Seton Hall University
Iona
Lindner, Regan Shine as Hall opens 2016 with Rout of Iona
1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - Fresh off a winter training trip to Ponce Puerto Rico, it was smooth sailing for the Seton Hall women's swimming and diving team in the 2016 opener as the Pirates began the second half of their schedule with a 160-122 victory at Iona Friday.
The Hall now owns six team wins on the season and handed the Gaels their first home loss of the season by claiming 12 reported event victories - five of which saw SHU claim the top-two spots.
Seton Hall remains unbeaten against MAAC squads this season having also downed Saint Peter's (146-41, 10/16) and Monmouth (91-75, 10/28) at home in October.
Two more MAAC opponents await the Pirates in their next two outings as the squad will host Rider next Friday, January 15 before traveling to Marist the following Saturday (1/23).
 | WINNER'S CIRCLE |
Seven different Pirates recorded an individual victory in the pool against the Gaels led by standout junior Tessa Lindner (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and Courtney Regan (Southbury, Conn.) who each picked up a pair of first-place finishes on the evening.
- Lindner sped her way to victory with a 24.97 mark in the 50-free and also touched the wall first in the 100-free, coming in at 54.61. The performance marked the third time this season that the Sun Prairie native has recorded at least two wins on the same day. Freshman Emily Barnard (Galloway, N.J.) earned third-place in the 100-free with a time of 56.23.
- While Lindner excelled in the sprint races, it was Regan who was the top distance swimmer on the night as she claimed top honors in both the 1,000 and 500-free events. At 1,000-yards, Regan took control on the fifth of 20 legs and never looked back, clocking in at 10:49.71. With Regan setting the pace, teammate Erica Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) impressively closed down Iona's top finisher Kaitlyn Mahon in the final two legs to take second. Naumann was .74 seconds faster than Mahon over the final 100 yards, touching in at 10:53.97 to secure the runner-up spot by .05 seconds.
- Regan also overcame an early deficit to claim the 500-free for The Hall, moving into the lead position at the 300 yard mark and going on to post a time of 5:18.42
- In addition to the 1000-free, the Pirates also secured the top-two spots in the 100-back and the 200-fly. The Canadian duo of Aitana Robinson (London, Ontario) and Melody Bush (Guelph, Ontario) outclassed the 100-back field with times of 1:00.35 and 1:01.17 respectively. Junior Cece Henry (St. Charles, Mo.) and sophomore Sydney Simpson (Tallahassee, Fla.) went 1-2 in the butterfly event with Henry's 2:11.27 just out-pacing a 2:12.85 from Simpson.
- Simpson did add a win of her own in the 200-breast, powering her way to the wall in 2:28.84, coming home in 37.23 to erase a .56 second lead held by Iona's MaryEllen Mangione entering the final leg and ultimately come out on top by a margin of .92 seconds. Junior Maddie Harris (Ocala, Fla.) added a third place finish with a time of 2:38.50
- Senior Megan Mallon (Glen Mills, Pa.) coasted to victory in the other breaststroke event, leading wire-to-wire before finishing in 1:07.93, nearly 3.5 seconds ahead of Mangione in second (1:11.39)
- Alexa Santis (Ijamsville, Md.) put the 200-back in the win column for the Pirates as well, posting a 2:10.44 mark. Bush contributed third place points with a time of 2:12.47.
| RELAY REPLAY |
- A quartet of individual event winners, Robinson, Mallon, Simpson and Lindner opened the meet by recording a time of 1:50.49 in the 200-medley.
| FROM THE BOARD |
- Four-time BIG EAST champion Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) led the way from the diving board yet again, earning first place scores of 230.70 (1-meter) and 266.60 (3-meter)
| NEXT UP |
One of two remaining home appearances for the Pirates this season, the meet between Seton Hall and Rider is slated to begin a 5:00 p.m. next Friday (1/15). For the first time ever, the event is scheduled to be streamed live on www.PirateSportsNet.tv
