Lehigh University Athletics
Two meets await Mountain Hawks this weekend
11/6/2008 4:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It will be another busy weekend in the pool for the Lehigh swimming and diving teams as the Mountain Hawks storm through the early season portion of their schedule. For the second time this season, Lehigh will swim dual meets on consecutive days, as this weekend the Brown and White will head to New Jersey to face Rider on Saturday before returning home to face N.J.I.T.
This weekend’s action marks the fourth straight weekend of competition for the Mountain Hawks, who are off to a strong start. On the men’s side Lehigh has raced out to a 3-1 record, including two wins over Patriot League foes, and the lone loss coming by just four points. The success of the Lehigh men has come with contributions from all four classes.
Senior Dan Johnson continues to lead the team with his efforts in the sprints, while junior Kevin McGrath has been consistently winning races in the breaststroke and IM events. Billy Dunne and Andrew DiPietro have been making significant contributions from the sophomore class, while freshmen Chris Toth and Angelo DiGiacinto have started their college careers with impressive showing in the distance and backstroke events respectively.
The Lehigh women enter the weekend at 2-2 overall, and will be looking to stop a two-meet slide after a valiant effort against defending Patriot League champion Colgate came up short last weekend.
Like the men, the Mountain Hawk women have received major contributions from all classes and an especially significant boost from freshmen Priscilla Barletta, Alena Pollitt and Paola Simon. Senior Melanie Rolish continues to be a top performer in the breaststroke events, while the junior class has produced several top performers including Laura Eull in the backstroke events, Allison Rolish in the distance events and Erin Tormey on the diving boards. All-Patriot League performer Lauren Kindrick continues to pace Lehigh’s attack in the mid-distance freestyle events.
The busy weekend begins with a Saturday road trip to Lawrenceville, N.J. to face a very strong Rider squad. The Broncs are coming off an impressive sweep of Marist, which is the defending MAAC champions on both the men’s and women’s side. The Rider men are 1-2 on the season, while the women enter Saturday’s meet at 2-2. The Broncs have been especially tough on the diving boards where they have the reigning MAAC Male and Female Divers of the Week in Paul Apostolakis and Amanda Burke. Saturday’s meet gets underway with diving at 10 a.m. followed by swimming at 12:30 p.m. at Rider’s Coppola Pool.
On Sunday, the Mountain Hawks return home to host their second of three meets this season at Jacobs Pool. N.J.I.T. comes to town for its second meet of the season. The Highlanders opened their season two weeks ago by splitting a meet with Manhattan, as the men prevailed 102-70 while the women fell 63-53. It will be an interesting meet for Lehigh, which will face an N.J.I.T team that has just 14 members on its men’s team and just eight women on its squad. The meet should give Lehigh head coach Rob Herb an opportunity to try different combinations in different events, as the Mountain Hawks work towards the annual Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet on November 21 in Easton. Sunday’s meet gets underway with diving action at 10:30 a.m.
