Lehigh University
St. Peter's
Lehigh wraps up 2008 with sweep at St. Peter's
12/7/2008 3:15:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
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JERSEY CITY, N.J. – In its final meet of the fall semester, Lehigh’s swimming and diving teams cruised to wins over Saint Peter’s Sunday at the Yanitelli Center. The Mountain Hawk women won their second straight meet to move to 5-3 on the season, winning every event in a 170-48 triumph over the Peahens. The Lehigh men captured eight of 13 events, with multiple wins from sophomore Andrew DiPietro and freshman Chris Toth propelling the Mountain Hawks to a 153-88 win, which improves the Brown and White to 6-2 on the dual season.
Nine different Mountain Hawks won individual events on the women’s side as Lehigh built a big enough lead that it swam unscored in the final two women’s events. Lehigh’s women swept the top four places in five different events and had a top-three sweep in another.
After capturing the 200 Medley Relay, junior Liz Murray led a top-four sweep of the 1000 free, the first individual event on the docket, with a time of 11:09.44. Senior Melanie Rolish led a sweep of the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:18.11, while junior Allison Rolish led a sweep of the 100 back, with a time of 1:05.60. The Mountain Hawks’ freshmen stepped up as well, with Alena Pollitt winning the 100 fly in 1:01.73, Paola Simon leading a top-four sweep in the 100 free and Priscilla Barletta taking the 500 free in 5:24.21.
Junior captain Erin Tormey had her best day of the season to date on the diving boards, winning the one meter with a score of 202.10 and the three meter with a season-best score of 225.75.
On the men’s side, DiPietro had a breakout day with wins in the 200 free (1:48.28) and the 100 back (55.54). Toth continued his dominance in the distance events, winning the 1000 free in 10:12.02 and the 500 in 4:50.78, leading a top-four Lehigh sweep. Lehigh knew it would be challenged in the sprints, where senior Dan Johnson was edged out for top honors in the 50 free, but rebounded to win the 100 in 47.03 seconds. Junior Kevin McGrath also had an impressive swim, rallying from behind in the final five yards to win the 200 IM in 1:58.88.
Lehigh’s freshmen also picked up wins on the diving boards, as Connor Styles won the one meter with 205.12 points and Ryan Helfrich taking the three meter in 2:17.12.
“We did well to solidify a winning dual meet season,” said Lehigh head coach Rob Herb. “We thought this would be a meet we should win, but credit Saint Peter’s, who had some very strong swimmers. Andrew DiPietro is starting to come into his own, and our freshmen are continuing to impress. On the women’s side, the wins were spread out and it really was a total team victory. Now it’s time to focus on finals.”
The Mountain Hawks will now break for final exams and winter training, and will return to action on Saturday, January 10, when they travel to Marist for a meet that begins at 1 p.m. from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
