Tartan Swimming Sweeps Allegheny in Last Home Meet

Jan. 21 - (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon men's and women's swimming teams hosted their last meet of the year on Saturday, January 21 against Allegheny College. The women finished with a score of 149-94 and the men 143-86. With the win, the men continue their unbeaten dual meet streak. The women have now won three of four dual meets this season, falling only to Division II Clarion University.

The men started well taking the top spot in their opening five events, jumping to a commanding lead before the first break for diving. The 400-yard medley relay team of sophomore Michael Bailey (Quinton, Va./New Kent), senior Gerry Mayer (Ft. Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin), senior Brian Hunter (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon), and freshman Jon Spring (McLean, Va.) touched the wall second behind an Allegheny unit but were declared winners after a disqualification. Sophomore David Mohney (Sedona, Ariz./Sedona Red Rock) then won the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:24.07 with Spring finishing behind him at 10:42.99.

Sophomore Andy Douglass (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), and freshman Ron Papa (Malabon City, Philippines/Cranbrook Kingswood) and Tom McConnell (Baltimore, Md./Friends School of Baltimore) ran the table in the 200-yard freestyle all finishing with less then two seconds between them.

Junior David Krzeminski (Grandville, Mich.) continued his dominance of the 50-yard freestyle with a first place time of 21.49, as sophomore Patrick Snyder (Marlton, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep) finished second in 22.71. Three Tartans then swept the 400-yard IM, as Hunter (4:16.40) led the way with sophomore Damian McIntyre (Bethel Park, Pa.) and Bailey picking up the second and thrid spots.

The women also started strong finishing first in the 400-yard medley relay then took the second and third spots in the 1,000- and 200-yard freestyles. The relay team consisted of sophomore backstroker Emily Tong (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny), sophomore breaststroker Alex Kinzler (Apollo, Pa./Plum), sophomore butterflyer Lauren Connell (Hasbrouck Hts., N.J.), and senior freestylist Allie Theus (Clarksville, Md./River Hill). Freshman Yael Klionsky (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) finished second in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 11:22.23, with fellow freshman Tina Daup (Eagan, Minn.) in third (11:26.42). Connell and junior Lucy Fortin (Rosemont, Pa./Harriton) finished second-third in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively.

The women then went on to sweep the 50-yard freestyle, as junior Jenny Sieger (Newtown Square, Pa./Radnor) took first in 25.91. Sophomore Amy Pischke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) and Rebecca Obley (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) were right on her heels touching in 26.37 and 26.69, respectively. Sophomore Anna Kochalko (Encinitas, Calif./Univ. of San Diego HS) and Kinzler finished one-two in the 400-yard IM to finish the first half of the meet for the women swimmers.

Kochalko picked up where she left off taking first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.26. Connell, with a time of 54.01, then led three Tartan swimmers that swept the 100-yard freestyle. Tong and freshman Colleen Murphy (Aberdeen, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) finished second-third in the 200-yard backstroke, as the Tartans further outdistanced themselves from their opponent.

Krzeminski won his second race of the meet, as he smoked the field in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.98. Mohney and freshman Stephen Vu finished behind him with times of 2:06.75 and 2:11.09.

Papa won a thrilling 100-yard freestyle race in which he touched .10 seconds before his teammate Snyder. Papa's time of 49.16 was a personal best. McIntyre and freshman Ryan Piper (Ft. Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) then finished second and third respectively in the 200-yard backstroke, the first men's event the Tartans didn't win.

McConnell and Douglass, who both swam one of their better meets, finished one-two in the 500-yard freestyle. McConnell touched in 5:51.89 and Douglass in 4:53.29. Spring finished the fourth sweep of the day taking third place in a time of 5:06.06.

Freshman Becky Martz (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) touched second in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:31.96, as freshman Amanda Sturges (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Laurel) finished third in 5:32.43. Sturges earlier finished fourth in the 1,000-yard freestyle, the first time she's swam that event.

Senior diver Julie Pavia (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) won her last home 3-meter diving event with 256.80 points. Earlier in the day she finished second on the 1-meter board.

To finish the day in the pool, Kinzler, a transfer from American University, took first in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:30.25. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of senior Mingi Kim (Montville, N.J.), Theus, Sieger, and Tong finished first with a time of 3:48.81. The Tartans also finished second and third in the event.

The men finished strong with a first place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, thanks to Hunter who touched the wall in 2:10.82. Freshman Brad Henderson (Solon, Ohio) touched third for the Tartans in 2:20.62 to finish the meet.

The Tartans hit the pool again on Saturday, January 28 when the visit Westminster for their final dual meet of the year. The meet starts at 1:00 p.m.