University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Men's Swimming and Diving Achieves Highest Ranking This Season
2/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Men's Swimming and Diving Achieves Highest Ranking This Season
2/14/2003
PITTSBURGH ? The Pittsburgh men's swimming and diving team inched closer to head coach Chuck Knoles' goal of reaching the top 15 with a 16th-place ranking in the latest poll conducted by the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
It is the highest ranking achieved by the Panthers this season and three spots higher than the last poll. Wins over conference rival Virginia Tech and intrastate rival Penn State helped moved the team up.
"The men's team that we ended with in our last dual meet against Penn State was a far different team than the one that swam against Washington in Seattle in October," Knoles said. "We were far over-ranked at that time in the season at No. 18.
"We were a very young, green team in the fall. The guys are now competing at a much more mature level now. The scenario could not have been better scripted ? to be higher ranked at the end of the season than when we began. We are headed in the right direction. With the dual meet season completed, all of our attention is focused on performing our best at the Big East Conference meet next week. I expect that will be the most fun of all."
Pittsburgh finished the dual meet season with a 9-4 record with losses against No. 9 Virginia, No. 20 Harvard, No. 24 Purdue, and Washington (others receiving votes). The Panthers ended the season with a win over No. 17 Penn State and topped No. 15 Texas A&M earlier in the season at the 2002 Pittsburgh Invitational.
The Big East Championships will be held in Long Island, N.Y., on Thurs.-Sat., Feb. 20-22. The Panthers will be going after their seventh consecutive conference title and 18th in 21 years.
