Pitt
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Swimming and Diving Wins Big at Pitt Invite
11/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh swimming and diving teams salted away the competition with their strongest swims of the weekend to claim first place for both the men and women on Sunday at Trees Pool and bring their combined number of events won to 22 over all three days.
"We're always known for having a really strong last day of a meet," said head coach Chuck Knoles. "When we have the 200s in there, the distance events, and then we throw back in the sprints and 400 relays - it's a day made for us and the way we go after our training. It's very rewarding. We didn't rest for this meet, and then to go in and see the results that we have just shows that we're in a great place."
The team concluded the meet with a flourish, going two-for-one in school records in the final women's relay to make it three overall in the meet. The 400 free relay team of Emily Murphy, Leticia Lelli, Rachel Brown, and Danyel Johnson set a new program best with a time of 3:20.47 - not to mention Murphy claiming the 100 free record with a time of 49.50 in the leadoff leg. It capped off a terrific weekend for her that also saw her net her first Olympic Trials cut in the 50-meter free on Saturday.
Pitt's strength in distance events was on prominent display in today's competition.
The Panthers claimed the top three spots in the women's 1650 free and went 1-2 on the men's side, posting three NCAA B cuts in the process. Kaleigh Ritter (16:14.34) and Amanda Richey (16:23.66) tallied the two qualifying women's times and Scott Simmer (15:27.92) collected one for the men.
Men's 1650 winner Scott Simmer on why the team excels in distance. pic.twitter.com/ty5aIkfoUS
— Pitt Swim & Dive (@PittSwimAndDive) November 22, 2015
Apart from winning her the event with a B cut, Ritter's time is currently the second fastest in the nation in the women's 1650.
Kaleigh Ritter discusses her strong showing and the team's distance training. pic.twitter.com/HUFonAYI5A
— Pitt Swim & Dive (@PittSwimAndDive) November 22, 2015
Richey was back in the water not long after, winning the 200 back with a NCAA B cut time of 1:59.00.
It was a steady level of success throughout the evening's finals for the women, with Pitt earning second and third place finishes in nearly every event, highlighted by B cuts from Kinga Cichowska (2nd, 2:13.10) and Katie Fernander (3rd, 2:13.71) in the women's 200 breast.
For the men, it was also the distance unit leading the way with Scott Simmer (15:27.92) and Aaron Sett (15:36.63) finishing first and second in the 1650. Simmer's time was good for an NCAA B cut.
Matt Tankle (1:47.52) and Brendan Barry (1:49.24) went 1-2 in the 200 back, while Mack Rice (1:48.15) won the 200 fly. The men's 400 free relay of David Sweeney, Gabe Larson, Haden Calegan, and Brian Lovasik ended the meet with a Pitt victory in 2:59.30.
Alex Cook posted Pitt's best prelim time in the 200 breast. pic.twitter.com/h7rGRMEzXa
— Pitt Swim & Dive (@PittSwimAndDive) November 22, 2015
Making his 2015 platform debut, junior Dominic Giordano performed well en route to a victory. The reigning ACC Champion netted a final tally of 404.40 - just 9.45 off the school record. Junior Rachel Saunders, also the current record-holder in platform along with Giordano, won the women's competition with a score of 201.90.
"I'm very pleased with platform today," said head diving coach Julian Krug. "Our people did a nice job all around. I'm very pleased with Tony [Galante], and Cheyanne [Neuenschwander] has done a tremendous job over the course of this weekend. I am in position to predict very good things for Cheyanne. We have good depth on the women's side and our top two men are pretty tough."
A major difference for the divers so far this season has been a significant boost in degree of difficulty as Pitt completely swept both men's and women's event on the weekend.
"If you're going to be competitive and score at the ACC level, you're going to have to do a pretty tough list," said Krug. "Dom [Giordano] has gone over the edge that way. You won't see any harder dives than his list. Meme [Sharp] is in the same situation. Meme also did a tremendous job. Her 3-meter school record is a real list. If she does that at ACCs, she'll be in the top three. She could make NCAAs flat-out at Zones, and if she does, I believe she has a good chance to final just with that - and we're not where we're going. We're in very good shape all the way around right now."
The team returns to action in two weeks at the Big Al Invite in Princeton, N.J., December 4-6.
Players Mentioned
