Rutgers University hosted the unscored Sonny Werblin Invite over the weekend, with Bridgeport and Southern Connecticut State in town, as well as several club programs.
Host Rutgers press releases:
Day 1:
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.
Day 2:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 17, 2015) – The Rutgers swimming & diving team concluded action Saturday at the Sonny Werblin Invitational, collecting nine individual victories during the second day of action.
“We figured out a few things today for what we need to work on and what we need to do to get better,” said head coachPetra Martin. “Everyone put in maximum effort today and we’re excited for this week of training and our next meet.”
Seniors Morgan Pfaff (Red Lion, Pa.) and Joanna Wu (Kent, Wash.), junior Rachel Stoddard (Hillsborough, N.J.) and freshman Cynthia Wu (Princeton, N.J.) each registered two individual victories during day two.
Pfaff secured wins in the 200 butterfly (2:07.21) and the 400 individual medley (4:29.53), while Joanna Wu hit the wall first in the 100 (55.98) and 200 (2:00.88) backstroke events.
Stoddard added victories in the 100 (1:08.53) and 200 (2:25.38) breaststrokes, and Cynthia Wu was first in the 100 butterfly (58.96) and the 100 freestyle (53.56).
Once again off the boards, the Scarlet Knights swept the top-three positions, this time in the 1-meter dive event. SophomoreAddison Walkowiak (Belton Spa, N.Y.) took top honors, posting a score of 306.52. Junior Alyssa Black (Middletown, N.Y.) added a mark of 294.60 for second, and freshman Rachel Byrne (Bedford, N.H.) posted a third-place total of 256.87.
Rutgers returns to the pool next Friday night, when the Scarlet Knights host Wagner at the RU Aquatics Center at 4 p.m.
Bridgeport press release:
Piscataway, N.J.-The University of Bridgeport men’s and women’s swimming teams wrapped up the opening weekend their 2015-16 seasons on Saturday at the Sonny Werblin Invitational hosted by Rutgers University. No team scores were kept at the meet.
The Purple Knights were forced to miss the opening session of the day due to transportation problems.
Individually for the UB men, junior Didac Matsuyama(Barcelona, Spain) won two events taking first in the 100 Fly (51.24) and the 100 Back (53.02).In both events, he just edged out teammate freshmen Wilmar Du Plessis (Bloemfontein, South Africa) who was second in a time of 52.59 in the 100 Fly and 53.03 in the 00 back
Senior Ivan Capan (Zagreb, Croatia) won the 100 Breaststroke in a time of 58.37 and took third in the 100 Fly (52.89), and junior Ivan Sangines (Barcelona, Spain) won the 200 Free (1:44.65).
Outstanding women’s individual performances on Saturday included freshman Nina Stegu (Ljublijana, Slovenia) finishing fifth in the 200 Free (1:57.59), senior Claudia Esteban (Zaragoza, Spain) taking fifth in the 400 IM (4:47.44), and senior Sara Savovic (Belgrade, Serbia) finishing fifth in the 100 Breaststroke (1:13.38).
Both UB teams will take next weekend off before returning to the pool on Friday, October 30 at the College of St. Rose.
Southern Connecticut State press release:
Women’s release:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Southern Connecticut State University women’s swimming and diving team were led by Emily Wolfe (Havertown, Pa.), Christina Lavery (West Haven, Conn.), Samantha Soto (South Plainfield, N.J.) and Jennifer Belanger (South Windsor, Conn.) in Day 1 of the Rutgers Invite Friday afternoon.
Those four finished third in the women’s 400 yard medley relay with a time of 4:24.90. The Owls also finished fourth and fifth with the teams of Kerstin Eckner (Oxford, Conn.), Lilly Martin (Bristol, Conn.), Miranda Gursky (Watertown, Conn.) and Katie Crochet (Waterbury, Conn.) placing fourth at 4:26.87 and Emma Buckridge (Bozrah, Conn.), Meagan Spagnolo (Waterbury, Conn.), Aubrey Bailey (El Cajon, Calif.) andSydney Fromkin (Sharon, Mass.) finishing fifth at 4:30.19.
Lavery also placed 24th in the women’s 50 yard freestyle with a time of 27.49.
Fromkin led the way in the women’s 500 meter freestyle. She placed 23rd with a time of 5:27.92. Buckridge finished in 27th with a time of 5:30.23, and Wolfe was right behind her at 5:31.55.
Kayla Laydon (North Haven, Conn.) placed 17th in the women’s 200 yard IM at 2:22.45, followed by Belanger in 27th at 2:27.25, Spagnolo in 28th at 2:29.20, and Georgie Driver in 29th a 2:35.40.
Haley Boland (Waterbury, Conn.), the only diver for the Owls, placed fifth in the women’s three meter dive with a score of 182.77.
The Owls return to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in Day 2 of the Rutgers Invite.
Men’s release:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Southern Connecticut State University men’s swimming and diving team were led by Raymond Cswerko (Torrington, Conn.), Brandon Beaudoin (Scotia, N.Y.), and Tyler Vander Vos (South Windsor, Conn.) on Day 1 of the Rutgers Invite Friday afternoon.
The trio, along with Travis Burke (Downington, Pa.), took fourth place in the men’s 400 yard medley relay with a time of 3:44.94. Raymond Snyder (Waterbury, Conn.),Christopher Curtin (Wethersfield, Conn.), Dylan Swanepoel (Milford, Conn.) andLouis Geist (Arvada, Colo.) finished right behind them at 3:47.78. Brendan Murphy(Watertown, Conn.), Matt Demirs (Oakville, Conn.), Tyler Castellone (South Windsor, Conn.) and Shane Maypother (Wall Township, N.J.) placed seventh with a time of 4:01.67.
Cswerko placed highest of any Owl in the men’s 50 yard freestyle. He came in second with a time of 21.88. Also placing in the men’s 50 yard freestyle was Murphy in fifth at 22.44, Castellone in 13th at 23.68, Alexander Bachard (Monroe, Conn.) in 21st at 24.26 and Christian Bouzyk (West Hartford, Conn.) and Greg Rodriguez(Madison, Conn.) tied for 25th at 24.89.
Beaudoin finished behind Geist in the men’s 200 yard IM. Geist finished seventh at 2:02.01, and Beaudoin was behind him in 13th with a time of 2:04.85. Snyder finished in 16th at 2:06.51, and Lucas Fanucci (Malvern, Pa.) rounded out the Southern Connecticut swimmers coming in 23rd with a time of 2:11.37.
Swanepoel and Vander Vos finished seventh and eighth in the men’s 200 meter freestyle with times of 4:48.35 and 4:49.38, respectively. Curtin came in 16th with a time of 5:10.24, Steskla came in right behind him at 5:10.73 and Maypother placed 19th with a time of 5:17.16.
Salim Lemond (Oxford, Conn.) also saw action on the diving board for the Owls, finishing with 244.42 points. He was the only diver to dive on the day.
The Owls return to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in Day 2 of the Rutgers Invite.