Lehigh University
Holy Cross
Mountain Hawks fly past Crusaders, Friars
10/17/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
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WORCESTER, Mass./PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Lehigh swimming and diving teams opened their 2009 season with a pair of meets Saturday in New England. The Mountain Hawks opened the day by sweeping a meet from Patriot League rival Holy Cross at the Hart Center Pool before sweeping Providence Saturday night at Taylor Natatorium. The Lehigh men bested the Friars 155-67 while the women prevailed 152-71.
The day opened with a dominant performance versus the Crusaders. The Lehigh men captured the first eight events on the way to a 143-92 win; while the women took seven of the first eight events and prevailed 136-98. Both teams built a large enough lead to compete in the final three events unscored.
On the men's side, several Lehigh freshmen made impressive racing debuts. Frank Cuzzola led a Lehigh sweep in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 22.30 and added a win in the 100 free touching the wall in 48.56. Alex Aboud delivered the only sub-two minute time in the 200 fly with a time of 1:56.72. A third freshman, Andrew Kim led a sweep in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:57.77.
Several veterans opened up with impressive performances as well. Senior Kevin McGrath led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM with a time of 1:58.84. Junior Andrew DiPietro won the 200 free, while sophomore Chris Toth captured the 1000 free. McGrath and Cuzzola teamed with freshman Tyler Lareau and sophomore Angelo DiGiacinto to win the 200 medley relay.
The Lehigh women also received strong performances from their freshmen in the sprints. Katie Haycraft captured the 200 free in 1:59.00 while Katie Brinkhoff led a sweep in the 100 free with a time of 55.58.
Senior Allison Rolish led a top-three sweep in the 1000 free with a time of 10:43.02.
The Mountain Hawks sophomore class had a strong showing versus the Crusaders as well as Priscilla Barletta won the 200 IM, Alyssa Siano captured the 200 Fly and Lauren Armstrong led a Lehigh sweep in the 200 Back.
Later Saturday, the Mountain Hawks swept providence in a 26-event short course metered format. The men won 10 of 13 events while the women were victorious in nine of 13.
Aboud and Lareau led the men's effort, winning two individual events each. Aboud captured the 200 IM (2:12.86) and the 100 breast (1:09.66), while Lareau took the 200 free (1:57.87) and led a top-three sweep in the 100 back (59.95). Freshman Kyle Jennings also picked up a win in the 100 fly, while DiGiacinto, McGrath and senior Ryan Guttormsen all won individual events.
On the women's side Barletta won her second event of the day, taking the 200 free in 2:10.55. Rolish added a win in the 200 IM while senior Julie Sicherman captured the 100 fly in 1:09.07. Paola Simon and fellow sophomore Jill Rann added wins in the 100 free and 800 free respectively, while freshman Emily DiDonato was a winner in the 100 breast. On the diving boards, senior Erin Tormey won the one meter with a score of 199.87.
The Mountain Hawks return to the pool next Saturday when they travel to West Chester for a meet that begins at 12:30 p.m.
