Pitt Sprints Past Denison for Dual Sweep

Friday, January 18

Granville, OH

4 PM

Pitt

Denison

Pitt Sprints Past Denison for Dual Sweep

1/18/2019 7:45:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Full Results (PDF)

GRANVILLE, Ohio—The Pitt swimming & diving teams combined to win 29 of 32 events – 25 swimming and four diving – and swept Division III powerhouse Denison in both dual meets on Friday evening at the Trumbull Aquatics Center.

The Pitt men emerged with a 210-88 victory over the Big Red, the defending national champions at the Division III level, while the Pitt women took home a 184.5-115.5 triumph.

"It was an exciting, unique dual tonight with the sprint format, and we're always excited to earn a win as a team," Pitt head coach John Hargis said. "I thought we came out a little bit flat after a long bus ride, but we improved as the meet went on and showed some toughness. We have tired athletes right now. This upcoming week will be crucial for us as we look forward to honoring our tremendous senior class at the final home meet and finalizing our preparations for the ACC Championships."

The Pitt men won every event they competed in on Friday, including sweeping the diving events thanks to freshmen Wesley Ahart and Josh Parquet. Ahart won the 3-meter springboard with a career-best total of 313.95, with Parquet winning on 1-meter with a career-high of his own at 284.85.

"Wesley had a strong performance on 3-meter and Josh was very consistent on 1-meter," Pitt diving coach Katie Hazelton said. "I'm proud of their continued improvement and willingness to learn and develop as divers. Amy was also excellent with some of her execution. Overall, we're building towards the ACC Championships with the goal of sending several divers to the NCAA Zone meet and beyond. We will continue to sharpen up as we move forward with our competitive phase of the season."

Freshman Amy Read continued her impressive debut diving season, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions with scores of 275.40 and 295.05, respectively.

In swimming, five Panthers finished first in multiple events in the sprint dual meet.

For the men, junior Eben Vorster won three 100-yard events: the butterfly (49.43), freestyle (45.27) and individual medley (50.85). Senior John Fauteux emerged with wins in both breaststroke events, winning the 50-yard breast (25.59) and 100-yard breast (55.78) with ease. Sophomore Armin Remenyi triumphed in the 50-yard freestyle (20.98) and 100-yard backstroke (52.04).

Leading the Pitt women, junior Valerie Daigneault took first in the 100-yard butterfly (55.88) and 100-yard individual medley (57.18), while junior Madelyn Shaffer won the 100-yard freestyle (52.44) and 200-yard freestyle (1:52.25).

Sophomore Blaise Vera set the Trumbull Aquatics Center pool record in the 50-yard freestyle, leading off the men's 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 19.98 – the first sub-20-second 50 free in the building's seven-year history. Vera also won the 50-yard butterfly in an impressive 21.49 seconds.

Numerous other Panthers brought home individual wins, including Ryan Schonbachler, Samy Helmbacher, Ellis Cannon and Aaron Sett for the men, and Madison Nalls, Shahar Menahem, Kailyn Swantek, Sam Howe and Sarah Giamber for the women.

Next up for the Pitt swimming & diving programs, the Panthers will honor their five seniors at next weekend's Western Pennsylvania Invitational. With Pitt welcoming several other regional programs to Trees Pool, the meet begins on Friday with diving at 1 p.m. before swimming starts Saturday at 10 a.m., with the senior Panthers set to be recognized then.

Admission is FREE to all fans for the annual Western Pennsylvania Invitational on Jan. 25-26.

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