Swim teams defeat Grove City Wolverines

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams defeated Grove City College Saturday in their second dual meet of the season.

The women’s team dismantled the Wolverines 180–133, while the men’s team won by a score of 171–128.

The Carnegie Mellon women’s 200-yard medley relay “A” team opened the meet with a win (1:53.47). The team consisted of first-years Molly Evans and Lauren Gumbel, sophomore Sara Andrews, and senior Lauren Connell.

“Our medley relay is a really young group and swimming really well this year,” Connell said. “The team has a lot more depth with the addition of a big, talented freshman class, and that’s really exciting for the future of the team.”

Evans continued her standout rookie year, winning the 100-yard backstroke (58.58) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:09.66). Her backstroke time set a new school record and is a preliminary qualifying time for the NCAA championships.

Senior Sarah Lam took third in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.57), while junior Becky Martz took second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.76.

Carnegie Mellon swept the 1000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly. First-year Noelle Helmstetter won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:18.53, while senior co-captain Xiao-Lan Wong took second (11:29.00), and junior Tina Daup placed third (11:32.30).

Senior co-captain Anna Kochalko won the 200-yard butterfly (2:15.22), Wong placed second (2:22.69), and Gumbel took third (2:25.20).

Senior Alex Kinzler took first and second in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes, with times of 1:10.42 and 2:32.55, respectively. Junior Allison Retotar finished in third place in the 100-yard backstroke (1:13.98). Retotar went on to win the 200-yard IM (2:19.10).

Other notable performances included Connell’s first place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (55.22), and first-year Rebecca Ussai’s first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.40). Andrews took second in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.65), while first-year Brianne Burton took second in the 50-yard freestyle (25.60).
“Overall the team swam really well,” Connell said. “We’ve been practicing really hard lately and are still adjusting to the new coach’s practices, so we all swam tired, but still managed to perform pretty well.”

Juniors Charlotte Jennings and Alex DeFazio took first and second in the one-meter dive, with scores of 207.10 and 205.10, respectively. In the three-meter dive, DeFazio came out on top, winning with a score of 207.70. Jennings finished in second place with 201.75 points.

The Carnegie Mellon men also started strong, winning the 200-yard medley relay (1:38.63). The relay “A” team consisted of junior Ryan Piper, sophomore Jason Huber, senior co-captain Michael Bailey, and senior Pat Snyder.

Snyder went on to place second in the 50-yard freestyle (22.70). Huber won the 100-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 1:00.03. Sophomore Andrew Seo finished behind Huber in second place with a time of 1:01.32. Seo won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:13.61.

The Tartans swept the 1000-yard freestyle. Sophomore Jonas Altman-Kurosaki took first (10:02.72), while first-years Alex Hanson and James Murray took second (10:07.68) and third (10:09.61), respectively. Hanson went on to win the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:57.89. Sophomore John Johnson followed in second place (1:59.04).

Junior Tom McConnell collected two wins in the 500- and 200-yard freestyles with times of 4:55.13 and 1:48.02, respectively. First-year Frank Olechnowicz took second in the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.75), while sophomore Andrew Weitz placed third in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.40.

Other notable performances included junior Ron Papa’s win in the 100-yard backstroke (55.68). Sophomore Jeff Dahlen took second behind Papa with a time of 56.00. First-year Justin Whaley won the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.59), while sophomore Scott Moorby took third (2:05.66).

First-year Travis Piper took silver in the 100-yard butterfly (55.15), while Moorby added another third place finish in the 200-yard IM (2:04.66). The men’s 400-yard freestyle relay “A” team closed the meet with a win (3:16.49). The team consisted of Snyder, Bailey, Hanson, and Papa.

“Grove City is probably one of our biggest rivals,” senior co-captain Andy Douglass said. “In the past some of our meets have been very close. Unfortunately, this year they lost some of their best swimmers.”

The swimming and diving teams will return home Friday when they host Franklin & Marshall College, Washington & Lee University, and the University of Rochester. “W & L was [the men’s] only loss last year so we are looking forward to the chance to try to beat them this year,” Douglass said. “[The women] tied F & M last year, so they are looking forward to the chance to beat them this year.”

Diving events will take place Friday, and swimming events with begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.