George Washington Women Defeat Pitt For First Time In Program History (LCM)

George Washington vs Pitt

• November 4, 2023
• Washington, D.C.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: GW Sports

WASHINGTON – The George Washington men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split results in a dual meet at Pittsburgh, as the women defeated Pitt for the first time in program history, taking down the Panthers, 171-128, on Saturday afternoon, while the men fell to the Panthers, 200-98. Notably, the women’s victory comes in a long-course meters meet, an environment that GW does not traditionally train nor compete in.

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• Philip Moldovanu (8:34.95) and Cameron Rodgers (8:39.45) tapped in first and second in the 800 LCM freestyle, respectively.
• Sophomore Daniel Nagy paced all swimmers in the 200 LCM butterfly (2:03.85), while junior Connor Rodgers tapped in third (2:06.22).
• Graduate student Misha Lyubavskiy picked up a second-place finish in the 200 LCM freestyle (1:56.27), before following that up with a win in the 400 LCM freestyle (4:07.83).
• Djurdje Matic won the 100 LCM butterfly (52.70) and was followed by Nagy (54.33) in second.
• Sophomore Toni Dragoja took second place in the 100 LCM freestyle (52.61).
• The men’s LCM Medley Relay took third place (1:42.50), via Karol Mlynarczyk, Preston Lin, Matic and Dragoja.
• Mlynarczyk finished in third in the 100 LCM backstroke (58.36).
• In the 100 LCM breaststroke, Lin finished in third place (1:06.58).
• Ethan Tulenko grabbed third in the 50 LCM freestyle (23.93), and was just .18 seconds off the first-place pace.
• The Revolutionaries finished in third place in the 400 LCM freestyle relay to close the swimming portion of the meet, swam by Mlynarczyk, Dragoja, Nagy and Co. Rodgers.

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• On the diving boards, Olivia Paquette submitted the top score and set a new GW record in the 3m (315.83). Paquette beat her own school record (309.00) in the event, which she set last season. Dara Reyblat finished in second place in the 3m (291.68) and third place in the 1m (277.20).
• Molly Smyers (1:19.14) and Ava Topolewski (2:19.21) finished within milliseconds of one another and nabbed first and second place in the 200 LCM butterfly. Moriah Freitas rounded out the podium sweep, finishing in third place (2:21.28).
• Topolewski continued to dominate the long-distance swims, winning both the 1500 LCM freestyle (17:03.20) and 400 LCM freestyle (4:26.54). First-year Zoe Schneider followed Topolewski in the 400 LCM freestyle and finished in second place (4:32.96).
• Phoebe Wright picked up a win in the 200 LCM freestyle (2:05.41), while Yulia Groysman followed closely behind and finished in third (2:07.69). Wright later picked up her second victory of the day when she paced all swimmers in the 200 LCM backstroke (2:15.47)
• Junior Barbara Schaal won the 100 LCM backstroke (1:03.64); Marlee Rickert tapped in third in the event (1:06.17).
• Ava DeAngelis (1:11.94) and Julia Knox (1:12.97) combined for first and second place in the 100 LCM breaststroke. The duo later combined for a first and third finish in the 200 LCM breaststroke, as DeAngelis secured her second victory (2:37.82) of the day and Knox finished in third (2:38.77)
• GW finished the swimming portion of the meet taking first and third in the 400 LCM freestyle relay. The first place team finished in 3:52.22, and was swam by Wright, Schaal, Riley Kudlac and Topolewski.
• Rickert (27.10) and Schaal (27.15) took second and third in the 50 LCM freestyle, respectively.
• Knox (2:20.81) and Smyers (2:22.81) collected seven points with their second- and third-place finishes in the 200 LCM IM.
• Junior Moriah Freitas took home second place in the 100 LCM butterfly (1:02.91).
• On the heels of her A-10 Rookie of the Week performance, first-year Kudlac finished the 100 LCM freestyle in third place (58.59).
• GW earned four points from its second-place finish (1:57.51) in the 200 LCM Medley Relay, in a race swam by Wright, DeAngelis, Freitas and Kudlac.

Courtesy: Pitt Athletics

WOMEN’S RECAP

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women’s swimming and diving team claimed six first place finishes against George Washington, Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers started the afternoon off strong with the 200 Medley relay. The team of Claire Jansen, Jessica Strong, Sophie Yendell and Avery Kudlac secured the first-place finish with their time of 1:54.10.

Emily Bucaro represented the Panthers in the 1500 Free – coming in second place with her time of 17:36.28.

Pitt picked up two more second place finishes in the 200 Free and 100 Back. Freshman Sydney Gring finished the 200 Free with a time of 2:05.44 and Jansen went 1:04.78 in the 100 Back.

Strong secured the third-place finish in the 100 Breast – clocking in at 1:12.99

Yendell secured two back-to-back first place finishes in the 50 and 100 Free with her times of 26.23 and 58.25, respectively. Kudlac was right behind her in the 100 Free – finishing in second place with her time of 58.55.

