Seton Hall University
Montclair State
WS&D Glides Past MSU in Opener
10/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall women’s swimming & diving team started the 2012-13 off on the right foot, downing Montclair State, 139-88, on Tuesday night.
A reflection of the added depth lauded by head coach Ron Farina prior to the season, eight different team members registered individual wins as part of the resounding team victory.
Junior Jane Ehret (Florida, N.Y.) posted the first individual triumph of the day, finishing the 200-yard freestyle in 1:59.47. She was followed to the wall by senior Andrea Shuba (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (2:01.26) and junior Kate Dwyer (Freehold, N.J.) (2:03.32) to give the Pirates the first of three 1-2-3 finishes on the night.
SHU again swept the top three spots in the 200-yard individual medley, as junior Kerrie Kolackovsky (Franklin Square, N.Y.) led teammates Cora Meehan (Noblesville, Ind.) and Brenna O'Keefe (Hyde Park, N.Y.) to the wall. Kolackovsky turned in a BIG EAST automatic qualifying time of 2:10.46 to take first, followed by Meehan (2:16.75) and O’Keefe (2:19.41)
Senior captain Alie Zelenky (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) took first place points in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.09. Gabi Levine (Garwood, N.J.) joined Zelenky in the top-three in the event, finishing in 25.54 to take third in her first race as a Pirate.
In her next event, Levine clocked in at 59.63 to finish atop the 100-yard butterfly field and book a ticket to the BIG EAST Championships in the process. Kolackovsky got the touch in next, racking up another automatic qualifying mark (1:00.17).
Meehan became the second freshman to win for Seton Hall in the opener, surpassing all other 100-yard freestyle competitors with a 55.87 mark. Shuba picked up her second top-three finish of the night in the event, coming to the wall in 56.90. Another freshman, Isabelle Alario (Hermosa Beach, Calif.), contributed fourth place points for the second time in her first collegiate meet (58.98)
A pair of Seton Hall freshman occupied the top-two spots following the completion of the women’s 100-yard backstroke as Kelly Miller (State College, Pa.) was followed to the wall by classmate Leah Mayer (London, Ontario). Miller took the win in 1:02.24 to edge the runner-up Mayer (1:03.82).
The Pirate contingent in the 500-yard freestyle featured two more standout performances from swimmers making their SHU debuts and also yielded the team’s third top-three sweep of the meet. Freshman Katie Adams (Linwood, N.J.) recorded a time of 5:20.99 to secure first place while classmate Alexa Santis (Ijamsville, Md.) placed second in 5:22.03. Dwyer occupied the third spot with a time of 5:30.08.
In the final individual event of the night, freshman Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) became the third Pirate swimmer to clinch a berth at the 2013 BIG EAST Championships. Mallon clocked in at 1:08.45 in the 100-yard breaststroke, coming in under the automatic qualifying standard of 1:09.59.
SHU also displayed dominance in the two relay events that were held. In the 200-yard medley relay, Ehret and Meehan teamed with Rae Congdon (Ottawa, Ontario) and Megan Mostoller (Cheshire, Conn.) to edge a squad of Adams, Mallon, O’Keefe and Santis by nine-hundredths of a second in the battle for first place.
Mallon and Mostoller then closed the meet by teaming with Kolackovsky and Zelenky to post a 200-yard breaststroke relay time that was nearly eight seconds faster than their nearest competitors.
From the diving board, the Pirates’ tandem of Katie Riley (Newburgh, N.Y.) and newcomer Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) shone as they both punched tickets to Indianapolis and the conference championships.
Two 1-meter diving competitions were held, each including six dives. Riley posted the highest score in both rounds, but round two was especially successful for SHU. Riley registered a 237.90 the second time around while Signorelli finished with a score of 232.73 to join her teammate above the automatic qualifying line of 230.0.
In all, five Pirates put themselves into the BIG EAST meet in February with their performances in the opener. Kolackovsky exceeded standards in both the 200-yard IM and 100-yard butterfly and Levine (100-fly), Mallon (100-breast), Riley (1-meter dive) and Signorelli (1-meter) all earned a spot as well.
After a quick turnaround, the Pirates will return to the pool on Thursday, Oct. 18 when they travel to take on Rider. Start-time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Lawrenceville.
