark of 165.75. Off the 3-meter, Emery was first with 214.20 points. 

The Black Knights will return to Crandall Pool to host senior day prior to the dual-meet versus Bucknell. The team will recognize firsties Pierre Archambeau, Zack Blankenbeker, Alex Dempsey, Joe Frullaney, Colin Kanzari, Austin Kong, Sam Mo, Adam Sjholm, Chris Szekely, Nick Treiberg and Aaron Yoshizuka along with those from the women’s team; Jen Clay, Jess Fabrizio, Kate Kinley, Molly Mucciarone and Shannon Rogers prior to the 1 p.m. meet.

“I’ve always felt like the teams that I have coached in particular live and die by their senior class,” stated Wender. “This particular class has been extremely consistent. I think that this group of seniors sees themselves as a corner stone group in terms of what we are trying to accomplish and the goals that we have for the program. There is no question that they’ve taken us to another level and I think there is a real sense of accomplishment and optimism about the foundation they’ve helped establish for the future and what they’re capable of doing this year.

“I think this class has also been good at empowering the under classmen,” Wender said. “They have given them the skills and autonomy they need to perform to their full potential. These seniors have been good mentors and role models. There is a real sense of pride, ownership and commitment with this group and I am really happy with this senior class.”


Army Women

The Army West Point women’s swimming and diving team topped Patriot League foe Lehigh, 176-118, in Friday night’s dual-meet at Crandall Pool. The Black Knights placed first in nine swimming events and one diving event, and swept first-fourth in both breaststroke and backstroke competitions.  

“Tonight was a good starting place for second semester,” said head coach Mickey Wender. “There is still room for improvement across the board. There were definitely some highlights, but it was mostly learning experience. This is something to build off of for Bucknell tomorrow and the final weeks of the season leading into the conference meet. We are looking forward to sending our seniors off in style tomorrow.”

The Black Knights began the meet with a 1-2 finish in the 400 medley relay. Kelly Hamilton, Kara Wineinger, Molly Mucciarone and Monica Sowinski placed first after finishing in 3:58.81. Bailey Smith, Jess Ambrose, Shannon Rogers and Jenna Forrester were second with a time of 3:58.21. 

Sabrina Mortell clocked a first-place time in the 1000 free (10:25.19), and was followed by Meaghan McGovern (10:37.66) and Sidney Evans (10:38.60) who were third and fourth. 

In the 200 free, Sowinski placed second after touching the wall in 1:54.81. The Cadets swept the 100 back with Hamilton leading the way with a time of 57.03. She was followed by Smith (58.88), Cecelia Croman (58.97) and Kim Sembrano (59.20). 

During the following event, the 100 breast, Army earned another sweep. Wineinger was first after clocking a 1:06.98. Ambrose was second in 1:07.92 with Fabrizio and Margaret Ireland following closely behind with times of 1:08.20 and 1:08.94, respectively. 

Rogers and Teresa Groton were Army’s top finishers in the 200 fly. Rogers recorded a 2:09.04, while Groton finished in 2:11.53.

In the sprinting events, Mucciarone was second in the 50 free (23.92) for Army and Hamilton finished as the runner-up in the 100 free (52.13). 

The Black Knights clinched another backstroke sweep during the 200 back. Smith placed first in 2:03.83 and was followed by Burkett (2:06.72), Sembrano (2:07.50) and Croman (2:07.63). 

Army swept the 200 breast with Ambrose (2:25.86), Fabrizio (2:27.05), Wineinger (2:27.09), and Ireland (2:29.67) placing first through fourth.
 
In the 500 free, Mortell earned another first-place finish after recording a 5:05.20. McGovern followed in second with a time of 5:08.61.

Mucciarone clocked a 56.11 in the 100 fly to place first. Rogers and Groton followed with times of 58.15 and 58.52 to place second and third. Burkett won the 200 IM after touching the wall in 2:08.46 to close out the swimming events. 

Jorie Mason won the 3-meter diving event. She earned marks of 209.09, to earn the first, first-place finish of her career. Rebecca Sleight also competed for the Black Knights and tallied a score of 143.46 to finish third. 

Off the 1-meter,  Mason placed second with 186.14 points and was followed by Sleight who notched 149.33.

The Black Knights will return to Crandall Pool to host senior day prior to the dual-meet versus Bucknell. The team will recognize firsties Jen Clay, Jess Fabrizio, Kate Kinley, Molly Mucciarone and Shannon Rogers along with those from the men’s team; Pierre Archambeau, Zack Blankenbeker, Alex Dempsey, Joe Frullaney, Colin Kanzari, Austin Kong, Sam Mo, Adam Sjholm, Chris Szekely, Nick Treiberg and Aaron Yoshizuka prior to the 1 p.m. meet.