In the 200 back, Jansen and Parker Del Balso finished with their times of 2:20.10 and 2:24.55 – taking third and fourth, respectively.

The Panthers finished in second place in the 200 Breast and third place in the 400 Free. Angelina Messina went 2:37.87 in the 200 Breast and Jill Berger clocked in a 4:33.08 in the 400 Free.

Continuing the momentum for Pitt, Yendell posted the first-place finish in the 100 Fly with her time of 1:01.30. Kudlac was not far behind with her time of 1:03.88 – placing third overall.

Gring topped George Washington in the 200 IM – finishing first overall with her time of 2:20.79.

The 400 Free relay team of Kudlac, Olivia Yoo, Yendell and Jansen secured second-place with their time of 3:53.81 – finishing off the swimming events for Pitt.

On the diving side, freshman Hannah Polosky secured first overall in the 1 Meter with her total score of 287.50. Rachel Dickerson was right next to Polosky with her total points of 278.33 – securing second place overall. Each of their scores are above the NCAA Diving Zone Cut of 265 total points.

To finish the afternoon off strong, Jess Vega third second place in the 3 Meter with her 283.50 total points. With this score, Vega has secured an NCAA Diving Zone Cut.

EXHIBITION PLATFORM
Emma Gravgaard won the women’s platform during an exhibition platform event Friday evening. Gravgaard won with a total score of 242.93, earning a Zone Cut score.

UP NEXT

The women’s diving team will hit the road as they travel to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State Invitational. This diving only meet will take place from Wednesday, Nov. 15 through Saturday, Nov. 18.

MEN’S RECAP

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt men’s swimming and diving team defeated the defending A-10 Champion George Washington in a long-course meters meet, 202-98, Saturday at Trees Pool. The Panthers secured six 1-2 finishes, including two event sweeps en route to their victory.

The Pitt divers dominated the springboards as the Panthers claimed the top five places in the 3-meter and the top six places in the 1-meter. Dylan Reed finished first overall in the 3-meter with a personal best of 460.35, just two points shy of the school record set by National Champion Dominic Giordano in 2015. Reed, Cameron Cash (second place), Daley Fraser (third place), and Juan Osorio Mendoza (fourth place) all got their Zone Cut Score in the 3-meter.

The Panthers also claimed the top six spots in the 1-meter, with Reed taking first overall with a total score of 382.65.

The Panthers kicked off the meet by taking both first and second place in the 200 Medley Relay. Stepan Goncharov, Jerry Chen, Marcin Goraj, and Dominic Toledo finished first with a time of 1:42.25. The relay team of Krzysztof Radziszewski, Max Matteazzi, Drew Jalbert, and Eric Sharabura came in a close second with a time of 1:42.48.

Pitt was dominant throughout the meet, picking up back-to-back 1-2-3 sweeps in the 200 Back and the 200 Breast. Goraj (2:03.83), Jensen Nelson (2:09.79), and Drew Henry (2:10.40) swept the backstroke while Chen (2:23.02), Javier Zorzano (2:24.84), and Nick Short (2:28.99) swept the breaststroke.

Goraj (56.21) and Nelson (58.37) also took first and second in the 100 Back and Max Matteazzi (1:03.39) and Jerry Chen (1:04.18) finished 1-2 in the 100 Breast. Goncharov (23.75) and Dominic Toledo (23.77) took the top two spots in the 50 Free. Matteazzi crushed the 200 IM, finishing about eight seconds ahead of second place with a time of 2:01.48. Zorzano came in second with a time of 2:09.12, followed by Short in third with a time of 2:12.97.

Guy Frimis picked up the first individual event win in the 200 Free with a time of 1:54.06. In a close battle for the top three spots in the 800 Free, Drew Henry took third overall with a time of 8:40.35 while Goncharov (51.58) claimed another first-place finish in the 100 Free.

Pitt ended the swimming event the same way it started, with the Panthers taking first in the 400 Free Relay and edging George Washington in a close race for second place. The relay team of Goncharov, Toledo, Frimis, and Radziszewski took first with a time of 3:27.12. The team of Sharabura, Jalbert, Adam Mahler, and Michal Piela came in second with a time of 3:34.02.

EXHIBITION PLATFORM
The Pitt divers competed in an exhibition platform event Friday evening, finishing in the top six places. Cameron Cash finished first (373.73), Dylan Reed in second (362.48), Jackson Salisbury in third (359.10), Daley Fraser in fourth (330.90), Chase Marafioto in fifth (316.13) and Ethan Radio in sixth (299.25). Cash, Reed, Salisbury, Fraser, and Marafioto each received their Zone Cut score.

UP NEXT
The Pitt diving team will compete at the Ohio State Invitational from Nov. 15-18 and then at the USA Diving Winter Nationals from Nov. 29-Dec. 6. Pitt swimming is back in action at the end of the month, as the Panthers travel to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Invite from Nov. 29-Dec. 3.