Pitt swimming and diving overtook Bucknell on Saturday, with the women’s final score sitting at 187.5-107.5. The Pittsburgh men earned a 185-110 victory. Bucknell’s Tyler Wenzel moved into the top 10 all time in school history with his performance in the diving events. Pitt’s Dominic Giordano set new pool records in both 1M and 3M dives.
Pitt:
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Pitt men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Bucknell on Saturday at Kinney Natatorium for the third consecutive season. The men’s team won 185-110 while the women claimed a 187.5-107.5 victory over the Bison.
“The teams competed tough today,” said head coach Chuck Knoles. “Traveling and competing is always hard to do in any sport, but we were able to travel and perform well. We had a lot of season bests and even some lifetime best performances today. The men were able to get their first win of the season. Hopefully that will give them some confidence going into our meet with Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. The women performed lights out. It was a nice meet for us.”
As is becoming customary, junior diver Dominic Giordano could be found etching his name into the record books. The Wexford, Pa., native departed Bucknell as the new owner of the Kinney Natatorium records in both 1M and 3M dives. His score of 462.23 in the 3M obliterated the school record he set just last week (439.73). Giordano also posted a 408.00 in the 1M, 0.25 shy of the Pitt record and a new personal best for the second straight week.
“If we looked at 439 as hot stuff, 462 is 23 points hotter,” said head diving coach Julian Krug. “He got the pool record by 81 points in the 3-meter and by 10 points 1-meter. He took the pool record down in both events pretty solidly. He is that good. He dived better than last week. He’s gotten much stronger in the weight room and that really helps.”
For Giordano, the key to his early success has been maintaining an even keel.
“I think [the success] is more about relaxing and having fun at every meet,” said Giordano. “Diving isn’t a sport like swimming where you don’t want to be doing your best early in the season. There’s no such thing as peaking. Consistency is the best thing. Right now we’re going after consistency and maintaining level headedness instead of worrying about doing so well.”
Sophomore Meme Sharp scored 298 and 299 on the 1M and 3M, respectively, to take first in both events.
First-year swimmers made major contributions for both the men and the women in the pool.
The women were paced by freshman Meghan Joram who collected three wins on the day. She took first in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:14.30), 200-yard butterfly (2:05.14), and 500-yard freestyle (5:03.10) individually. She also competed in the 400 medley relay and the 400 IM. Junior Kinga Cichowskatook the 100 and 200 breast, senior Leticia Lelli won the 100 fly, and seniorDanyel Johnson led a Pitt 1-2-3 finish in the 50 free. The women also filled up the top three spots in the 1000 free, 100 breast, and 200 breast.
The men were led by freshman Brian Lovasik, who took first in the 100 (46.47) and 200 free (1:41.66). Senior Mack Rice claimed the 100 and 200 fly as Pitt dominated both events. Scott Simmer won the 1000 free behind a major comeback effort, senior Matt Tankle took the 100 back, and junior Gabe Larson won the 100 breast. Freshman Brendan Barry finished first in the 200 back ahead of two other Panthers.
Updated women’s diving scores were unavailable immediately following the meet and will be posted with the results as soon as possible.
Next, Pitt will travel to face Notre Dame and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Nov. 6 and 7.
Swimming news courtesy of Pitt Swimming & Diving.
Bucknell:
Women-
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women’s swimming and diving won four events, including two individual wins by Emma Levendoski, but the Bison fell to visiting Pittsburgh 187.5-107.5 on Saturday at Kinney Natatorium.
Levendoski won a pair of backstroke events, taking first in the 100 back with a time of 56.67 and in the 200 back with a time of 2:01.42. The senior has won six of the seven backstroke events she has competed in this season. Freshman Julie Byrne, who posted her first career first-place finish against Boston University last meet, was second in the 100 back.
The Bison’s other two wins came in events where Pittsburgh swimmers only raced as exhibition.Mary Weinstein finished first among scored swimmers with a time of 4:39.91 in the 400 IM. The 200 free relay team of Levendoski, Caroline Edelman, Rachel Perry and Brittany Bishop took first among scored teams with a time of 1:40.14.
Bucknell took second and third in two separate events. Emily Andrews was the runner-up and was followed by teammate Lindsay Smalec in the 200 fly, while Smalec took second and was followed by Byrne in the 100 fly. Also posting runner-up finishes for the Bison were Dani Potis in the 200 free and Maddie Weaver in the 1-meter dive.
Bucknell dropped to 0-2 in dual meets this season, while Pittsburgh improved to 2-1. The Bison will have a weekend off before they host Lafayette, American and Navy for a quad meet on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Men-
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell diver Tyler Wenzel posted a top-10 mark in the school’s record book and the Bison won four events in a 185-110 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday at Kinney Natatorium. Steven Grune andChris Devlin won individual events for the Bison, who also took first in a pair of relays.
Wenzel was the runner-up in both diving events, finishing with a 276.68 score on the 1-meter and 295.80 on the 3-meter. He previously held the fifth spot on the 3-meter board in the Bucknell record book, but jumped past Jon Jones ’15 for fourth with his score on Saturday.
Devlin easily won the 400 IM, finishing more than four seconds faster than any other swimmer in the event with a time of 4:02.63. The sophomore added a runner-up finish in the 200 free and was followed by Sam Rutan and Jack Robinson in second and third, respectively.
Grune’s title came in the 50 free with a time of 21.15. It was the fastest time by a Bison swimmer this season by nearly a full second.
Both Devlin and Grune contributed to first-place relay teams. Devlin, Sam Mackie, Triston Louxand Robinson won the 400 medley relay in 3:27.66, while Grune, Nangle, Robinson and Charlie McFarland won the 200 free relay in 1:24.66.
Louis Behnen and Mackie added runner-up finishes. Behnen was second in the 1,000 free, while Mackie was the runner-up in the 200 breast.
Bucknell dropped to 0-2 in dual meets this season, while Pittsburgh improved to 1-2. The Bison will have a weekend off before they host Lafayette, American and Navy for a quad meet on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Swimming news courtesy of Bucknell Swimming & Diving.