PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 16, 2015) – The Rutgers swimming and diving team made its home debut on Friday, highlighted by a sweep of the 3-meter dive event during the first day of the Sonny Werblin Invitational at the RU Aquatics Center.
“We tried new things today and learned to take risks,” said head coach Petra Martin. “They’re doing the things that I asked them to do and that’s exciting. They fought well and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Off the boards, the Scarlet Knights swept the top-three positions in the 3-meter dive, with sophomore Addison Walkowiak (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finishing first with a 337.51 score. Junior Alyssa Black (Middletown, N.Y.) placed second with a mark of 333.30, while freshman Rachel Byrne (Bedford, N.H.) recorded a 275.40 for third in her RU debut.
Both Walkowiak and Black’s performances in the 3-meter dive were qualifying marks for the NCAA Zone Championships held in March.
In her first individual action since claiming Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, senior Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.) finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:00.4. Classmate Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) also registered a second-place mark in the 200 individual medley, hitting the wall at 2:07.61. Junior Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.) finished close behind Pfaff in the event for third with a mark of 2:08.98.
Competing in the 50 freestyle, junior Meghan Kiely (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) found the wall second, compiling a time of 24.33.
RU returns to the pool for the second day of the Sonny Werblin invitational beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. The day will be split into two sessions, with the second leg of competition commencing at 2 p.m.
Swimming news courtesy of Rutgers Swimming & Diving.