“I’ve always felt like the teams that I have coached in particular live and die by their senior class,” stated Wender. “This particular class has been extremely consistent. I think that this group of seniors sees themselves as a corner stone group in terms of what we are trying to accomplish and the goals that we have for the program. There is no question that they’ve taken us to another level and I think there is a real sense of accomplishment and optimism about the foundation they’ve helped establish for the future and what they’re capable of doing this year.

“I think this class has also been good at empowering the under classmen,” Wender said. “They have given them the skills and autonomy they need to perform to their full potential. These seniors have been good mentors and role models. There is a real sense of pride, ownership and commitment with this group and I am really happy with this senior class."

 

Lehigh

The Lehigh men's swimming and diving program dropped a 191-91 dual meet at Army West Point on Friday evening. The Black Knights, the Patriot League's preseason No. 2 selection, improve to 5-1 overall (1-1 Patriot), while the Mountain Hawks have their three-meet win streak snapped and fall to to 4-4 (2-2 Patriot).

The Lehigh women's swimming and diving team came up on the short end of a 176-118 decision at Army West Point on Friday evening. The loss snapped Lehigh's five-meet win streak as the Black Knights improve to 5-1 on the season. The Mountain Hawks (5-2 overall) earned six victories on the evening, including two from the 200 yard freestyle 'A' relay team.

Courtney Ferriera took home first place in the 200 yard freestyle in 1:53.42. Meghan Thompson joined her in the top-three with a third place performance of 1:55.00, and Carolyn Koch helped round out the top-four with a time of 1:55.06.

Sydney Bornstein picked up the Mountain Hawks second victory of the evening, turning in a time of 2:05.83 to take the top prize in the 200 yard butterfly.

Kaitlyn Ruffing followed that up in the next event with a win of her own in the 50 freestyle, outpacing the field in 23.42 seconds. Her dominance of sprint events continued in the 100 free, earning another win with a time of 51.24. Carolyn Koch and Thompson finished third and fourth, respectively in the 50 free, while Julianne Koch edged out her older sister for third place (52.16) in the 100 free.

In diving, freshman Rayna Smilowitz earned her first collegiate victory on the one-meter board, finishing with a top score of 201.75. She also placed second in the three-meter, posting a mark of 186.45.
Just like their male counterparts, the Lehigh women's 200 freestyle relay team was also victorious on Friday. The squad led by Ferriera, Ruffing and the Koch sisters helped the team to a 1:34.60 victory.

Elsewhere in the relays, the 400 yard medley relay team of Kate Bergin, Courtney Patterson, Bornstein and Julia Perry combined on a third place finish of 4:00.49.

Cora Summerfield placed second in the 1,000 yard freestyle, finishing in 10:29.80, which was 4.61 seconds off the lead.

The 500 yard freestyle saw Thompson register another strong performance, finishing third (5:09.76), just ahead of Summerfield (5:11.01). Lehigh grabbed two more top-three finishes in the 200 IM, with Kelly Carroll (2:09.72) and Ferreira (2:10.85) taking second and third places.

On the men's side, Junior Justin White earned three runner-up performances on the evening and was victorious as a member of the 200 freestyle relay team. Jacob Moyar added a pair of second place performances and a third place tally, in addition to being on the winning 200 free relay squad.

Justin Kostelnik landed on the podium twice on the night and notched Lehigh's lone individual win in the 200 yard IM, finishing in 1:56.87. Kostelnik's performance in the 200 IM helped the Brown and White to a sweep in the event, as Jimmy Davey (2:01.86) and Matt Carducci (2:02.20) rounded out the top three spots. Kostelnik later grabbed a third-place time of 1:56.04 in the 200 backstroke.

The Mountain Hawks snatched another win in the 200 yard freestyle relay, where Jamal Willis, Moyar, Zach Tieke and White combined on a winning time of 1:23.07.

Moyar took second place in the 1,000 yard freestyle, finishing in 9:29.83, just 0.73 seconds behind the winner and nearly 18 seconds ahead of his next closest competitor. Moyar was then able to add his second runner-up finish of the evening, this time in the 200 yard butterfly (1:51.65) and later registered a third place finish in the 500 free (4:40.28).

White followed with a second place tally of his own in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in 1:42.36. Behind White was Jake Hassel, who finished in fourth place with a time of 1:45.57.

Hassel also powered his way towards the top of the 100 yard fly, finishing in second place (50.85). Davey was able to hold off a Cadet for a third place finish in the 100 backstroke (54.25 seconds).

Competing in the 50 yard free, White collected another runner-up finish in 21.12 seconds. He was joined in the top 50 percent of the race by Zach Tieke, who placed fourth overall (21.44). The same duo combined to take second and third, respectively in the 100 free, with Willis following right behind in fourth place (47.88).

The Mountain Hawks will welcome Patriot League foe Loyola (Md.) to Bethlehem next Saturday, January 16 at 1 p.m.

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